As
the fight against corruption by the President Buhari led federal
government intensifies, a new development has emerged as the presidency
has revealed some difficulties in recovering some loots from former
government officials.
President Muhammadu Buhari
Lack of funds is stalling Nigeria’s effort to trace and recover its
stolen monies, and prosecute former government officials responsible
for the heist, the presidency has said.
A letter by the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption
(PACC) to a United Kingdom-based anti-corruption organisation, Global
Witness, soliciting assistance in raising funds, revealed that due to
the fall in crude oil prices and the general economic downturn, the
government lacked the needed funds to pursue recovery of loots.
The letter, dated February 15, 2016, was signed by the Executive
Secretary of PACC, Bolaji Owasanoye, and directed to the Director of
Global Witness, Simon Taylor.
It stated that the commitment of the government to tackle Boko
Haram insurgency, fight corruption and improve the livelihood of
Nigerians through job creation, was being hampered by dwindling oil
revenue and mounting debts.
Mr. Owasanoye, a professor, argued that the economy could not be
revived simply by improving revenue generation, without wiping out
corruption and recovering money stolen by former officials.
He said ongoing investigations into the diversion of arms funds by
the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, and
ex-military chiefs, show that significant amount of the money needed by
the government to alleviate poverty were still in “the pockets and bank accounts of looters of public funds”.
He said intelligence reports and court rulings elsewhere have shown
that there were more funds to be recovered from the immediate past
Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, the fraudulent sale of OPL
245 by Malabu Oil and Gas, a company owned by “a well-known money launderer”, Dan Etete, assets traced to former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, and former military ruler, Sani Abacha.
He however explained that due to the multi-jurisdiction of the
cases, and the exorbitant charges of professionals such as lawyers,
forensic financial investigators, and the ability of the suspected
officials to use part of the alleged stolen fund to challenge the
recovery of the fund, the government needed huge flow of resources.
“However, this poses a major problem. An empty treasury means
that the money is not currently available for the government to engage
these professionals due to the high fee that they charge.
“Even in cases where service will be given on contingency basis
the initial seed fund required to start the process is not affordable.
As a result, the action the government urgently seeks to take is being
stymied,” Mr. Owasanoye wrote.
He argued that the government’s capacity to pursue all potential
cases would be greatly boosted by the creation of an Assets Tracing,
Recovery and Litigation Fund from which lawyers, investigators and
forensic auditors will be paid.
He added that the government was also working on an arrangement
where professionals engaged would be paid only on successes recorded.
“Once engaged, government can negotiate with the professionals
to earn only success fees. Each professional engaged will secure its own
litigation funders to support their briefs,” he stated.
Mr. Owasanoye further revealed that government would not have got
as much traction as it does in its drive to prosecute ex-officials, and
in the recovery of funds, if it had not received a combined financial
lifeline of $5 million from international organisations such as the Ford
foundation, MacArthur Foundation and the Foundation to Promote Open
Society.
“This fund is supporting the mandate of the Presidency Advisory
Committee on Corruption which is co-coordinating the anti-corruption
effort of the government and promoting improved criminal justice
administration.
“In light of the very dire economic situation of the moment
this support and the proposed Assets Tracing, Recovery and Litigation
Fund, is crucial to government ability to get recovery assets to support
social welfare projects for the impoverished majority of Nigerians.
“Furthermore, funding support will enable government to use
money that would have otherwise gone to professionals for assets
recovery for other social protection projects,” he wrote.
