By Akinwale Kasali
For over a decade, the loot taken out of Nigeria, by former Military dictator, Late General Sani Abacha during his regime to Western Countries and frozen has continued to be repatriated and given back to the Nigerian Government.
Recently, the British Government agreed to refund the sum of £4.2m looted by former Delta State Governor, Jame Ibori and confiscated by the United Kingdom Government back to the Nigeria Government.
There seems to be more.
Anti-Corruption Group, Transparency International, TI, has revealed that an estimated $5 billion has been stolen from Nigeria, and presently frozen in accounts in foreign countries.
TI made this disclosure in Abuja, the Nation’s Capital during a media workshop organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), local Chapter of Transparency International in Nigeria.
CISLAC Policy Advisor, Vaclav Prusa said Nigeria is responsible for the highest illicit financial flow in Africa, adding that the estimated amount lost annually in Nigeria is between $18 to $25 billion.
He added that should the $5 billion, frozen in foreign accounts, is returned to Nigeria, it will cover 20 percent of the country’s 2021 budget for three months.
“In the case of Nigeria, it is estimated that $5 billion stolen assets are frozen. What does this mean? It means this is money sitting somewhere in Switzerland or somewhere waiting for repatriation.
“It means even though some money have been repatriated from New Jersey, Switzerland back to Nigeria, there is a lot of money still out there. I think it’s important to rely on the media to push for these assets.”
In the same vein, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, revealed that lack of transparency with regards to recovered funds in the country creates room for re-looting and mismanagement of the funds.
“Currently, various institutions like the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct Bureau, Nigeria Customs Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigeria police, and other agencies recover assets without synergy.
Rafsanjani said that lack of transparency in respect of recovered assets in Nigeria creates room for re-looting and mismanagement which has made the nation remain stagnant and presently in a fix, with nothing working out positively.
He added that the much awaited Proceeds of Crime Management Bill has not yet been signed into law, supposedly because of the power struggle within agencies about economically and politically lucrative mandate to confiscate and manage stolen assets.
“CISLAC plans to work with the media to uncover national and international cases of stolen corrupt assets with links to politically exposed persons. These assets need to be recovered, better utilised for a post COVID-19 economic recovery.”
