N115b loot: ex-Air chiefs, politicians top refund list
INEC officials, others also surrendered cash
EFCC probes ex-Akwa Ibom governor
Barely 24 hours after the confirmation of the recovery of about N115billion, The Nation yesterday glimpsed a likely list of some of those behind the huge refund.
They include some politically exposed persons, ex-military chiefs and some of those involved in the $115million poll bribery scandal.
Besides, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is said to be tracking about $3.9billion believed to have been stolen.
A Presidency source however said the government was not yet aware of the said $3.9billion.
The recovered cash includes the following: $3.1b from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accounts (the money was paid to the oil giant by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited); $1m seized from a former Chief of Air Staff; National Broadcasting Commission (N10,061,172,600); another Chief of Air Staff(N2.3b); an ex-presidential aide (N900m); a businessman (N750m); an ex-governor of Delta State ($15m); an ex-Chief of Staff and others (N420m); and an ex-Minister (N140m); an ex-Military Administrator (N100m).
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials in Oyo and Ogun (N359millon); a former Minister (N2m); a former state Speaker N1m and N580 million (£2 million) in jewelry, allegedly from a former minister.
An EFCC source said: "We cannot release the names of those affected because some of them are already on trial before the court. We do not want to take any prejudicial action. We have been advised against doing so.
"As soon as it is legally convenient, we will release the full list."
Also yesterday, It was learnt that the EFCC was probing a former governor of Akwa Ibom State in connection with N450million which was allocated to the state out of the N23.29billion allegedly provided by former Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. The cash is believed to have been for INEC officials as bribe to change the results of the 2015 presidential election.
The anti-graft agency had questioned a former Military Administrator of the state and others in connection with the bribe.
But during one of the interrogation sessions, one of the suspects said the ex-governor allegedly "deducted N150million out of the bribe sum for personal use".
"We are likely to invite the ex-governor for interaction," the EFCC source added.
But there were indications yesterday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was tracking about $3.9billion.
The said amount was allegedly not yet captured in the fact-sheet which was released to the public on Saturday by the Federal Government due to an outstanding reconciliation process.
The $3.9billion includes the $15million seized from former Delta State Governor James Ibori, who is serving term in the United Kingdom.
Other components are about $3.1billion intercepted in the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG), which was yet to be moved to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.
A reliable source in the anti-graft commission, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said the list of recoveries issued out on Saturday might not be the final.
The source said: "The EFCC has also intercepted over $3.9billion, including those in the NNPC and NLNG accounts and put in the TSA account.
"This has not been captured yet. So, what we have on Saturday was certainly not the final list of recoveries."
"Following a judgment of the Court of Appeal, a $15million recovered from ex-Governor James Ibori has been paid into the treasury too.
"We will soon make the breakdown available to Nigerians accordingly. This process is a continuous one ."
A top Presidency source said: "The affected $3.9billion is unknown to this government. The list of recoveries released to Nigerians on Saturday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed, went through vetting and other checks before the announcement.
"Do you know the value of $3.2billion? If there is such money in the system, do you think we will go to AFDB for a loan of $1billion?
"I only hope you will get the figures right from whoever is giving the information. Some people have sent an online link to the government but the source only quoted a member of the House of Representatives."
--My People:1. Interim report of financial assets and recoveries - with asset types, denominations and status - have been revealed.2. Account to which forfeited amounts have been deposited has been opened.3. No actual names of looters - yet - for various reasons, some political, some legal, some valid, others dodgy...But all-in-all, so far, so good....government cannot always please everyone all at the same time on matters like this........eventually, in the fullness of time however, sooner, rather than later, all names will be known and shamed.Meanwhile:1. let the loot recovery continue;2. let the country's financial "stable" be properly locked down - no compromise on TSA, GIFMIS, IPPIS, BVN, remote audits of official and politically-exposed-persons accounts, etc. - so that no more (or far less) loot is available, the loot there is is caught in a more timely manner, and so that the loot is not re-looted;3. the usable loot be properly deployed for the benefit of Nigerians, particularly the most vulnerable, and to stimulate the economy.4. even in the absence of naming names, the government, being aware of those names, must in the interim prevent the guilty ones from coming near government financial officialdom, even on a perfunctory basis.Cash Recoveries
Serial Items Naira US Dollar GB Pounds Euro 1 EFCC Cash at hand 39,169,911,023.00 128,494,076.66 2,355 11,250 2 Royalty/tax/payment to FGN account in JP Morgan account New York 4,642,958,711.48 40,727,253.65 3 ONSA Funds Recovery Account in CBN 5,665,305,527.41 8,000,000.00 4 VAT recovered from companies by ONSA 529,588,293.47 5 EFCC Recovered Funds Account in CBN 19,267,730,359.36 36 455,253.80 6 ICPC Revenue Collection Recovery in CBN 869,957,444.89 7 Office of the Attorney General 5,500,000,000 5,500,000 8 DSS Recoveries 47,707,000.5 1,943,000.5 3,506,000.46 9 ICPC Cash Asset Recovery 2,632,196,271.71 TOTAL 78,325,354,631.82 185,119,584.61 3,508,355.46 11,250 Recoveries Under Interim Forfeiture
Serial Items Naira US Dollar GB Pounds Euro 1 Cash in bank under interim forfeiture 8,281,577,243.92 1,819,866,364.73 3,800.00 113,399.17 2 Amount frozen in bank 48,159,179,518.90 7,131,369,498.49 605,647.55 3 Value of properties under interim forfeiture 41,534,605,998.00 77,844,600.00 1,875,000.00 190,000.00 4 Value of cars under interim forfeiture 52,500,000.00 5 ONSA Funds under interim forfeiture 27,001,464,125.20 43,771,433.73 6 Value of Assets Recovered by ONSA 512,000,000.00 7 ONSA Assets under interim forfeiture 260,000,000.00 8 DSS Recoveries Frozen in Banks 658,929,000.00 226,476.20 9 EFCC Cash in Bank under final forfeiture 103,225,209.41 17,165,547.00 Total 126,563,481,095.43 9,090,243,920.15 2,484,447.55 303,399.17 Grand Total 204,888,835,727.25 9,275,363,504.76 5,992,803.01 314,649.17
Funds Awaiting Return From Foreign Jurisdictions
Jurisdiction US Dollar GB Pounds Euro 1 Switzerland 321000000 2 UK 6900000 3 UAE 310501 11826.11 4 USA 6225.1 Total 321,316,726.1 6,900,000 11,826.11
Non Cash Recoveries
Serial Items Quantity ICPC EFCC ONSA 1 Farmland 22
2 Plot of Land 4
3 Uncompleted Building 1
4 Completed Building 33
145
4
5 Vehicles 22
3
6 Maritime Vessels 5
TOTAL 82
153
4
______________________________________________
Punch
FG opens special account for recovered loot
June 6, 2016Olalekan Adetayo and Eniola Akinkuotu
The Federal Government has set up an account for the stolen funds it recovered in the last one year.
The Muhammadu Buhari-led government revealed on Saturday that N78, 325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 had been recovered from alleged looters, an amount which adds up to over N115.7bn using the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The funds were said to have been recovered separately by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation; Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission and the Department of State Services.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, said an account had been set up for the funds.
"An account has been set up for it and at an appropriate time, what is going to be done with the money will be made public. The amount that is available in that account will be announced and what will be done with the money will be publicly announced," he said.
The committee chairman, however, said the N1.9tn in cash and assets, which had been frozen by the Federal Government, were still under legal contention and thus could not be touched.
He added, "Regarding the funds frozen under the interim forfeiture, the Federal Government can't touch it for now because certain cases have not been concluded and the forfeiture is interim because technically, the court can order the release to the owners if the occasion demands it but if it goes the other way, there will be a permanent forfeiture order and that is when the properties would accrue to the government and would therefore be used for the benefit of Nigerians."
Regarding the naming of alleged looters, Sagay said there was no legal impediment in shaming alleged thieves.
The renowned legal practitioner added that the decision not to name looters was more political than legal.
He stated that the decision not to name looters was made in a bid to encourage others, who had stolen, to return money.
Sagay said, "The way I see it, it is more political than legal. It is not party politics but about conduct. I believe the government feels that if you name names, those who are about to come out and also bring out whatever has been looted, would withdraw.
"On the legal side, I don't see the problem that is being talked about because once a person is going to be charged to court for corruption or illegally acquiring resources, there is no liability in announcing it.
"After all, we have been seeing the names of all those accused and charged. So, the main reason is to encourage others, who are still hiding their loot and speculating what to do, to come out and hand over the loot so that the country can recover more of what has been stolen."
He added that the decision not to name looters might also have been in a bid not to embarrass some Nigerians who received government funds without knowing that the money was for arms or that the money was stolen.
Some of those who fall under this category, he explained, were newspapers who received money from the Office of the National Security Adviser but later returned the funds.
He said, "There are some people who actually received those assets and money without knowing that it was stolen or whose knowledge of the source would be very difficult to establish.
"So, if you are in a situation, where you thought your political party had raised money legitimately and you were given an amount for the purpose of campaign, then you may have a strong case against any criminal charge like the newspapers, who have received money, but you may be willing to return the money having found out that it was illegitimately acquired."
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has concluded plans to spend the recovered looted funds on the development of the nation's infrastructure, The PUNCH has learnt.
The infrastructure on which the money would be spent includes roads and railways among others.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, disclosed this to one of our correspondents in an interview on Sunday.
Adesina was asked how the Federal Government planned to spend the recovered funds as indicated on Saturday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Adesina said, "The President said it sometimes ago in Kaduna that recovered money would be spent on the development of infrastructure. The infrastructure includes roads and railways among others.
"Nigerians can be assured that the money would be spent transparently and judiciously. They have nothing to fear.
"These funds would be spent to better the lives of Nigerians; this is what this government is committed to."
The government's target is to recover N386bn of looted fund this year.
This figure is stated in the 2016 Appropriation Act, which has been signed into law by Buhari.
The money, it was stated in the document, would be used to finance budget deficit.
Buhari had, last Monday, said he had decided to stop talking publicly on the $2.1bn arms deal because doing so might lead to a situation where the government would realise less than the figure it wanted to recover.
The President spoke while hosting State House correspondents to a lunch as part of activities marking his one year in office.
"The most recent one which, we haven't recovered from, is the $2.1bn which was given by the government then to the military to buy hardware to fight the insurgency which had taken over part of the country and they just sat, just the way you are sitting now, and shared the money into their own accounts. They didn't even bother,'' the President stated.
____________________________________________________________Nigerian Government Releases Interim Report On Financial, Assets Recoveries From Looters
The Nigerian government has released statement declaring the total amount of cash recovered from looters of the federal treasury since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure. A statement issued by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, however, did not reveal the names of persons from whom the recoveries were made.
Below is the full statement of the minister showing a breakdown of the recoveries of assets made so far:
The Federal Government made cash recoveries totaling N78, 325,354,631.82 (Seventy-eight billion, three hundred and twenty-five million, three hundred and fifty-four thousand, six hundred and thirty-one Naira and eighty-two kobo); $185,119,584.61 (One hundred and eighty-five million, one hundred and nineteen thousand, five hundred and eighty-four US dollars, sixty one cents); 3,508,355.46 Pounds Sterling (Three million, five hundred and eight thousand, three hundred and fifty-five Pounds and 46 Pence) and 11, 250 Euros (Eleven thousand, two hundred and fifty Euros) from 29 May 2015 to 25 May 2016.
In a statement in Lagos on Saturday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also disclosed that Recoveries Under Interim Forfeiture (cash and assets) during the period totaled N126,563,481,095.43 (One hundred and twenty six billion, five hundred and sixty-three million, four hundred and eighty-one thousand, and ninety-five Naira, forty-three Kobo; $9,090,243,920.15 (Nine billion, ninety million, two hundred and forty-three thousand, nine hundred and twenty Dollars, fifteen cents; 2,484,447.55 Pounds Sterling (Two million, four hundred and eighty four thousand, four hundred and forty seven Pounds, fifty five Pence) and 303,399.17 Euros (Three hundred and three thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine Euros, 17 cents ).
According to the statement, which is based on the interim report on the financial and assets recoveries made by the various government agencies from 29 May 2015 to 25 May 2016, the Funds Awaiting Return From Foreign Jurisdictions total $321,316,726.1 (Three hundred and twenty one million, three hundred and sixteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty six Dollars, one cent); 6,900,000 Pounds (Six million, nine hundred thousand Pounds) and 11,826.11 Euros (Eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty six Euros, 11 cents).
It showed that Non-Cash Recoveries (Farmlands, Plots of Land, Uncompleted Buildings, Completed Buildings, Vehicles and Maritime Vessels) during the period total 239.
The following is the breakdown of the recovered cash and assets:
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Lagos
4 June 2016
_______________________________________________________
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