Prof. Itse Sagay, the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, on Monday said the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration will soon make public the total amounts recovered so far from looters of public treasury.
While calling on Nigerians to be patient, he said the Buhari administration will not hide anything from Nigerians especially in the on-going fight against corrupt practices.
“Nigerians should be patient. The Buhari administration has nothing to hide. I don’t think the government is hiding anything from Nigerians. So, I believe disclosing the amount recovered so far will not be a problem. They will make the announcement pretty soon” he said.
While adding that some of the suspects are doing all they can to frustrate their various cases in courts, Sagay also assured Nigerians that the federal government‘s plan to establish special courts to try corrupt persons is still on course.
“On the issue of special courts, there is work going on towards that. But meanwhile people are being prosecuted, how can anyone say that nobody has been brought to justice? There are so many cases going on, though I don’t know the exact number. I am sure if we are talking about high-profile cases, definitely we have about 20 cases going on simultaneously”.
“These cases are going on pretty fast even though the accused and their lawyers are doing all they can to drag the cases. Nevertheless, the federal government is doing all it can to ensure that all the cases get to a logical conclusion” he said.
It will be recalled that the federal government said the recovered amount won’t be made public yet because it will be used as evidence against them in court.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu said much as President Buhari would have desired to let Nigerians know how much had been recovered, it will be impossible for now.
He said the money recovered was in the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), adding that “the issue of how much has been returned has been there. The money retrieved has to be used as evidence in court. The President said two things; we will recover and we will prosecute. So, as it is now, you don’t go and bring all these billions returned out.
“I am aware that there is an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where some of these funds are being kept and are evidence for a judge to see. It is not for public display. I think that is the challenge we have at the moment.”
The statement generated negative reactions from Nigerians who claimed the government has something to hide.
