As Nigeria boasts of recovering more than $656 million in final forfeiture in anti-corruption fight, no fewer than 890 convictions have been secured from cases prosecuted between January and October 2019.
Mr. Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, said on Thursday in Abuja at a Special Town Hall Meeting on “Fight Against Corruption”, organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture.
Represented by Mr. Abiodun Ayodeji, Special Adviser to the President on Financial Crimes, Malami said that there were other recoveries that were still in the interim.
“Notable among the recoveries is the $325 million Abacha loot and $75 million connected to the Malabu oil transaction,’’ he said.
The minister said that the recovery was significant considering the effects of corruption on the country.
“Nigeria has earned in excess of 650 billion dollars from oil in revenue, but bulk of the funds is either stolen or mismanaged.
“NEITI recently said that in the last 10 years, 40 billion dollars was stolen due to oil theft alone.
“These have left us with infrastructure that is grossly inadequate to support modern economy.
“It is, therefore, so real that if we do not kill corruption, the menace will kill us, hence the administration is focusing on war against corruption,’’ he said.
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, said at the meeting that the the commission recorded 103 convictions in 2015, 189 in 2016, 190 in 2017 and 202 in 2018.
He attributed the increase in 2019 to the support and activities of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption.
MM/GIK/APA