BREAKING NEWS, Business
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THE federal government has set up an account for the stolen funds it recovered in the last one year. Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, Itse Sagay, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, 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.” – Punch
— Jun 6, 2016 @ 14:00 GMT
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