By Alltimepost.com,
Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has advocated the establishment of a National Assets Recovery Strategy (NARS) to deal with the issue of loot recovery in Nigeria.
The organization made the proposal following the controversy generated by claims and counter claims of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala regarding the actual amount of looted assets recovered from the Late General Sani Abacha.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he left in the national treasury over N287bn, made up of $2bn, £100m and N10bn in cash and property, being the loot recovered from the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
On her part, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said only $500m was recovered under her watch when she was finance minister in the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
“The controversy in the figures reinforces the urgent need for the Federal Government to establish a National Asset Recovery Strategy (NARS) which will deal with the challenges of managing asset recovery,” ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor said in Benin last weekend.
“The starting point is for the Presidential Committee on Corruption to call for policy proposals and quickly put together an Asset Recovery framework to back up the campaign to recover the stolen assets stashed in Western Banks.
“This would be fundamental to the recovery of billions of dollars looted by corrupt leaders which the Buhari government seeks to recover,” Ugolor posited.
The Federal Government, he continued has to demonstrate “that they are serious about the asset recovery campaign otherwise no foreign government or body will support President Buhari’s campaign if such a policy frame work is not in place.”
“The passage of the Proceeds of Crime Bill into Law will be a good indication that the government is serious with the asset recovery campaign.” Ugolor asserted.
He called on government to speak out on the secret deal entered into with the Abacha family by the Goodluck Jonathan regime, saying: “the Muhammadu Buhari government cannot claim to campaign for asset recovery and then ignore the Goodluck Jonathan-Abacha family secret agreement that clearly undermines the interest of Nigeria in the repatriation effort”
“We demand a thorough investigation of all the recovered Abacha Loot so that it becomes a true success story that it ought to be.
“We also call on government to ensure that the recovered loot is spent on projects that will impact positively on the welfare of Nigerians and serve as a reference point to generations unborn instead of being spent on intangible projects,’’ Ugolor requested.
