Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi revealed
yesterday that the President Muhammad Buhari government has recovered N3.4
trillion in cash and assets while about N115 billion worth of cash and assets
have been discovered in the United States, United Arab Emirates and United
Kingdom.
They were reportedly bought
with looted funds. The minister also added that government has reduced cost of
administration by 25 per cent.
Delivering a keynote speech
at the opening of the 34th Cambridge University prestigious International
Symposium on Economic Crime, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United
Kingdom yesterday, Amaechi said through measures to block conduits of “waste,
the cost of running the central government in Nigeria has been reduced by more
than 25 percent in the last 18 months.
“Our president has stopped at
nothing to demonstrate that whosoever is caught in corruption related crimes
will not be spared. In his days as military Head of State and through other
positions he has held in public life, he has upheld a life of integrity.
“He is a typical example of
how a leader can inspire committed followership through the force of example,”
Amaechi said of Buhari. The minister, who spoke on “Beyond Blame Game: The Imperative
of Tackling Economic Crime Together” said economic crime is often committed in
an organised manner, involving several people, sometimes, across countries
through multiple jurisdictions.
“At the Seventh African Union
and Economic Commission for Africa conference that held in Abuja back in 2014,
former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki stated that Africa loses between
$50 billion to $60 billion annually as a result of Illicit Financial Flows
(IFF).
“These are said to occur
through forms of tax avoidance, including transfer pricing or mispricing,
depending on which side you are, through which multinationals minimise their
tax obligations by shifting their profits from high tax to low tax
jurisdiction, thereby short-changing some of their host countries, especially
in the developing world and draining them of legitimate revenue, impeding their
projects and denying their population access to basic services,” Amaechi noted.
He further explained that because economic crimes are
committed through networks, sometimes spread over countries, it is, therefore a
global problem that can only be effectively tackled through global
collaboration and partnership.
“As someone who has been in
active politics for more than 30 years, I have learnt that many well-intended
reforms are possible only if the leader can offer the requisite leadership and
muster the right political will. In my country, since our President, Muhammadu
Buhari, was elected, he did not leave anyone in doubt that the fight against
corruption will not only be taken seriously, but will form a cardinal plank of
his policy direction. So far, he has made several pronouncements that set the
tone of his commitment to strengthening anti-corruption agencies to go after
anyone who has questions to answer.
The president’s resolve was
enough signal to all of us, members of his cabinet and the citizenry, that an
end has come for the old ways of doing things. Currently, many people who have
been indicted in one form of corrupt practice or another are being prosecuted
in our courts. That, I believe is the way to show leadership and take
responsibility.
“Another important factor is
what I refer to as the force of example. There is very little any leader can
achieve if he talks the right political talk without offering personal
examples. In these days of internet and social media revolution, citizens often
spend time to scrutinize the reputation and activities of any leader to find
out if they are consistent with what he or she stands for in the media.
Essentially leaders must practice what they preach if they expect to be taken
seriously both by those within their organisations, state or country or
outside,” he stated.
Amaechi again gave the
example of President Mohammadu Buhari and his commitment to lead the fight against
corrupt practices through personal example.
Amaechi concluded that
economic crime has become a strong force that can only be successfully
confronted if all hands are on deck.“As an
interconnected and rapidly globalising world, it’s vital we work together, in
partnership, to collectively fight economic crime. This is a common enemy and a
very smart one for that matter.
“It seeks to beat every
barrier that we mount against it. It is my humble submission that we must hold
hands together as never before to confront the spread of economic crimes
squarely and successfully."Hon. Jeremy
Wright, the Attorney-General of England and Wales and Advocate General of
Northern Ireland also spoke on the first day of the week-long symposium.
Last Friday, Minister of Information
and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the N78 billion recovered looted funds were not
enough to revive the economy.
The minister, who spoke at
the News Agency of Nigeria Forum, said “the N78 billion and $3 million so far
recovered were not even sufficient to pay half of the Federal Civil Servants’
salaries in a month.“What we have recovered
and if my record is right, is about N78 billion and $3 million. We’ve blocked
other accounts with about $9 billion, but the money is not available to us
because we are still in court.
“The government spends N165
billion monthly on Federal Civil Servants. So what we have so far recovered
cannot even pay 50 per cent of the salaries in a month. What has been recovered
is so little compared to what we need on a continuous basis.”
Mohammed further said every
penny recovered would be “judiciously” spent, adding nobody would be able to
“re-loot” what has been recovered by the government.
-Sun
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