According to Punch, public funds that have been returned by some past government officials who looted the treasury while in power are currently with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari during an interactive session he had with members of the Nigerian community in the Islamic Republic of Iran had previously said that some past government officials who stole public funds had started returning parts of their loot voluntarily.
However, he did not disclose the identities of the former government officials who have so far returned parts of the looted fund or the amount returned to the public treasury.
Punch however, revealed that the returned loot is with the CBN, although the amount could not be immediately ascertained at the time of filing their report.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, confirmed that the looted fund was being returned to government coffers through the CBN.
He said:
โThe looted fund is being returned through CBN. Only the bank can speak on the procedure, and how much has been returned so far.โ
โThe President has not made a declaration on whether those who returned money voluntarily would still be prosecuted or not.โ
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told journalists at Fridayโs Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meeting in Abuja that the govt hasn’t specified how much has been returned. She said:
โThere is no figure on the funds being returned yet. The process is ongoing. When it is completed and the accounts are available, they would be returned to where they were stolen from. We havenโt come to that yet.โ
