President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in New York, told world leaders that his administration had recovered millions of dollars stolen from Nigeria.
President Buhari disclosed this on the sidelines of ongoing 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA74) in the United States.
According to a statement released by the President’s Spokesman, Femi Adesina on his Facebook page, Buhari spoke on “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows”, an event organized by AUDA-NEPAD in conjunction with the EFCC.
“President Buhari presented a keynote address, which was supported by President Edgar Lungu of Zambia, and President of Ethiopia, Sahlework Zewede. President of UNGA 74, Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, was also there, as well as key figures from round the world”, he said.
In his keynote address, Buhari lamented the evil that corruption was doing to Africa. Quoting from the 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report, the president noted that Nigeria alone lost minimum of $157.5 billion between 2003-2012, adding that such massive loss of assets resulted in dearth of resources “to fund public services or to alleviate poverty,” in the country.
According to him, “This is why, as Africans, we have no choice but to break the back of corruption…That is why our government has made it a war we intend to win. We will give all it takes to ensure there is no hiding place for purveyors of corrupt practices who are truly enemies of the people.”
Stressing the need to strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, President Buhari said that, “In the last five years, our government has made significant progress to curb corruption,” adding: “We have recovered millions of dollars stolen from our country.”
On his part, Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said, “There should be understanding, there should be collaboration, there should be repatriation; send it [Africa’s stolen wealth] back to the victim countries.”
