SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 5, 2016 — PAGE 3
LOOT RECOVERED BY BUHARI
N78billion; $185million, £3million
•Interim forfeiture: N126 billion; $9 billion; £2 billion •Why FG did not name looters —Presidency By Emmanuel Aziken & Levinus Nwabughiogu he Federal T Government said, yesterday, it had made cash
recoveries totaling N78,325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46 and •11, 250, from looters of public treasury, from May 29, 2015 to May 25, 2016. The disclosure was in fulfillment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to make public the details of the cash recoveries on his first anniversary in office. The President had said, in his broadcast to the nation on the first anniversary, that the details would be provided by the Federal Ministry of Information. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, also disclosed that Recoveries Under Interim Forfeiture (cash and assets) during the period t o t a l e d N126,563,481,095.43; $9,090,243,920.15; £2,484,447.55. According to the statement, said to have been based on the interim report on the financial and assets recoveries made by the various government agencies from May 29, 2015 to May 25, 2016, the Funds Awaiting Return From Foreign Jurisdictions totaled 321,316,726.1 Dollars; 6,900,000 Pounds Sterling and 11,826.11 Euros (Eleven thousand, eight hundred and twenty six Euros, 11 cents). It showed that Non-Cash Recoveries (Farmlands, Plots of Land, Uncompleted Buildings, Completed Buildings, Vehicles and Maritime Vessels) during the period total 239. Meanwhile, Sunday Vanguard has been made to understand that the reason why names of looters were not disclosed was because of the need to avoid the potential of truncating the cooperation that was already being enjoyed in the drive to recover looted funds - in the first instance from some of those from whom funds are being recovered, just as the
government did not want to jeopardize the willingness of others to return funds in their possession.
The following, the statement said, is the breakdown of the recovered cash and assets:
INTERIM REPORT ON FINANCIAL AND ASSET RECOVERIES MADE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA FROM 29 MAY 2015 TO 25 MAY 2016 Cash Recoveries
L-R: Mr Basil Omiyi, an Independent Director, Mr. Roger Brown, Chief Finance Officer, Dr A.B.C Orjiako, Chairman of the company and Mr. Austin Avuru, Chief Executive Officer, at the 2016 Annual General Meeting of Seplat Petroleum Development Company plc, held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, last week
Why FG did not publish names of looters’ In a related development, the Presidency, last night, defended its decision not to release the names of those who returned the
funds. It cited the fact that while some of those who returned money were not in any way guilty of any offence, publishing the names could deter those contemplating returning ill-gotten funds in their custody. A top Presidency source, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard , anonymously, said the administration was happy to have recovered as much as $9 billion without going to court as he said that a number of people still willing to return could be dissuaded by the publication of the names. “This thing is ongoing and one of the reasons why we did not release the names was that without going to court we were able to retrieve all that amount of money. If you release names, other people who want to do voluntary returns will not do so. What we need is the money and not the names”, he stated. “Secondly, many of those who returned the money are not necessarily guilty. For instance, if my party gave me money to go and campaign in an election, how am I to know that that money was from an illicit source? “For instance if money is given to a newspaper for publication, you cannot criminalise the newspaper because it did
Gunmen kill ‘two navy of s, offf icer icers, police inspect or s’ in River inspector or,, 25 other others’ Riverss By Jimitota Onoyume & Davies Iheamnachor 28 persons were feared killed in Rivers State yesterday. A community source told Sunday Vanguard that 16 were shot dead in Aluu, nine in Omagua and three in Isiokpo, all in Ikwerre local government area. The source said two naval officers, a police inspector and a nursing mother were among those killed. Chairman, Ogbakor Aluu, Mr Benson Gershon, confirmed the incident in his Aluu community to Sunday Vanguard. The Chairman, who said he was in a meeting at press time, said the gunmen stormed the community
shooting sporadically. The incident sparked tension in Aluu, Omagua and Isiokpo communities with residents fleeing. Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ikwerre local government area, where the communities are, Mr Sam Wonosike, could not be reached when Sunday Vanguard tried to call him on phone. Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, had told Sunday Vanguard before news of the incident filtered into Port Harcourt, the state capital, that he was out of the state on a 21-day assignment. His deputy, ASP Grace Koko, simply declined to comment on the development.
not know where the money came from. If the newspaper returns the money would it be fair to publicise the name of the newspaper. “If you listen to the mob you will just end up in the ditch. The practical thing is that we want more money to come in. And we don’t even know what are the terms of the agreement by which anybody returned money. “So, for those who are saying that we ought to release the names, they got
it completely wrong; it would be counterproductive. In fact, some people could go to court suing us for defamation and libel and then the whole essence would be lost and all people would be talking would be about the court cases. That is not what Nigeria needs now. What Nigeria needs now is to be focused and “ we believe we have taken the right step in letting Nigerians know how much has been recovered, $9 billion without going to court”.
14 Christian groups allege plan to islamize Nigeria By Caleb Ayansina coalition of 14 Christian groups has A raised the alarm over alleged
plan by the Presidency to turn the country to an Islamic State, “through the backdoor”, warning that such action contravenes Nigeria’s secular status. According to them, the Bill in the House of Representatives proposing amendment to Section 262(1) of the 1999 Constitution with a view to expanding the existing jurisdiction of the Sharia Court of Appeal and the state by including criminal matters was insensitive and inconsistent with democratic and republican ideals of the constitution and the Nigerian State. Members of the coalition include National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF); Nigerian Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF); Think Tank for the body of Christ(TTBC); Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON; Association of Christian Schools in Nigeria(ACSIN); Students Christian Movement(SCM); Christian Professionals Forum (CPF); Intercessors for Nigeria (IFN)and and International Prophetic Ministerial Association (Inc. Worldwide College of Bishops and Ministers: Africa, UK and USA.) The coalition also has Intercessors Without Walls IWW); Wailing Women International (WWI); Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship (FGBF); Nigerian Fellowship of Christian
Students (NFCS) and University Joint Campus Christian Fellowship (UJCCFF) as members. Several calls to the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), Mallam Garba Shehu, were not taken. The spokesperson for the coalition and National President of NCEF, Mr. Solomon Asemota (SAN); Prelate of Methodist Church/ Head of Christian Council of Nigeria bloc in Christian Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Udofia and Leader of CPF, Prof. (Bishop) Funmi Adesanya-Davies, tabled these demands at a press conference held on weekend in Abuja. Asemota said, “The proposed amendment is a desecration of the sanctity of the FCT as a symbol of national unity, which should be preserved. Nigeria’s membership of religious organisations and associations, particularly the Organization of Islamic Cooperating Countries and the Coalition of Islamic Nations against ISIS, is insensitive, against our best national security interest and democratic and democratic norms. “To maintain the unity, faith, peace and corporate progress of Nigeria, we demand that Shariah should be expunged from the constitution and Shariahbased public institutions, agencies and practices in the states should be abolished. In this respect we demand the return to status quo as per the Republican Constitution of 1963”.