President Muhammadu Buhari said on Wednesday the world would see if his successors would return the loots and assets recovered by his administration from those who looted the nation’s treasury.

He recalled that stolen assets seized from looters during his military regime were returned to them when he was ousted in 1983.

Buhari said the present administration has been selling off assets recovered from looters and putting the money in the government coffers to forestall the incidents of the past.

The President was responding to a question on Nigeria’s anti-graft battle during a joint press briefing at the end of Namibian President Hage Geingob’s visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said: “We are pursuing people who have declared assets. But we find out that they have much more than they have declared. We follow them through their bank accounts to the companies they formed to the contracts they got.

“Sometimes they swear to Almighty God that their structures that cannot develop feet and run away does not belong to them. Then they are confronted with their bank accounts.

“Again, using my experiences when I was arrested and detained, people were given back what they have appropriated. This time around, I said we are going to sell them and put the money into the treasury and I will see whoever comes after that will have the courage to take money from the treasury and give to anybody.

“So, we are winning. But it’s very difficult under this multi-party democracy system. And we are getting the cooperation of countries. We are trying to sell the assets wherever we find them and bring the money into the Nigerian treasury.”

Buhari also said his administration would soon reorganize the nation’s judiciary to ensure effective fight against corruption in the country.

His administration, he said, plans to dedicate some judges to deal with corruption cases where all those found wanting in their dealings will be prosecuted.


The President added: “We are going to dedicate some judges to deal with corruption cases and try to put forward and prosecute all those that investigations proved that they have questions to answer.

“So that is what I’m telling you that we haven’t given up. We are doing our best and we will recover as much as humanly possible.”

On his part, President Geingob thanked Nigerian government for his support and assistance to Namibia via the deployment of Nigerian volunteers under the Technical Aid Corps.

The Namibian leader said he came to Nigeria to pay his last respect to late Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, whom he described as his mentor.

http://thenationonlineng.net/my-successors-dare-not-return-stolen-assets-to-looters-buhari/

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