The Presidency yesterday made good on its promise to reveal the amount recovered by the president Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in its one year fight against corruption.
The release of the details of the recovered loots has subsequently caused several reactions among the citizens as most have agitated that the Federal Government published a rather substandard list as it lacked the names of looters and amounts recovered.
Here are some of the reactions gathered by news agency, Punch as regards the matter:
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, though its President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh (SAN) in reaction challenged the President to publish the names of the looters. He said: “For us, it is always important that the promises our leaders make to the people are kept. I believe that if there is any legal impediment that prevents the President, who
is a forthright person, from keeping a promise he has made to the Nigerian people,
he should let Nigerians know.
“It is also important that we know the quantum of recoveries made from various
persons so that it will be something that is known to every Nigerian and there would be
no challenge. How did you arrive at the figures that are out there if you don’t put not
just names but reasons (to the recovered loots)?
“Tomorrow, you could hear that (after) all the amounts that Mr. ‘A’ or Mr. ‘B’ looted, nothing was done. You could also start to hear that the loot recovery was only targeted at those who weren’t supporting the president.”
Also in the same vein, Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, also expressed its dissatisfaction at the ‘detailed’ reports of the Federal Government on the recovered loots as it noted that nothing was revealed in the information presented to the citizens.
Mr. Yinka Odumakin, the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, said: “As far as we are concerned, there is nothing new on the list shown to Nigerians. Anybody can just put figures together. Where are the particulars of the recovery? From who were they (the loot) recovered?
“In the last one year, different rumours have been flying about with regard to those who
refunded billions of naira and dollars. The figure they have released now is too opaque;
it is not transparent and does not lend credence to their claims. Anybody can just
write anything and throw it out (to the public).
He continued: “We need the particulars; from who were the monies recovered? If they don’t do that, then, they are just wasting our time; they are just
making a mockery of the whole process. They talked about naming and shaming, let
them release the names. As it is now, there is no revelation yet before Nigerians.”
The Ijaw National Congress while expressing its take on the published information through the group’s spokesman, Mr. Victor Burubo said: “This is not the first time they are
doing this to Nigerians. In the appointment of ministers, the President said he wanted to
appoint spectacular people and this took him six months. But he ended up appointing run-
of-the-mill ministers.
“On the amount recovered as loot, many figures were mentioned but we have virtually
nothing. If the President promised to name the looters and at the end, he could not do
so, it means he has succumbed to the pressure from the looters.”
Also, the Youth wing of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ohanaeze Youth Council through its president, Mr. Okechukwu Isiguzoro, faulted the Federal Government’s move to hide cogent details from the masses and demanded full disclosure of the names of looters.
Isiguzoro said: “Nigerians have been anticipating the release of the looters’ list for a while now; it is disappointing that the government only came out with figures. Inasmuch as the people need to know the amount that was recovered, they should also know the identity of persons that stole the money.
“In fact, if the Federal Government is sincerely fighting corruption, it should
disclose the identity of those that stole and returned money. It appears that there is a
deliberate attempt to shield looters and that is totally unacceptable. Nigerian youths are not impressed.”