There were fresh indications, at the weekend, that President
Muhammadu Buhari and his predecessor, Goodluck
jonathan may be set for anotherclash regarding the
recovery of stolen funds from the nation’s coffers, Sunday
Vanguard can reveal authoritatively.
The reason for this may not be unconnected with what a
source described as “the seemingly uncooperative
disposition of some of those who are believed have
siphoned funds from government coffers”.
The source added: “While some of those believed to have
been involved have had their accounts frozen, some have
lawfully been interrogated while confessions are being
extracted. There are enough grounds to believe that the
nature of discourse in the political sphere is creating an air
of audacity such that the recovery of looted funds is not
going at an encouraging pace in the face of overwhelming
evidence”.
Sunday Vanguard has been able to establish, through some
individuals saddled with the responsibility of ascertaining
and verifying some expenditure activities, that there were
some contracts merely awarded on paper and for which
payments were quickly made without corresponding jobs to
show for the contracts.
It was learnt that high levels of fraud were discovered in the
Ministry of Petroleum, Works, Nigerian Maritime and Safety
Authority, NIMASA and in the procurement of arms and
ammunitions for the prosecution of the war against Boko
Haram, just to mention a few.
Indeed, members of some of the committees that Buhari has
set up to ascertain the level of loss to the nation pointed out
that the scale of the stealing of public funds, especially in
the last days of the Jonathan administration, was so
monumental that those asking for a soft-landing for the
former president and his aides would be flabbergasted when
confronted with the scale of looting that took place.
And contrary to the earlier denial in some quarters that the
American government was in possession of documents
indicting most aides of the former President, it was
understood that Buhari was, in fact, handed some of the
documents relating to such during his visit to the United
States of America last month.
It was learnt that the intervention of some individuals,
including some African leaders, tended to suggest to Buhari
that he needed to give his predecessor soft landing; and
indeed, the President had agreed but on the condition that
the aides and ministers who looted the treasury must return
the funds to the coffers.
It was with a view to avoiding what another source
described as a public embarrassment for the erstwhile
leader, that Jonathan visited Buhari earlier in the month.
“The President advised Jonathan to prevail on his aides and
ministers to return all they looted to enable him have access
to funds with which to work. But the President became
angry when Jonathan’s men became adamant”.
Continuing, a member of one of the verification committees
told Sunday Vanguard: “Most of Jonathan’s men would
have been arrested by now, but the President was being
mindful of the nation’s democracy and, therefore, decided to
pursue the matter in a civil manner. In fact, it was for this
reason that the National Economic Council, NEC, decided to
set up a special committee to ascertain the areas concerned
and deal with it”.
One of Nigeria’s billionaires on the Forbes’ list of wealthy
individuals once lamented aloud that “the amount of money
that has been stolen from government coffers is too
much”. He went on: “The President would need to find very
creative means of ensuring that those who stole money
return such funds. Yes, some of them are already making
useful statements and confessing but the truth is that these
people are also connected. In court, they can stall
whatever cases are brought against them.
“Therefore, when you heard President Buhari admonishing
those in the legal profession not to shield people from the
law, it was a veiled reference to the possibility of some
people escaping justice using the courts. These people
have stolen a lot and having such money in the hands of a
few individuals in a country is dangerous. “Whatever the
President needs to do, either in consultation or confrontation
with his predecessor, the funds must be recovered”.
Initially, Sunday Vanguard learnt, it was not the intention of
Buhari to probe the immediate past administration but it
was gathered that the President became perplexed upon
discovering the level of looting perpetrated by some aides
and ministers of the former President, which a source at the
Presidency described as monumental.
And in order not to be accused of witch-hunting some
perceived political opponents, the Special Committee on
looted funds chaired by the governor of Edo State, Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole, recommended to the NEC to appoint
external auditors to thoroughly look at the books and tell
Nigerians their findings.
A source at the Presidency informed Sunday Vanguard that
any one indicted by the audit report will likely face
prosecution and that will be the first signal to the world that
the President is determined to fight corruption. According to
the source, “and from what we are hearing, many heads will
roll, powerful Nigerians may go to jail. After that, every
Nigerian will know that any attempt to steal even a pin, in
any ministry, will be at your own peril”.
In the meantime, a Presidency source reacted angrily,
yesterday, to the suggestion that recent visits by some
former presidents to Buhari could dissuade him from
pursuing the looters of the nation’s treasury.
The source pointed out that no individual or group could
distract the President from his resolve to recover Nigeria’s
wealth from plunderers.
“Look, let me make it clear this President is not one that can
easily be influenced by anyone to change his mind from
doing what he knows will benefit the country,” the source,
an official in The Presidency, said.
“Those who insinuate that the visit by two former presidents
to Buhari was to persuade him to stop the recovery of looted
funds do not seem to understand him.
“No individual or group can stop PMB from recovering the
stolen money from whoever is involved, no matter how
highly placed.”
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