Looters in trouble as FG strengthens anti corruption strategies

*We won’t take up issues with NASS over Magu, says Malami

*Court orders FG to make public names of suspected looters

The era of impunity where looters used technicality to escape justice appears to be coming to an end as the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Wednesday approved a new anti corruption strategy intended to strengthen the enforcement and sanctions of economic and financial crimes in the country.

The new policy, known as National Anti Corruption Strategy, is meant to be a roadmap for the enhancement and sanction of processes associated with anticorruption.

Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), made the disclosure while briefing journalists during the Federal Executive Council at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Malami said that Ministries, Department, Agencies, Legislature, Judiciary, Civil Society group and religious bodies have all come together at a forum and developed a National Anti Corruption Strategy which was presented to FEC and approved.

The Attorney General said; “that policy has now been developed by all these components and was today presented to FEC for approval.

Incidentally FEC approved the strategy and the roadmap is now that of implementation of the strategy towards the direction of collective buy-in as it relates to enforcement and sanctions relating to anti corruption crusade and drive.”

On the impasse between the executive and the legislature, the Minister of Justice said that the executive would not take up issues with the National Assembly members adding that it was not an issue for FEC to make any clarification about because it has never been discussed by the council.

“The fundamental consideration about the alleged statement is the fact that at no point ever did the Federal Executive Council sit down to arrive at the decision in one way or the other.

As far as the issue of nomination or otherwise is concerned. So I do not think it constitutes an issue for the Federal Executive Council to make any clarification about because it has never been considered by the FEC,” the minister of justice added.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has said that the remark made by the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo about the screening of nominees by the Senate was misconstrued but steps were being taken to resolve the rift amicably.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, on Wednesday in Abuja said that the remarks about screening of nominees for appointments did not originate from the Acting President.

He said that the government or its cabinet has not taken any decision on such an issue.

“Our understanding is that some remarks made by the Acting President some months ago when he was the Vice President, because the President was around at that time, was just an opinion which is now being misconstrued.

“There is no official position by the government of Nigeria and the Federal Executive Council never sat down to take a decision to say that some categories of officials will not be sent to the National Assembly any longer or that the authority of the Senate under the constitution to screen and pass nominees has never been questioned by the government or the Federal Executive Council,” he said.

According to the Presidential Spokesman, in compliance with the provisions of the law, the executive arm has been sending the names of its nominees to the National Assembly for screening and it will continue to do so.

Expatiating on the issue, the minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said that the the issue would be addressed saying that the executive has “a very excellent mechanism for resolving whatever issues is between us and the National Assembly.”

“Whatever may be the problem between the executive and the national assembly we have an excellent mechanism for resolving it. I don’t think we need to go to specific statements as to what was said by A or B, we believe that government is not one arm, but both the legislative, executive and judiciary arms, whatever might be the problem we are resolving it and we are addressing it.”

He however refused to give details of steps taken by the executive to resolve the impasse between the two arms of government.

To add fillip to the anti graft war, a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on Wednesday ordered the federal government to without any further delay, make public the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered.

Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari said the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official should be disclosed.
The judge arrived at the decision while delivering judgment in a Freedom of Information suit no: FHC/CS/964/2016 and filed by a nongovernmental organization, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari held that the Federal Government has a legally binding obligations to tell Nigerians the names of all suspected looters of the public treasury past and present.

The judge declared that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the defendants are under a binding legal obligation to provide the Plaintiff with up to date information relating to the following:

“To widely disseminate including on a dedicated website information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered since May 2015, and the circumstances under which stolen public funds were returned.”

The suit, which has as defendants the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed and the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, came consequent upon the disclosure in 2016 by the FGN of funds recovered from some high-ranking public officials and private individuals.

The Ministry of Information had last year published details of the recoveries, which showed that the Nigerian government successfully retrieved total cash amount of N78billin, $185million, £3.5million and €11, 250 between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016.

Also released were recoveries under interim forfeiture, which were a combination of cash and assets, during the same period: N126,563,481,095.43, $9,090,243,920.15, £2,484,447.55 and €303,399.17.

Anticipated repatriation from foreign countries totalled: $321,316,726.1, £6,900,000 and €11,826.11.
The ministry also announced that 239 non-cash recoveries were made during the one-year period.

The non-cash recoveries are – farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and maritime vessels.

This prompted SERAP to issue an FOI request and gave the Minister of Information 14 days to disclose the names of all suspected looters.

The request reads in part: “While we believe that suspects generally are entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, SERAP opposes blanket non-disclosure of names of high-ranking public officials from whom some of the funds were recovered.

“SERAP insists that the public interest to know is greater than any other legitimate interest that the government might wish to protect.

“The Nigerian government has an obligation to balance whether the risk of harm to the legitimate aim (that is secrecy of ongoing corruption investigation and presumption of innocence) from disclosure of the names of public officials is greater than the public interest in accessing the information.”