An estimated $5 billion stolen from Nigeria is frozen in accounts in foreign countries, Transparency International (TI) reveals.<\/p>\n
This was made known on Monday in\u00a0Abuja during a media workshop organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), local chapter of TI in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
CISLAC policy advisor, Vaclav Prusa said\u00a0Nigeria is responsible for the highest illicit financial flow in Africa, adding that the estimated amount lost annually in Nigeria is between $18 to $25 billion.<\/p>\n
Prusa added that should the $5 billion be returned to Nigeria, it will cover 20 percent of the country\u2019s 2021 budget for three months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the case of Nigeria, it is estimated that $5 billion stolen assets are frozen. What does this mean? It means this is money sitting somewhere in Switzerland or somewhere waiting for reparation,\u201d Prusa said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means even though some money have been repatriated from New Jersey, Switzerland back to Nigeria, there is a lot of money still out there. I think it\u2019s important to rely on the media to push for these assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director of CISLAC, said lack of transparency with regards to recovered funds in the country creates room for re-looting and mismanagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, various institutions like the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct Bureau, Nigeria Customs Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Nigeria police, and other agencies recover assets without synergy,\u201d Rafsanjani said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis lack of transparency in respect of recovered assets in Nigeria creates room for re-looting and mismanagement. The much-awaited Proceeds of Crime management Bill has not yet been signed into law, supposedly because of the power struggle within agencies about economically and politically lucrative mandate to confiscate and manage stolen assets.<\/p>\n
\u201cCISLAC plans to work with the media to uncover national and international cases of stolen corrupt assets with links to politically exposed persons. These assets need to be recovered, better utilised for a post COVID-19 economic recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An estimated $5 billion stolen from Nigeria is frozen in accounts in foreign countries, Transparency International (TI) reveals. This was made known on Monday in\u00a0Abuja during a media workshop organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), local chapter of TI in Nigeria. CISLAC policy advisor, Vaclav Prusa said\u00a0Nigeria is responsible for the highest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":12439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3433,592,769,3432],"class_list":["post-12437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-civil-society-legislative-advocacy-centre-cislac","tag-efcc","tag-icpc","tag-transparency-international"],"yoast_head":"\n