Nigeria’s stolen $5bn in frozen foreign accounts – Transparency International

Transparency International (TI) says it has traced an estimated $5 billion stolen from Nigeria to some frozen accounts in foreign countries.

It disclosed this in Abuja during a media workshop organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), local chapter of the TI in Nigeria.

The CISLAC policy advisor, Vaclav Prusa, said Nigeria was responsible for the highest illicit financial flow in Africa, adding that the estimated amount lost annually in Nigeria was between $18 and $25 billion.

Prusa added that should the $5 billion be returned to Nigeria, it would cover 20 per cent of the country’s 2021 budget for three months.

“In 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,” Prusa said.

“It 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’s important to rely on the media to push for these assets.”

Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said lack of transparency with regard to recovered funds in the country created room for re-looting and mismanagement.

“Currently, 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,” Rafsanjani said.

“This 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.

“CISLAC 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.”

On March 9, the United Kingdom had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government to return £4.2 million loot recovered from James Ibori, former governor of Delta, and his associates.