The federal government said Wednesday that $1 billion has been recovered so far under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
He said the recovered funds have been deployed to various sectors of the economy including poverty alleviation.
He said the federal government had recorded only 109 convictions before 2015, while the Buhari administration convicts over 3,000 offenders and recovered about $1 billion to date.
He said FEC approved validation extension of the Anti-corruption Strategy Document 2022 to 2026. A new policy which resulted from cooperation amongst Justice, to strengthen anti-graft fight in the country.
Malami also expressed government’s concern over cases of budget padding, which he described as worrisome, noting that every necessary measure would be explored to address it.
The minister, while responding to question on budget padding, expressed disappointments with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) engaged in budget padding.
He said the federal government is studying the revelations and will do what is necessary to address it.
“Which ever way one looks at it, budget padding is bad, because if you budget N5 billion for road and N3 billion of that fund is diverted, it means government has lost that money and it will take a longer period to complete the project. The government is concerned and will do what is necessary to address the issue,” he said.
