The Federal Government’s whistle-blower policy has started yielding fruit as it has so far led to the recovery of $151million and N8billion in looted funds, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday, the minister said the looted funds, which do not include the $9.2 million in cash allegedly owned by former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, were recovered from just three sources through whistle-blowers who gave actionable information to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation.
Mohammed disclosed that the biggest amount of $136,676,600.51 was recovered from an account in a commercial bank, where the money was kept under an apparently fake account name, followed by N7billion and $15 million from another person and N1billion from yet another.
“When we told Nigerians that there was a primitive and mindless looting of the national treasury under the last administration, some people called us liars,” the minister said.
“Well, the whistle-blower policy is barely two months old and Nigerians have started feeling its impact, seeing how a few people squirreled away public funds.
“It is doubtful if any economy in the world will not feel the impact of such mind-boggling looting of the treasury as was experienced in Nigeria.
“Yet whatever has been recovered so far, including the $9.2million by the EFCC, is just a tip of the iceberg.”
He appealed to Nigerians with useful information on looted funds to continue to provide the authorities with such information, saying confidentiality will be maintained with regards to the source of the information.
The minister also reminded Nigerians of the financial reward aspect of the policy, saying “If there is a voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets on the account of the information provided, the whistle blower may be entitled to anywhere between 2.5% (Minimum) and 5.0% (Maximum) of the total amount recovered”.
