Innocent Anaba
17 July 2008
Lagos — The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to investigate the management and spending of recovered stolen assets between May 1999 and May 2007.
The organisation also wants the IPCP to establish whether such recovered assets have been re-stolen, misused or mismanaged and to ensure that suspected perpetrators are brought to book. SERAP, in the petition by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said "the Obasanjo government recovered over $2 billion of public assets stolen by the late General Abacha. Moreover, in December 2006, La Declaration de Berne, a Swiss humanitarian group, put the overall recovered stolen assets from Abacha and other high ranking government officials at $700 billion.
However, the exact amount of stolen funds that were recovered by the Obasanjo government remains unknown, and may be far higher than the figures mentioned. Some of the recovered stolen assets had been given to the following ministries: Power, Works, Health, Education and Water Resources.
Given the massive stealing of public money that took place during the Obasanjo government, we fear that some, if not all, of the recovered stolen assets may have been re-stolen, misused or mismanaged. In fact, there is strong evidence that about $500m of recovered stolen funds by Abacha have got missing and may have been re-stolen, misused or mismanaged."
Further SERAP said, "we are concerned that the Yar'Adua government has failed and/or refused to release to the public information on the exact amount of money that have been recovered and the use to which recovered stolen assets have been put."
"Re-stealing recovered stolen assets cannot be justified legally or morally, and makes nonsense of Nigeria's international anti-corruption obligations and commitments. Indeed, effective management and transparent spending of recovered stolen assets is a fundamental principle of the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a party.
It is, therefore, important to obtain an accurate account of the management and spending of recovered stolen assets in order to establish whether the recovered assets have been properly used or re-stolen, misused or mismanaged".
According to the petition, "the efforts to fight corruption in Nigeria will not achieve the desired result if there is no proper, transparent and accountable management of recovered stolen assets. The investigation by the ICPC into the management and spending of recovered stolen assets would provide the much needed accountability and put a stop to a vicious circle of stealing of public funds."
SERAP, is however, calling on the commission to prevail on the Nigerian government to establish a trust fund from the recovered stolen assets in order to address the developmental needs of the victims of corruption in Nigeria. This would help to address the discrimination, hunger, exclusion and dispossession that have resulted from decades of acts of political corruption in Nigeria.
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