Kemi Adeosun: Fear not, recovered funds will not be re-looted

Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, has reassured Nigerians that the cash recoveries being made by agencies of government in President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption drive will not be re-looted.

Fielding questions at a press conference on the World Bank, IMF meetings in Washington, Adeosun said the country now has a single account for reconciling recovered funds, to avoid re-looting.

“We have a recovery account. All the recovered monies go into the recovery account which we reconcile,” Adeosun said.

“Now, in the budget, there was the provision that some recovered monies would go into it and that goes into specific projects in the budget. Any excess recoveries we have to wait and take some decisions. So far, we have recovered up to the amount we are expecting in the budget.

But what we are trying to do is to make sure that there real controls, that was why we created a central recovery account. What we also discovered is that so many agencies are recovering and we must keep and eyes on those recoveries, otherwise there is the risk of re-looting.

“So, all the agencies that recover send us their returns monthly and then we sweep it into a central account which is kept by the Accountant General, so that we can reconcile.

“Even some of the cash that is recovered, we have to make sure it goes into the bank. You’d be surprised; some agencies will recover cash, and they think it is evidence, and we are saying no, its money, put it in the bank.

“This is something that is new and I think it is a good thing. As we recover more, we get better at it. It is a new thing in Nigeria.”

According to SBM Intelligence, a consulting firm, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recorded  38 recoveries, which amount to N146.4 billion, $217.3 million and £2.074 million, as at April 19, 2017.