Nigeria: Give back $17bn loot

2005-10-13 13:56

Akure - Nigeria's anti-graft agency says it is seeking foreign co-operation to repatriate about $17bn allegedly stolen from the treasury by state governors.

The money had been traced to some countries and efforts to recover it had reached an advanced stage, said the chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC), Nuhu Ribadu, speaking to a workshop on corruption on Wednesday.

Citing an existing international pact, the Mutual Assistance Treaties, Ribadu said the EFCC in collaboration with some foreign agencies and governments would soon obtain orders from the concerned countries for the forfeiture of the funds.

He did not disclose the names of the affected governors nor the countries in which the loot was stashed, but said the government's anti-graft war was on course.

"We can therefore safely say there is no more hiding place for the looters of our national treasure who parade themselves as our leaders," he said.

Money laundering law needed

Nigeria needed an effective money laundering law to win the war on corruption, Ribadu said, calling for the co-operation of state legislators in that regard.

"The new trend in corrupt practices at the state level, especially by the chief executives, calls for more pro-active role by state legislatures in their oversight functions," he added.

Billions of dollars in state funds are believed to have been stolen from Nigeria by top government officials in the past years.

Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of the oil-rich southern state of Bayelsa is currently standing trial in a London court on money laundering charges.

Scotland Yard detectives allegedly found around £1m in cash in Alamieyeseigha's luxury London mansion on September 15.

Last year, Scotland Yard detectives arrested Central Plateau state governor Joshua Dariye in London on suspicion of fraud but the case against him was thrown out by a Nigerian court because of his immunity.

Nigeria's 36 governors are immune from prosecution under Nigerian law while they are in office, though many are suspected of embezzling huge sums and smuggling them abroad to foreign accounts.

- AFP