SAN FRANCISCO, July 05, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government as confirmed its agreement to publish the names of treasury looters as ordered by the Federal High court sitting in Lagos for Nigerians too see.
Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, disclosed this to State House correspondents on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
THEWILL recalls that the Hon Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari had in a ruling, on Wednesday, ordered the Federal Government to “immediately release to Nigerians information about the names of high ranking public officials from whom public funds were recovered and the circumstances under which funds were recovered, as well as the exact amount of funds recovered from each public official.” https://staging.thewillnews.com/court-orders-buhari-osinbajo-to-name-looters-of-public-treasury/
The judgement followed a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/CS/964/2016 brought by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the Federal Government seeking that the names of looters of public funds be made public.
In her judgment Justice Shagari had agreed with SERAP that “the Federal Government has a legally binding obligations to tell Nigerians the names of all suspected looters of the public treasury past and present.”
Reacting to the judgement, Malami declared that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government totally agrees with the ruling of the court and hence, will carry out the order as long as it does not amount to violation the rules of the court.
THEWILL recalls that the Ministry of Information, last year, published details of the recoveries, which showed that the Nigerian government successfully retrieved total cash amount N78,325,354,631.82, $185,119,584.61, £3,508,355.46 and €11, 250 between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016.
The ministry also announced that 239 non-cash recoveries were made during the one-year period. The non-cash recoveries are – farmlands, plots of land, uncompleted buildings, completed buildings, vehicles and maritime vessels.
