President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said all assets seized from officials who could not explain how they got them would be sold and the proceeds put in the Treasury Single Account.
Buhari made the declaration when he received members of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, who paid him a courtesy visit at the State House, Abuja.
Pointing out that in the past assets seized from officials were later returned to them when a new government came in, Buhari vowed that such would no longer be the case.
He said he had given instructions that all forfeited assets be sold, “and the money put in the Treasury Single Account,” adding, “Let’s see who will now take back the money from the treasury, and give back to those people, as was done in the past.”
The President promised to scrutinise the cost of governance, and weed out possible corruption existing anywhere.
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commended members of the committee for the sacrifice they made in accepting the assignment to serve the country noting, “Some of the elite won’t trust you, and you will be alienated, no matter how close you are to them.”
Chairman of PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, who led the delegation, said Nigeria was lucky more than ever to have a person of President Buhari’s credentials as leader of government.
“We congratulate you for being a star of the anti-corruption struggle in Africa. You attach a lot of importance to the fight against corruption, and we have tried to achieve the aims you had in mind when you established PACAC,” he added.
Sagay noted that the committee trains and builds the capacity of anti-corruption agencies, and has helped to develop a programme of non-conviction assets recovery, which is recording great successes.
The group recommended some steps that could help in the fight against corruption. They include, re-establishment of the jury system for criminal cases in the country; setting up of a judicial commission on corruption in the judiciary, to be headed by retired judges under the auspices of National Judicial Council, NJC; passage of Proceeds of Crime Act by the National Assembly; the setting up of a Presidential Truth and Restitution Task Force; and a closer look at the cost of governance to weed out all vestiges of corruption.
