The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has raised concerns over the alleged disappearance of stolen public funds recovered during the tenure of former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a post on its official X handle on Wednesday, SERAP disclosed that the missing funds were uncovered when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) management could not account for them.
SERAP stated, “BREAKING: Recovered stolen public funds between 2016 and 2019 are reportedly missing from the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN]. The Auditor-General of the Federation wants the CBN to account for the money.”
The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) had earlier challenged the Nigerian government’s claim on the amount of looted funds recovered from 2015 to 2022.
While the Buhari government disclosed recovering over one billion dollars during its seven-and-a-half-year tenure, HEDA Resource Centre expressed disagreement with the stated figures.
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Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, asserted in a briefing with journalists that $1 billion in looted funds had been recovered by the Buhari-led administration.
Malami further claimed that the funds were utilized across various sectors of the economy, including poverty alleviation.