President Buhari Finally Discloses Amount Recovered From Looters

 

Lai Mohammed, the minister of information, has revealed the amount recovered by Muhammadu Buhari’s government so far.

Mr Mohammed stated that these funds can’t rescue Nigeria’s economy as they are a far cry from what the country needs to revive the economy.
The minister said this on Friday when he appeared on a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
The minister, speaking during the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, added that the amount of money recovered is always being made public.
He said: “What we have recovered and if my record is right is about N78 billion, and 3 million dollars.
“We have been able to block various accounts in which about 9 billion dollar is found but those are not money available to us because we are still in court over them.
“The government spends N165 billion every month to pay federal civil servants, even what has been so far recovered will not even pay 50 per cent of the salaries in a month.’’
Minister Mohammed gave assurance that every cent recovered will be sensibly spent and nobody could re-loot what had been returned under the incumbent government.
He further clarified that Nigerians should understand that what had been recovered was so little in comparison with what the people needed on a regular basis.
“N400 billion seems a lot, but you must also understand that for three or four years contractors were not paid,” he added.
“So, when we paid this money to contractors, they also use part of it to settle their own debt, they use part of it to recall laid off staff.
“But the truth of the matter is that many of them have been paid, they are yet to mobilise to site and they cannot do so until the rains are over.”

Nigeria has recently announced its first recession since 1991, according to Central Bank data.
The country has been slammed by low oil prices, attacks by Niger Delta militants and foreign currency shortages.
The National Bureau of Statistics fresh report put estimated oil production at 1.69 million barrels per day, down by 0.42 million barrels per day from the first quarter.