New Telegraph

‘Nigeria loses N17bn ‘stolen’ assets to UK, UAE yearly’

In spite of the much touted anti-corruption war by the current administration, about N17 billion worth of assets are reportedly stolen by public officials in Nigeria and laundered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Kingdom (UK), annually.

The revelation came as 13 security chiefs and other public officials from Nigeria were allegedly implicated in a report on the illicit acquisition of about 800 assets worth over $400million located in Dubai and other cities in the United Arab Emirates.

The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), made these revelations yesterday at an international conference in Abuja. It said that of the 800 assets so far uncovered, the 13 security chiefs were linked to 216, while the remaining 584 have been traced to other public officials of Nigerian extraction.

The names of those involved in the money laundering scam were, however, not made public. The conference, which had as its theme – ‘Fixing Financial Flows: A critical Review of UK and UAE Policies, Laws and Practices in Financial and Non-Financial Institutions, – had in attendance representatives of anti-corruption agencies as well as foreign and local development partners. Chairman of HEDA, Olanrewaju Suraju, said that the UAE and the U.K. have been facing attacks for failing to live up to international obligations in curbing illicit financial flow, mainly perpetrated by politically exposed persons in Nigeria and other developing countries.

He said that the illicit financial outflows from Nigeria have continued to hurt not just the economy, but the well-being of poor and vulnerable Nigerians. Suraju further linked the desperate situation of the citizenry to the sharp rise in violence, which constitutes serious threats to the moral authority of the Nigerian state. “Politically exposed persons are not just politicians, but also their families, while enablers of illicit financial flow include dealers in precious minerals, professionals who enhance and sustain illicit financial flows.

“Nigeria should progressively review her international obligations like the United Nations (UN) Convention on Corruption, which has five focal points that include international cooperation, technical assistance, asset recovery and mutual legal assistance,” he said. Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, (PACAC) Prof Sadiq Raddah, who was at the conference, said the Federal Government of Nigeria was concerned about the challenge of illicit financial flow and its impacts on the country. Raddah disclosed that PACAC had recently set up a committee with a mandate to assist anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria to recover such stolen assets.

Similarly, the Deputy Country Director, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Dayo Olaide, observed that systemic corruption had dampened the enthusiasm of the electorate, leading to low voter turnout at successive elections in Nigeria. He recalled that the total number of voters that voted in a recent by-election held in Abia State, was less than three percent of the number of the registered voters, while voting in the last governorship elections recorded as low as 17 per cent of registered voters in some states.

“It is disturbing that public enthusiasm towards election is fading. The number of voters has continued to decline which raises the prospect of Nigerians becoming strangers in their own country and projecting a gradual decline in public trust in the process that produces elected leaders,” Olaide said. Other participants at the dialogue argued that government alone cannot tackle illicit transfer of funds from Nigeria and urged civil society groups, labour and public spirited individuals and institutions to join the crusade.

The conference was attended by representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Code of Conduct Bureau, (CCB). Other institutions represented at the event were the MacArthur Foundation, OSIWA, United Nations Office of Drug and Crime, (UNODC), Centre for Democracy and Development, (CDD) and members of the diplomatic corps.

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