Nigeria to sell off unclaimed looted assets: president

ABUJA, Feb. 22– Nigeria will soon begin the sales of all
unclaimed looted assets which include lands and houses recovered by the
government, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday.

Buhari said proceeds will be deposited into government treasury as many
suspected looters had been denying the ill-gotten assets. According to him,
it was not surprising that the number of those disclaiming the properties
traced to them by the country’s anti-corruption agencies had increased,
because the government was following the right process to recover all
looted assets. “And we are still following the process, you know (in)
democracy you have to follow due process and respect the rule of law,”
Buhari told some of his local political allies in Daura, his homestead in
Nigeria’s northern state of Katsina.

The most populous African nation has so far dealt with endemic corruption,
especially in government circles, using preventive measures and asset
recovery as key areas of focus, among other measures taken. “If the money
is in the government treasury, I will see who will come back after we leave
office and reclaim them,” he added. The Nigerian government has promised
more efforts toward strengthening the whistleblowing policy in the country,
saying this has hugely contributed to the breakthrough recorded in the war
against corruption and unaccounted wealth. Last year, the country’s
minister of justice and attorney general Abubakar Malami said the
government was ensuring that various policies that were put in place to
fight corruption bring back sanity in every sector. – XINHUA