Presidency: why recovered cash can’t be made public yet

The cash recovered from former public officers under probe by anti-graft agencies will not be made public yet because it will be used as evidence against them in court, the Presidency said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Mallam Garba Shehu said much as President Muhammadu Buhari would have liked to let Nigerians know how much has been recovered, it will be impossible for now.

He said the money recovered is in the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), adding that “the issue of how much has been returned has been there. The money retrieved has to be used as evidence in court. The President said two things; we will recover and we will prosecute. So, as it is now, you don’t go and bring all these billions returned out.

“I am aware that there is an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) where some of these funds are being kept and are evidence for a judge to see. It is not for public display. I think that is the challenge we have at the moment.”

Shehu said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will soon hit the road travelling around the country to address town hall meetings, explaining government policies and actions. The town hall meetings, he said, will hold in the first instance at zonal levels before going down to state capitals.

Shehu said: “ Government realises that there is a need to take information to the people and there are steps that are being taken in order to ensure that this is done.”

Explaining the delay in the reconstituting government agencies, Shehu said President Buhari wanted to be fair to every chief executive of government agencies. “If he wanted to fire people on assumption of office, he would have done it and would not have violated any rule. But he decided to give everyone a chance to see whether they would imbibe the change mantra, and  be prepared to come along.”

He said with offices in the 774 local governments and state offices, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) needed to do more to enlighten Nigerians on the government’s policies.

“I will say with all sincerity that I know that the NOA has worried us in government. The people and the leadership never believed in what we are doing; they never believed in change and so, they just folded their arms and watched us in the last eight to nine months. When they are there, I believe the new leadership will begin to formulate things for agencies like that.”

While admitting that the government needs to do more in public enlightenment, Shehu said “to be fair to Minister of Information Lai Mohammed, I have never seen somebody as hardworking as that gentleman even as minister.  You find out that he doesn’t miss the talk shows on radio, from one radio station to another and then he will move to a television station, to a newspaper and all of that.

“I believe that more needs to be done. I agree with you. We have an agency like NOA with 774 offices nationwide; each has not less than five to seven officials and well-equipped. But you know also, sometimes democracy has its own dark side.”

On the fight against insurgency, Shehu congratulated Nigerians on the achievements so far recorded by the Buhari administration, adding that at the moment, no city in the country is under curfew, while military road blocks have been dismantled.

He said the biggest challenge facing the government in the fight against insurgency is rebuilding damaged facilities, adding that now that the budget has been passed into law, the much- expected implementation of the government’s campaign promises will begin to unfold.

The Nation