Buhari: President says CBN will soon publish names of looters

Buhari made the disclosure today, December 11, 2015, during the 15th session of the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation lecture at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will soon publish the names of those who looted Nigeria’s coffers.

Buhari made the disclosure today, December 11, 2015, during the 15th session of the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation lecture at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, The Cable reports.

“As I stated recently, a good number of people who abused their positions are voluntarily returning the illicit funds,” the president said.

“I have heard it said that we should disclose the names of the people, and the amount returned. Yes, in due course, the Central Bank of Nigeria will make information available to the public on the surrendered funds, but I must remark that it is yet early days, and any disclosure now may jeopardize the possibility of bigger recoveries.

“But we owe Nigerians adequate information, and it shall come in due course. It is part of the collective effort to change our land from the bastion of corruption it currently is, to a place of probity and transparency. Quite frankly, the anti-corruption war is not strictly about me as a person, it is about building a country where our children, and the forthcoming generations, can live in peace and prosperity.

“When you see dilapidated infrastructure round the country, it is often the consequence of corruption. Poor healthcare, collapsed education, lack of public utilities, decayed social services, are all products of corruption, as those entrusted with public resources put them in their private pockets. That must stop, if we want a new Nigeria.

“And that was why I said at another forum that people need not fear me, but they must fear the consequences of their actions. “Corrupt acts will always be punished, and there will be no friend, no foe. We will strive to do what is fair and just at all times, but people who refuse to embrace probity should have every cause to fear,” he added.

Buhari had revealed, during an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community in the Islamic Republic of Iran on November 24, that some looters had started returning money stolen by them but that his government would not stop until it had recovered every single cent.

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