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President Muhammadu Buhari has inaugurated a three-man Audit Committee on loot recoveries and management.
Members of the committee include Mr. Olufemi Lijadu, Mrs. Gloria Chinyere Bibigha and Mr. Mohammed Nami.
The Committee expected to undertake an audit of all recovery accounts established by government agencies from the date of opening such accounts up to April 10, 2017, and report back in four weeks.
In his address during the inauguration at the State House Abuja, President Buhari stated that through his administration’s resolve to recover all stolen assets belonging to the country, “recovered assets are progressively being returned to designated accounts by the anti-graft agencies and other agencies of Government involved with the process”.
He however added: “In the course of implementing this exercise and given the number of agencies who are concurrently pursuing specialized initiatives and making recoveries for Government, it has become obvious that fundamental gaps still exist in ensuring that the recovered assets are accounted for, and managed in an accurate, transparent and logical manner”.
He said that “the decision to inaugurate this Audit Committee on the Recovery and Management of Stolen Assets within and Outside Nigeria today is therefore the next step in ensuring that all returns filed by the various agencies are accurate and consistent with actual recoveries made.
The President directed all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Banks, and Companies to give the Committee full cooperation because te committee’s assignement “is crucial not only to the harvesting of needed resources for our national development but also in setting out a fresh template of public accountability”
“Where it becomes necessary, the Committee will of course rely on existing laws to compel the production of information and will also have the benefit of necessary interventions by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in obtaining such information through legal processes, where so required”, he said.
Meanwhile, today’s Federal Executive Council meeting was held at the Conference Room of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari’s office.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, had earlier explained that the meeting will not hold at the Council Chambers of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, where it was usually held because of “technical issues”.