- Femi Falana has called on the NLC to monitor how recovered loots are spent, as he disclosed that the EFCC recovered N750 billion in the last two years
- He disclosed that he wrote a letter to the minister of finance questioning how the money was being spent; but only got an acknowledgment that the letter was received
- Falana stressed that Nigeria has enough funds to meet up with its financial obligations and does not need to borrow from China or any other source
Femi Falana, renowned human rights lawyer, has informed the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has recovered N750 billion loots in two years, Tribune reports.
The senior advocate of Nigeria made the comment on Wednesday, February 28, at the ongoing 40th anniversary celebration of the NLC in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
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NAIJ.com gathers that he asked the Congress to monitor how the money is spent by the federal government.
He stated: “The EFCC has recovered N750 billion in the last two years. NLC must find out what we are going to do with the money.”
Falana decried the rate of corruption in the country; noting that what President Muhammadu Buhari is doing is just the tip of the iceberg.
He called on the NLC to rise to the nations’ defence by demanding accountability and judicious use of the recovered looted funds.
He stated: “The NLC has a role to play to protect the interest of the Nigerian people. That is why whenever there is a problem in the country, people will be asking where is NLC. If you say you are fighting corruption, we have nothing to lose but to join them to expose themselves.
“I told government publicly that what they are doing by saying they are fighting corruption is a tip of the iceberg; the real corruption is not being fought.
“I wrote a letter to the minister of finance and I itemised how this country can recover about 200 billion dollars and therefore they don’t need to go anywhere to borrow money but what the minister did was to write me back to acknowledge receiving the letter and that, it is receiving attention. And up till now, that letter is receiving attention.
“In 2006, the then CBN governor, Prof Chukwuma Charles Soludo gave 7 billion dollars to 14 banks and those banks have not paid back the money. Also in 2008 the CBN governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido gave to six banks N600 billion and up till now, the money has not been returned.
"You cannot say we are broke, pay back this money.
“You also remember the N100m that was released for the revival of the textile industry, but still these textile companies are still moribund. Where is the money? Also in the last 10 years, over N400 billion was released for agriculture, but yet we are hungry.”
Falana stressed that Nigeria has enough funds to meet up with its financial obligation, and does not need to borrow from China or any other source.
He stated further: “I am ready to give NLC documents so that when negotiating for Minimum Wage, they would be armed with facts and figures.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari queried the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over loot recovered from Nigerians and organisations.
The president asked the EFCC to urgently provide a detailed submission on amount of monies recovered so far by the anti-graft agency since the present administration came on board in June, 2015.
The EFCC was also asked to submit a detailed inventory of assets seized, including vehicles, jewelries and other valuables.
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Source: Naija.ng