been inundated with information of how looters have resorted to burying
stolen funds in their backyards, deep forests and burial grounds.
The
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who disclosed
this in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos, said the whistle blower
policy is working and has led to the recovery of more looted funds in
many currencies.
Mohammed assured in a
statement signed by his Special Adviser, Mr Segun Adeyemi, that all the
recovered looted funds were safe and government will give full account
to Nigerians.
The minister thanked Nigerians for their
enthusiasm and commitment in helping the government to tackle corruption
through disclosure of useful leads to appropriate government agencies.
“Since we launched the whistle blower policy, we have received immeasurable support from Nigerians.
“Yes,
there is monetary reward for any information that leads to recovery of
looted funds, but from what we have seen, most of the Nigerians who have
come forward with useful leads were driven by patriotism rather than
reward.
”Nigerians, fired by a fervid resolve to help banish
corruption from their country, have daily inundated the offices of the
appropriate government agencies with valuable information.
“We
have been told how looters have resorted to burying stolen funds in
their backyards, in deep forests and even in burial grounds.
”Thanks
to whistle-blowers, it is now clear that a rapacious few have pillaged
the nation’s wealth through a vicious orgy of corrupt practices,” he
said.
The minister, however, noted that more funds were in the
possession of looters than were available to government at all levels to
meets its obligations including paying workers’ salaries and providing
social amenities.
He stressed that the government will not
abandon the policy for whatever reason, but will continue to rejig it
and make it more effective as a tool for fighting corruption.
The
minister assured that as soon as the necessary reconciliation process
and the litigation in some of the cases were concluded, government would
give full account of the recovered looted funds to Nigerians.
Mohammed
re-assured Nigerians who have useful information on looted funds that
the government will protect their identities and give them their
stipulated reward.
