There are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari and his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan may be set for another clash regarding the recovery of stolen funds from the nation’s coffers.
The reason for this may not be unconnected with what a source described as “the seemingly uncooperative disposition of some of those who are believed have siphoned funds from government coffers”.
The source added: “While some of those believed to have been involved have had their accounts frozen, some have lawfully been interrogated while confessions are being extracted. There are enough grounds to believe that the nature of discourse in the political sphere is creating an air of audacity such that the recovery of looted funds is not going at an encouraging pace in the face of overwhelming evidence.”
Vanguard has been able to establish, through individuals saddled with the responsibility of ascertaining and verifying some expenditure activities, that there were some contracts merely awarded on paper and for which payments were quickly made without corresponding jobs to show for the contracts.
It was learnt that high levels of fraud were discovered in the Ministry of Petroleum, Works, Nigerian Maritime and Safety Authority, NIMASA and in the procurement of arms and ammunitions for the prosecution of the war against Boko Haram, just to mention a few.
Indeed, members of some of the committees that Buhari has set up to ascertain the level of loss to the nation pointed out that the scale of the stealing of public funds, especially in the last days of the Jonathan administration, was so monumental that those asking for a soft-landing for the former president and his aides would be flabbergasted when confronted with the scale of looting that took place.
