The attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami said the federal government recovered $1 billion, being looted funds, since 2025.
Malami disclosed this yesterday while briefing journalists at the end of the weekly federal executive council held at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He stated that the recovered money had been deployed to various sectors of the economy, including poverty alleviation.
The attorney general also said the preceding government recorded only 109 convictions before 2015, while the current administration convicted over 3,000 offenders and recovered about $1 billion to date.
He expressed the government’s concern over sundry cases of budget padding, describing the development as worrisome.
While noting that the necessary measures would be explored to address the menace, Malami announced the council’s approval of the new anti-corruption strategy document to strengthen anti-graft fight in the country.
He announced that the council had approved validation extension of the national anti- corruption programme to 2026.
He noted that the anti- corruption initiatives had helped the government to recover about $1billion stolen funds from the public coffers, adding that “the new anti- corruption strategy will strengthen the war against corruption between 2022 and 2026.”
Malami, while responding to question on budget padding, decried the practice allegedly carried out by ministries, departments and agencies.
Malami’s position on the matter came in the wake of several revelations from the ongoing MDAs’ budget defence in the national assembly.
Recall that the minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development, Ms Saddiya Farouq, had blamed the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, for adding N206 billion to the humanitarian ministry’s budget.
Farouq, who appeared before the senate committee on special duties on Monday to defend the 2023 budget, claimed that the ministry requested some projects for the North East Development Commission and the National Social Safety Net Project in the 2022 budget, which were not released, but was surprised to see an inflated amount in the 2023 budget of the ministry.
Malami, while responding to questions on the revelations alleging budget padding, stated that the federal government was studying the details and would do what was necessary to address it.
