Asset Recovery Has Been Monumental Under Buhari’s Administration – Sagay

The Chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay, has described the recovery of assets by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as “ a major match forward”

He said this while evaluating the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

“The recovery of assets has been monumental during this government’s tenure” Professor Sagay declared. “It is unprecedented and whether Nigerians who have short memories like to acknowledge this or not, it is a fact.”

According to the senior advocate, part of the recovered loots are being used to fund the present budget for the social intervention programmes of the government.

He added that the looting of the nation’s resources allegedly by public servants has down considerably and is being reduced drastically.

Sagay who said, “the beginning of wisdom now is the avoidance of looting,” was worried that the progress recorded in the area of asset recovery is not being noticed.

Instead, he said Nigerians were waiting to see those convicted of corruption being jailed, noting that it was the narrow aspect and not the most important part of the anti-corruption war.

The PACAC chairman said, “We may be too impatient about conviction, the administration of the Criminal Justice Act which sealed a lot of loopholes which created these long endless cases only came in force in 2015.

“We are just going to start seeing the effect of the impact of the act in the coming months. So, I expect that there’d be more and more convictions.”

Professor Sagay further commented on the recent list of alleged looters published by the government, saying it was in accordance with a court order and that more names might be unveiled soon.

He was also confident that the judges handling corruption cases cannot be influenced by the views of other people since they have the knowledge to make their opinion on the facts of the case before them.