Lai Mohammed, the
minister of information, has revealed the amount recovered by Muhammadu
Buhari’s government so far.
Mr Mohammed stated that these funds can’t rescue Nigeria’s economy as
they are a far cry from what the country needs to revive the economy.
The minister said this
on Friday when he appeared on a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in
Abuja.
The minister, speaking during the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in
Abuja, added that the amount of money recovered is always being made
public.
He said: “What we have recovered and if my record is right is about N78
billion, and 3 million dollars.
“We have been able to block various accounts in which about 9 billion
dollar is found but those are not money available to us because we are
still in court over them.
“The government spends N165 billion every month to pay federal civil
servants, even what has been so far recovered will not even pay 50 per
cent of the salaries in a month.’’
Minister Mohammed gave assurance that every cent recovered will be
sensibly spent and nobody could re-loot what had been returned under the
incumbent government.
He further clarified that Nigerians should understand that what had been
recovered was so little in comparison with what the people needed on a
regular basis.
“N400 billion seems a
lot, but you must also understand that for three or four years
contractors were not paid,” he added.
“So, when we paid this money to contractors, they also use part of it to
settle their own debt, they use part of it to recall laid off staff.
“But the truth of the matter is that many of them have been paid, they
are yet to mobilise to site and they cannot do so until the rains are
over.”
Nigeria has recently announced its first recession since 1991, according
to Central Bank data.
The country has been slammed by low oil prices, attacks by Niger Delta
militants and foreign currency shortages.
The National Bureau of Statistics fresh report put estimated oil
production at 1.69 million barrels per day......
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