A statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has revealed that it recovered One hundred and Fifty-two billion Naira (N152,088,698,751.64) in 2021.
According to the commission, the headquarters recovered N67 billion, while the Lagos office recovered N70 billion.
Sokoto recovered N1.3 billion, Kano N1.7 billion, Maiduguri N970 million, Sokoto N1.9 billion, Ilorin N240 million, Port Harcourt N2.1 billion, Makurdi N121 million, Gombe N388 million, Uyo 234 million, Kaduna N3.3 billion, Enugu N768 million and Ibadan N325 million.
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Foreign currency recoveries amounted to $386 million and €156 Thousand. Bitcoin to the value of BTC5.36 and ETH0.0902 was recovered.
This is the first time in recent memory that the anti-corruption agency is publishing official, disaggregated data of recoveries.
In 2018, the commission’s then Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, stated that the agency recouped N794 billion stolen funds in three years. The same figure was also quoted in 2019 as recovery but this time it was for a period of 3 years.
The disparity in figures released and information not released on exact recoupments on an annual basis and non-disclosures on recovered funds even in government accounts all put a question mark on the values of transparency and accountability.
A report by Dataphyte had expressed concerns that despite the recoveries as quoted by EFCC, the Central Bank of Nigeria recorded Nil as the amount recovered between 2016 and 2019.
Nigeria has continued to restate its commitment to fighting corruption, although the country’s ranking on the Transparency Index has remained unimpressive, scoring 25 out of a possible 100 and ranking 149 out of 180 countries.
The country has also battled with proper management of recovered funds, a development that led to the Proceeds of Crime Act, meant to ensure proper management of recovered funds.
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