Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said around $15 billion (about N4.8 trillion) which is equal to about half the country’s foreign currency reserves was stolen under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration through fraudulent arms procurement.
President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is currently prosecuting indicted ex-public officials and has recovered around N80billion.
Osinbajo’s claims came weeks after Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said 55 people who were government ministers, state governors, public officials, bankers and businessmen stole 1.34 trillion naira ($6.8 billion) over a seven-year period, during the Jonathan administration.
Rueters quoted Osinbajo, who was speaking at a university in the southwestern city of Ibadan, as saying that the $15 billion figure which he alleged had been stolen “is more than half of the current foreign reserves of the country”.
“It is important to send a message that no public officer can steal the resources of this country and expect to escape,” he stated.
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