A staggering amount of more than 380 billion US dollar has either been stolen or wasted by Nigerian governments since independence in 1960, the chief corruption fighter has said, according to BBC Online Friday.
Nohu Ribadu said the worst period for corruption was the 1980s and 1990s, but currently two-thirds of governors are being investigated by Mr Ribadu’s agency.
Nigeria is Africas biggest oil exporter but most people are poor. The country is regularly ranked as one of the most corrupt by graft watchdog Transparency International.
President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in Ekiti State on Thursday after the governor was found guilty of siphoning (overføre) state funds into personal bank accounts and receiving kickbacks.
Mr Ribadu said he had come up with his figure of 380 billion dollar stolen or wasted since independence “easily” through records kept by the Nigerian central bank and the ministry of finance.
– Basically, this money has gone to waste, nothing much to show for it, he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme. The money could have bought 32 million primary school rooms or 3.800 kg rice for each Nigerian
lMr Ribadu has led Nigerias battle against corruption as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The EFCC says in the past two years it has recovered more than 5 billion dollar and has successfully prosecuted 82 people.
Mr Ribadu said that 140 million dllar had been recovered from one unnamed former Nigerian leader and that nearly 400 million dollar of illegally gained assets had been identified in the possession of a former governor of Bayelsa State.
Last year, Nigeria recovered 458 million dollar found in Swiss bank accounts linked to the countrys late military ruler Sani Abacha.
