Nigerias President Umaru YarAdua said Wednesday that 3,4 billion US dollar (ca. 17 milliarder DKR) has been recovered in an anti-graft campaign he launched on coming to power last year.
In a national address to mark Nigerias 48th independence anniversary, YarAdua said the recovery of the funds was proof that his zero-tolerance policy on graft was having an effect in a country ranked among the worlds most corrupt.
A senior government official, who asked not to be named, said the funds recovered might in the past have ended up lining the pockets of federal ministry or state government employees, but that the current administration was more cautious.
– They were afraid the president may say they were extravagant, so they only spent what was approved by the cabinet and what was needed for salaries and running costs, he said.
YarAdua vowed to “frontally face up to Nigerias development challenges, and set the nation on an assured path to becoming a properly grounded stable democracy and one of the worlds 20 largest economies by the year 2020”.
YarAdua painted a picture of an “economy on a strong footing with an average growth rate of about 6,9 percent, external reserves of about 63 billion dollar, and the naira (the local currency) appreciating steadily against the major currencies.
