Civil society organisations have raised fresh concerns over the non-utilisation of millions of dollars recovered from former public officials, warning that delays in deploying the funds could erode public trust in Nigeria’s anti-corruption drive.
The groups said about $50 million linked to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and $954,000 recovered from former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, remain largely unaccounted for in terms of impact, despite being repatriated for specific development projects.
The concerns were raised at a two-day town hall meeting on asset recovery and utilisation, where the Executive Director of the African Network for Economic and Environmental Justice, David Ugolor, disclosed that investigations by civil society groups showed that none of the projects tied to the recovered funds had commenced.
Ugolor said one year after the signing of the Galactica restitution agreement for the return of $52.88 million linked to Alison-Madueke, earmarked for the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project, there was no evidence that the funds had been deployed.
According to him, efforts to obtain details on the location and utilisation of the funds from the Rural Electrification Agency had yielded little response, raising concerns about transparency.
“Our findings show that no part of the Galactica asset has been utilised more than a year after the agreement was signed,” he said, adding that while a portion allocated to international justice programmes had reportedly been used, the core development component remained untouched.
Similarly, the group decried delays in the use of $954,000 recovered from Alamieyeseigha, which was returned about three years ago for the development of primary healthcare centres in Bayelsa State.
Ugolor noted that despite the passage of time, the state government was still at the stage of selecting non-governmental organisations to monitor the project, with no visible progress on the ground.
He said civil society monitors who visited designated healthcare centres found that none had been upgraded or developed with the recovered funds.
While commending the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for its role in recovering looted assets, Ugolor stressed that recovery without transparent utilisation defeats the purpose of anti-corruption efforts.
He said Nigerians were increasingly asking critical questions about how recovered funds are spent, who benefits from them, and what safeguards exist to prevent re-looting.
He added that proper utilisation of recovered assets would not only deliver tangible benefits to vulnerable communities but also strengthen public confidence in governance and Nigeria’s asset restitution framework.
Ugolor warned that continued mismanagement or delays could undermine both national and international confidence in the country’s anti-corruption initiatives.
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