Unclaimed looted assets to be sold - Buhari

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has said the sales of all unclaimed looted assets which include lands and houses recovered by the government will soon begin.

The president said the proceeds will be deposited into government treasury.

Buhari said it was not surprising that the number of those disclaiming the properties traced to them by the country’s anti-corruption agencies had increased, because the government was following the right process to recover all looted assets.

“And we are still following the process, you know (in) democracy you have to follow due process and respect the rule of law,” Buhari told some of his local political allies in Daura, his homestead in Nigeria’s northern state of Katsina.

Nigeria has so far dealt with endemic corruption, especially in government circles, using preventive measures and asset recovery as key areas of focus, among other measures taken.

“If the money is in the government treasury, I will see who will come back after we leave office and reclaim them,” he added.

Buhari’s government has vowed to direct more efforts towards strengthening the whistleblowing policy in the country attributing it to the breakthrough recorded in the war against corruption and unaccounted wealth.

Last year, the country’s minister of justice and attorney general Abubakar Malami said the government was ensuring that various policies that were put in place to fight corruption bring back sanity in every sector.