Tinubu govt recovers N45b stolen funds, exposes individuals, entities involved in terrorism Says Lateef Fagbemi

The government has announced that it has recovered over N45 billion that was stolen from the nation’s coffers and has also exposed and sanctioned several individuals and entities involved in terrorist activities.

The government led by Tinubu has also verified that funds linked to these individuals have been taken back.

This disclosure was made by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, during the 40th Technical Commission/Plenary Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), held at the State House, Abuja.

Fagbemi said, “We have deployed over 1,500 officers to investigate and prosecute money laundering across these three agencies alone.

“This continuous investment has resulted in increased numbers of investigations, prosecutions, and convictions since 2021, with 5,118 investigations, 1,509 prosecutions, and almost 500 convictions achieved, leading to over 45 billion naira of illegal proceeds seized.

“We have also advanced in combating the financing of terrorism, and in particular, I am happy that we have exposed and sanctioned a number of individuals and entities connected to terrorist activity and seized funds linked to them.

“The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has become a global example and accomplished the goals set by the passage of its enabling legislation in 2018, which established it as an independent, autonomous unit.

“The unit has considerably widened the range of financial intelligence it can access and provide to other competent authorities.

“The Unit has also implemented a number of innovative technologies, including the Crime Records Information Management System (CRIMS), which has revolutionised our approach to intelligence sharing.