From Sola Ojo, Abuja
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has called on the Federal Government to ensure that the N853 billion recently recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is deployed transparently and directly to critical sectors of development.
He warned that Nigerians are tired of mere announcements of recovery assets without visible impact.
“The EFCC deserves commendation for recovering such a huge sum within one year.
“But we must also be honest with ourselves. This is just a tiny fraction of the billions looted from our public treasury over the years. Nigerians want to see impact, not just figures on paper,” Obi wrote on his X handle on Friday.
Obi stressed that the ultimate test of anti-corruption is not recovery but accountable utilisation.
“We must be able to trace where and how these recovered funds are invested. Every kobo retrieved should be turned into classrooms, hospitals, skills, and opportunities for ordinary Nigerians,” he insisted.
The former governor of Anambra State pointed to the country’s worsening poverty and education indices as evidence that recovered funds could be a lifeline if properly channeled.
“Today, Nigeria has over 20 million out-of-school children, the highest number in the world. We also have over 100 million citizens in acute poverty, again the highest in the world,.
“Both figures are worse in the North, and all efforts toward reducing the situation remain imperative,” he said.
He argued that strategic investment of the N853 billion could drastically change outcomes in education and poverty reduction.
“For instance, the 2024 Federal Government’s operational budget for Universal Basic Education contribution was about N251.47 billion.
To him, “Tripling this would require an additional N503 billion. That money can come from the recovered funds.
“The remaining N350 billion can be distributed directly to the 19 Northern states as microcredit loans for the poor.
“Many of these states have long been applying for as little as N2 billion from our development banks. Imagine what N350 billion could achieve.”
Obi warned that if the recovered funds are not transparently utilised, the announcement would amount to another “empty ritual” of figures without substance.
“Let this not just be another announcement of recovery,” he declared. “Let it be the beginning of a new era of accountability, where Nigerians can actually see the money working for them.”
The EFCC had on Thursday disclosed that it recovered N853 billion in one year from crime proceeds, describing it as a major step in its anti-graft fight.
