Recovering Stolen Funds Will Be Easier If Buhari Invites Looters For Talks —Okogie
Former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has told President Muhammadu Buhari, to invite suspected looters of the country’s treasury for talks.
He said the President’s efforts to retrieve looted funds would be made easier if looters were allowed to return their loot without castigating them publicly.
Okogie speaking with PUNCH correspondent, said it was also cheaper to recover loot through dialogue than charging suspected public fund thieves to court.
He said, “I agree with the National Peace Committee that the President should tread softly and should set criteria that he is going to use. Corruption is endemic in Nigeria. That is why they are asking for caution: ‘Look at it properly,’” he said.
He also urged President Buhari to invite those suspected to have looted government treasury “to speak to their conscience.”
He warned that it would be difficult for the government to retrieve the loot as the suspects would use their financial resources to create legal hurdles for their prosecutors.
Okogie also attributed the increasing spate of corruption in the country to declining moral upbringing of children.
He said, “Look at the probe that is going on now, for example; how can one person manage to get (steal) one-point-something billion; not even million but billion, and very soon you will hear of trillions? Where did he get it from? That is how it is going on, and he is from a family.
“And if his conscience worried him, he will run to his pastor to say ‘I want to pay tithe — 10 per cent; this is my tithe.’ The pastor collects the tithe. Seeing that it is huge money, the pastor will ask him, ‘what can I do for you?’
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