EFCC chairman says he estimates that only about 15% of Diezani loot has been traced so far

ACTING Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman Ibrahim Magu has declared that he believes they have only located about 15% of the funds appropriated by former petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Since leaving office in 2015 and going into exile in the UK, Ms Alison-Madueke has been the subject of numerous investigations in Nigeria and internationally. She has been asked to forfeit UK properties worth over £11m and has recently been forced to surrender about N7.6bn hidden in a Nigerian bank to the government.

Yesterday, Mr Magu said only about 15% of funds allegedly misappropriated by the former minister had been recovered. He added that the commission was working with the United Kingdom on her case, noting that efforts were being made to extradite her back to Nigeria to face trial.

Mr Magu said: “We are working on the process of Diezani’s extradition but we have to allow the UK government because we are collaborating. There is the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service in London and our colleagues, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in America.

"We had cause to meet in London. I was there myself for about a week and we are working not only on the Diezani case but it has become a test case. It is even more notorious than the so-called Abacha loot because we have not seen anything yet and I’m sure what we have seen is not more than may be 15%.

He added that the agency was also giving attention to the welfare of its workers to avoid undue influence or temptation in the course of their assignments. According to Mr Magu, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission had been informed of the needs of the anti-corruption agency, saying there would soon be an upgrade of facilities.

I think it is going to be a long time before we get Diezani, that is why sometimes I think we should appeal to the looters to return the loot. Come and tell the government this is what I have stolen and since you have voluntarily complied with the instruction to bring back the loot, then the government will take a decision.

"I think it is the best way to go about it, otherwise, the monies would be wasted. Diezani has a lot of people who are well connected, like Jide Omokore who are international businessmen who have private aircraft and you can’t see any of them in Nigeria," Mr Magu added.

In addition, he pointed out that the EFCC was making efforts to involve experienced lawyers in order to reduce the rate of court cases losses. Mr Magu, who expressed a resolve to kill corruption, called for the support and collaboration from Nigerians, saying corruption was the greatest problem of the country.