Mr Nnaghe Itam, said the
recovery followed a directive from the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who
directed the zone to look into some complaints over the distribution and
diversion of petroleum products during the last fuel crisis in the country.
The North-West zone of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has recovered N54,535,651,183.74 and
another $622,200.00 (N190.1m) within the last 10 months.
Briefing newsmen in Kano,
on Tuesday, the Zonal Head of Operations (North-West Operations), Mr Nnaghe
Itam, disclosed that the zone, within the period under review, had 214 cases,
while 34 were currently undergoing prosecutions.
He pointed out that the
anti-corruption agency secured 23 convictions during the period.
The EFCC zone, comprising
Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states, according to
Itam, also recovered some properties, which included eight houses, nine plots
of land, three trucks and a car.
He said all the funds and
properties were recovered from fraudsters and politically exposed persons,
adding that the funds belonged to the Federal Government, corporations and
individuals.
He said that the zone’s
investigation into the complaints yielded a refund of N54,393,106,143.00 to the
Federal Government by some marketers.
The zonal head of the EFCC
disclosed that some marketers collected petroleum products, sold them but
refused to remit money to the government’s coffers.
Itam said, “I will also
like to draw your attention to our proactive enlightenment campaigns within the
zone in a bid to highlight what we can do to reduce corruption by not joining
the corruption chain.
“It is important also to
note that government is still the most active driver of the Nigerian economy.
Our efforts are largely concentrated in tackling fraud relating to tax revenues
within the business community in Kano.
“We have recovered millions
of naira for the Federal Inland Revenue Service and are working to ensure that
value is derived by government through an appropriate collection of taxes,
rates and royalties.’’
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