Yakubu
Dogara, has described as unimaginable, the scale of corruption so far
uncovered by anti-graft agencies. At a meeting with newspaper editors in
Abuja, on Saturday, the speaker of the House of Reps said he was
shocked by the monumental looting of the treasury in the past, citing
the discovery of billions of looted fund buried in a farm in Abuja.
He explained that operatives of anti-graft agencies had been busy moving the cash out of the farm.
Dogara said he had never heard of such impunity in which people “stole
for the sake of stealing,” decrying the latest antics of suspected
looters to bury their loot in farmland.
“But, if I am just arrested, charged to court and maybe some money
recovered from me and, at the end of the day, nothing happens, a lot of
people may not be deterred in the future from engaging in corrupt
practices.
“If you look at the massive looting of the treasury (actually, I have
been in government for quite some time), I never could have imagined the
scale of corruption that we are witnessing right now, where people took
lot of money running into billions and buried them in farms.
“As we are speaking now, they are recovering monies from someone’s farm
somewhere around Abuja. It is very unfortunate where people stole money
just for the sake of stealing,” he said.
While acknowledging the criticism against the anti-graft agencies on the
pace of work, Dogara noted that the agencies appeared overwhelmed by
the volume of challenges arising from the current war.
Nonetheless, he said the agencies should do the needful so as to remain on top of its game.
“If you were the one in charge of fighting corruption, you would have
even been shocked by the scale of the problem. I guess part of the
problem we have is that the scale of the problem far outweighs the
anticipation of the agencies. So, if care is not taken, we may not get
things right in the process. They will have to keep their heads level to
be able to be in charge of the fight and to do it effectively.”
Tribu