By Anthony Eze

Last week, a court in Lagos granted an order for permanent forfeiture of over nine billion naira and some millions of dollars belonging to the wife of a former President of Nigeria to the Federal Government. Similarly, it would be recalled that billions of dollars have been repatriated from the Abacha loot

The government, on its part, had promised to channel the recovered loot to support the poor and most vulnerable persons in the country. This seems commendable. However, there are concerns on the transparency of the modality it will use to determine the poorest members of the society. The Nigerian public deserves to know the yardsticks to be used for this purpose.

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who disclosed this in Abuja, said that the decision was part of the agreement the Federal Government reached with the Swiss authorities before the loot was returned. Many Nigerians have expressed reservations about whether the Swizz government has the right or not to dictate how such funds would be used.

However, the vice president had argued that since Nigeria was a signatory to the Global Forum on Assets Recovery, which facilitates the return of stolen funds stashed in foreign jurisdictions, it makes sense to respect the wishes of the Swiss authorities. While the government deserves a path on the back for successfully working towards the repatriation of the loot and still pushing for the return of many more in safe havens, there are fears that the money may not be spent on the targeted poor.

Government’s plan to support the poor with the loot raises some pertinent questions: how will the government determine the poorest people in the society, and with what measurement will it do that? What specific agency will monitor the disbursement of the money? What makes one eligible to benefit from the largesse? The public needs to see the list of the poor nationwide.

There is no doubt that the worsening condition of the poor poses grave danger to the society in general and it will be tragic if the funds earmarked to ameliorate the condition of the poor is either misapplied or misappropriated. Admittedly, the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme (SIP) is said to be paying five thousand naira monthly stipend to some of the “poorest and most vulnerable persons” to cushion the effects of hunger.

However, the scheme and the social safety net programme currently being implemented through the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme have come under sharp criticism for not being inclusive enough.

Careful steps must therefore be taken to ensure that the fund is not diverted into politics. The Federal Government should carry the state governments along before deciding exactly on areas that the loot and other recovered funds should be invested in. Investing the money in infrastructure will have multiplier effect that will boost the economy. After all, the loot belongs to Nigeria and the component states.

The government should publish the list of the poor nationwide and how it arrived at the figure. It is also important that part of the money be invested in specific infrastructure projects with timelines. Investing the entire loot exclusively to support the poor may lend itself to fraud, thereby defeating the purpose. Nigerians would not want the recovered looted funds to be looted again.

The government should be circumspect not to fritter away the loot. The risk of doing so is fraught with dire consequences. The immediate consequence is that other foreign governments, housing our stolen funds, may be reluctant to repatriate them. A transparent spending of the loot will shore public confidence in the government’s anti-graft war.

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