KANO — The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has disclosed that nigeria has recovered $700 million looted funds abroad.
The ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Aliyu disclosed this during a one day engagement with some selected media practitioners in the North-West and North-East held in Kano.
Aliyu said such looted funds would have been channeled to provide social amenities to better the lives of the citizenry in the country.
According to him, “Nigeria from 2017 till date recovered over $700 million. So asset recovery is the best strategy.
“The asset recovered would be used in developmental projects such as roads and health,” he said.
He further said the commission recorded recoveries of cash totaling N7.2 billion in the North-West and N43.3 million in the North-East regions as well as $1.066 million recovered in the North West.
He said the recoveries were made within 2 years between May 2023 to July 2025.
“We also engaged in Project Tracking and Financial Recoveries. A total of 1,440 projects were tracked, valued at approximately ₦271.054 billion. Of these, 767 projects valued at ₦112.737 billion were in the Northeast,
and 673 projects valued at ₦158.317 billion were in the Northwest. But the real story in project tracking is this: citizens
and journalists who flagged abandoned projects made these interventions possible, ensuring resources reached the intended beneficiaries.
“Our cash recoveries totalled ₦7.269 billion in the Northwest and ₦43.335 million in the Northeast, with a total
of $1.066 million also recovered in the North-West.
“We also seized assets in the Northwest, including 14 buildings, 25 plots
of land, and three farmlands.
“On Enforcement and Legal Actions, a total of 171 cases were investigated, with 117 in the Northwest and 54 in the Northeast. This led to 16 cases being
filed in court, with eight from the Northwest and the Northeast. Four convictions were recorded in each of the two zones,” the ICPC Chairman said.
He said Nigerians were gradually refusing bribery and can attain 90 per cent in four years if the whistleblower bill is passed into law.
He however, called on the National Assembly, NASS to expedite actions to pass the whistleblower bill into law to protect Nigerians and journalists to encourage them in the crusade against the menace.
“The UNODC-NBS
survey reveals that the North-West recorded the highest
bribe refusal rate in the country at 76%, while the NorthEast recorded 60%. This shows that ordinary people are willing to stand their ground against corruption.
“Equally encouraging is the growing courage to report corruption. Reports of bribery in the Northern zones rose from
4.7% in 2019 to 13.4% in 2023. More importantly, the share of these reports leading to formal action has almost tripled, from 16% in 2019 to 43% in 2023. These are not just statistics—they
tell real stories of Nigerians refusing to be exploited.
“I therefore call on the National Assembly to expedite the passage of the Whistleblower Bill, which will empower and protect the citizens and journalists to report corruption without fear.”
He said the commission have started implementing a programme titled “Accountability and Corruption Prevention Program for Local Governments initiative” to beem it searchlight and ensure accountability at the local government level and if fully implemented their will be value for money and the local government across the country will witness progress.
Earlier, the Executive Director, Center for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Dr. Umar Yakubu said the initiative by the ICPC is the first mechanism in the world that have been designed as proactive measures to prevent corruption and not after corruption is carried out.
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