Former chairman of the Special Investigation Panel (SPIP) for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla, has in a shocking espouse alleged that recovered loot was returned to looters during the Buhari administration.
In an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Mic On Podcast, Obono-Obla described corruption in Nigeria as “very bad” and stated that his efforts to bring looters to justice were frustrated by Abubakar Malami, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, and other officials.
He revealed that he recovered over 80 brand new Mercedes Benz cars from a individual in Jabi, Abuja, but the loot was returned.
Obono-Obla said, “Some of the things I recovered were returned to the looters.”
He also mentioned that he wrote to Customs and FIRS to inquire about customs duties and tax on the vehicles, but they responded that no duties were paid.
Despite obtaining an order of interim forfeiture from the court, Obono-Obla claimed that Malami told him he never mandated him to investigate the case.
The SPIP was established by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in 2017 to recover Nigeria’s looted assets and investigate corruption cases, but it was dissolved by President Buhari in 2019 and its investigations taken over by Malami.
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