Shortly after his electoral win, President Muhammadu Buhari assured State Governors that the days of impunity, lack of accountability and fiscal recklessness are over. Speaking to the Governors in the Presidential Villa, President Buhari vowed to recover stolen funds and was certain that billions could be returned to the Federal Governments account.

Part of a statement issued by the presidency after the meeting stated:

‘’There are financial and administrative instructions in every government parasternal and agency. But all these are thrown to the dogs in the past… Honestly, out problems are great, but we will do our best to surmount them.’’

President Buhari has reached out to the international community in his battle against corruption. After a meeting between President Mohammadu Buhari and the United States Attorney-General, Loretta Lynch on the subject of the war against corruption. The United States has agreed to assist Nigeria recover all identified ill-gotten wealth stowed in the U.S and other countries in its jurisdiction. The American government will also train Nigerian judicial staff and prosecutors as part of efforts to combat corruption.  Recently the President has also reached out to Ghana in an effort to gain international community aid in recovering funds. It is believed over $1 billion of the federal governments stolen money made it to Ghana and the president is adamant in his actions on the recovery of the funds.

The president affirmed that the payment of national revenue into any account other than the Federation Account was an abuse of the constitution and clearly illegal. Months later, and we are able to witness the systematic return of stolen funds to the federal account.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC); one of the biggest harbourers of financial mismanagement has begun the process of recovering over $7 billion in over-deducted tax benefits. Quoting a report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari by the new Group Managing Director of NNPC.

‘’A reputable International Accounting Firm has been engaged by the NNPC to ascertain the exact amount due government on the Strategic Alliance Contracts entered by NPDC, where up to $2.46 billion of government money is to be recovered’.

The report also revealed that a total sum of $420 million has been reconciled in favour of the NNPC and is due to recovery from the legacy OPA/SWAP contracts. Out of the reconciled amount, the sum of $277 million has been recovered in the form of products while the recovery efforts still continue. 

The amount of money lost by Nigeria to the mismanagement of funds is jaw dropping. It is no surprise that on August 17th 2015 the Nigerian Labour Congress (NCL) led protest calling for the death penalty for corruption convicts. They argued that the anti- corruption laws were too weak to stop potential looters. The NCL advised the presidency to use the recovered funds to create jobs, fund educational infrastructure and upgrade the Nigerian health care system.

The recovery of funds has given hope to ordinary Nigerians for a better quality of life. For the ruling party to keep their promises every kobo of funds misappropriated must be recovered. Reported by channelsTV

- 3.8 trillion Naira out of the 8.1 trillion Naira earned from crude oil (2012-2015) withheld by NNPC

- 2.1 billion US dollars from Excess Crude Account unaccounted for

- Department of Petroleum Resources’ unremitted 109.7 billion Naira royalty from oil firms

- 6 billion US dollars allegedly looted by some Ministers of the last Administration

- 160 billion barrels of crude worth 13.9 billion US dollars lost between 2009 and 2012

- 15 million US dollars from botched arms deal yet to be returned to Nigeria

​- 13 billion US dollars​ in NLNG dividends mostly unaccounted for

​- 30 billion Naira rice waiver​

​- 183 billion naira​ unaccounted for at the NDDC

Are some of the ‘missing’ funds the ruling party released so that Nigerians can appreciate the seriousness of the efforts in recovering the looted funds.

A report released on the 6th of Sept by the NNPC disclosed that if the recovery is successful

 “It is expected to achieve an annual savings of about $1billion worth of foreign exchange from fuel import substitution and additional total saving of over $500 million annually will be made from the petrochemical products of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company’’

“The report also disclosed that efforts at repositioning the NNPC have started yielding result on the nation’s economy. According to its content, gas supply to the power plants that had hitherto been handicapped by the supply of much-needed gas, has improved significantly from about 630 to 861 million standard cubic feet per day, which has resulted in a more steady power supply being witnessed in the country.

“Indeed, the report revealed that gas supply for power and peak generation have in recent times reached a historical high of 876 million standard cubic feet per day and 4,782 Mega Watts respectively.”

The report, Mr. Garba; the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity said, indicated that the review process might lead to further cost recovery.