Also invited are the National Security Adviser, Babagana Mongunu, Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, Accountant General of the Federation; Ahmed Idris and Auditor General of the Federation; Aghughu Arhotomhenla.
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); the Nigeria Police Force; Nigeria Customs Service and Nigerian Navy have also been invited by the committee.
The committee is also inviting former Ministers of Justice; former National Security Advisers; former Chairmen of EFCC; former Chairmen of ICPC; former IGPs and former Comptrollers General of Nigeria Customs Service.
The chairman of the committee, Adejoro Adeogun (APC, Ondo), in a statement on Sunday, said the panel was probing the status of all recovered loot; movable and immovable assets recovered between 2002 to 2020.
He said the public hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Mr Adeogun explained that the essence of the hearing is to ensure effective and efficient management and utilisation of the recovered assets.
The Committee called for memoranda from relevant individuals, institutions and the general public pursuant to Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The House had recently constituted the panel to investigate the use of recovered loot and assets from previous government officials.
In July 2020, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed that the Nigerian government had recovered over N800 billion in looted funds and secured the conviction of over 1,400 persons.
“This administration’s fight against corruption is as strong as ever, and we have the records to back up this claim,” Mr Mohammed said.
“This administration recorded over 1,400 convictions, including high profile ones, and recorded recovered funds in excess of N800 billion, not to talk of forfeiture of ill-gotten properties. This is no mean feat.”
Despite the feat, the government still borrows money to fund its budgets.
In August, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) sued President Muhammadu Buhari over “failure to disclose information and documents relating to the names of people from whom N800 billion in looted public funds have been recovered.”
The group also demanded specific dates of recoveries, as well as the projects the funds were expended in.
In his speech to mark the Democracy Day on June 12, 2020, Mr Buhari had said the N800 billion recovered looted funds were being ploughed into “development and infrastructure projects.”
