- Safiu Kehinde
The 2023 Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has charged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to invest the recovered fraud proceeds on the education, poverty alleviation, and the health sector.
Obi gave the charge in a statement issued on his official X handle on Friday.
While commending the EFCC for its declaration of N853 billion crime proceeds recovered within one year, the former Anambra state governor noted that the major thing to consider is the utilisation of the recovered fund.
He harped on the need to invest on education, stressing that over 20 million children are currently out of school in Nigeria.
“The Commission deserve our commendation for this effort, even though we are aware it’s just a tiny fraction of the funds looted from the public treasury by the Leaders.
“Beyond this recovery therefore, what truly matters is the utilisation of these funds in a verifiable and accountable manner, specifically in the critical areas of development, health, education, and poverty alleviation to benefit the people.
“Nigerians want to see impact. We must be able to trace where and how these recovered funds are invested. Currently, we have over 20 million out-of-school children in the country, the highest in the world.” He said.
Obi further maintained that Nigeria has the highest number of acute poor in the world.
He proposed the allocation of N503 billion to education while the remaining N350 Billion is shared directly to 19 Northern provinces as micro credit for the poor.
“Similarly, we have the highest number of acute poor in the world, over a hundred million. In both cases, it is worse in the North, and all efforts toward reducing the situation remain imperative.
“If these recovered funds and subsequent ones are strategically invested, they would immensely contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and insecurity.
“For example, the Federal Government 2024 operational budget for Universal Basic Education contribution is about N251.47 billion, so to triple this sum will be an additional N503 billion.
“The remaining N350 billion can be shared directly to 19 Northern provinces for lending micro credit to the poor.
“Most of these states have long been applying for as little as N2 billion of similar funding from our development banks. Let this not just be another announcement of recovery.
“Let it be the beginning of a new era of accountability, where every kobo retrieved is turned into classrooms, hospitals, skills, and opportunities for ordinary Nigerians.” Obi added.