Why FG withheld names of those who returned loot — Osinbajo

Releasing the names of persons from
whom the Federal Government recovered
looted funds and assets may jeopardize ongoing
investigations, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo,
has said.

Though the government at the weekend released
a list of sums of money and assets already
recovered in the last one year, names of
individuals involved were not included.

“We have released the list of recovered loot, we
know people are asking for the names, but
releasing the names may jeopardize ongoing
investigations,” the Vice President said
yesterday, at the Presidential Villa during a
meeting with a delegation of the European Union
led by the EU Ambassador in Nigeria, Mr. Michel
Arrion.

According to a press release by his Senior Special
Assistant, Media and Publicity Laolu Akande, the
Vice President also explained that the federal
government is engaging leaders and people of
the Niger Delta regarding the spate of attacks on
oil installations in the area, an act he stated
amounts to economic sabotage.

But besides reaching out to the people in the
area, government is also beefing up security, he
said.

According to him, the focus of the Buhari
presidency “is to ensure that the man on the
street in the Niger Delta receives the benefit
from all that is available there,” while calling on
the leaders in the region to be accountable to
the people.

Prof. Osinbajo added that government is working
round the clock to minimize the losses arising
from the attacks, adding that “we are talking, we
are ensuring that we minimize losses and we are
stepping up security. We are also engaging the
international oil companies, IOCs, to see what
options exists.”

On economic issues, the Vice President restated
government’s commitment to drive its
diversification policy and encouraged investors
from European countries to take advantage of
the situation especially in the agro-allied/
processing industry.

He restated the administration's resolve to
ensure that the ease of doing business ranking in
Nigeria goes up by at least 20 steps in the World
Bank rating.

To this end, he said the President has approved
the composition of a Presidential Commission on
the matter to be chaired by himself, the VP, and
Industry, Trade & Investment Minister, Dr. Okey
Enelamah, as Vice Chairman.
“In the next few months, we should be seeing
some changes,” he promised.

Earlier, Ambassador Arrion said he came to hold
consultations with the Vice President as a follow-
up on President Buhari’s meeting with EU
leaders during his visit to the continent, adding
that “Nigeria has a huge market we can invest in.
It is also a place we can export from.”