Some Looters Protected For ‘Strategic’ Reasons – Buhari’s Adviser

President Muhammadu Buhari’s adviser on anti-corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, has revealed that the identities of some treasury looters are being veiled for “strategic reasons”.

Professor Sagay’s disclosure confirms claims in some quarters that the Federal Government’s recently released lists of alleged treasury looters were not exhaustive.

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, had previously said that the looters lists were not “complete without the names of Muhammadu Buhari, Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Ameachi, Tunde Fashola, Bola Tinubu, Lai Mohammed, Adamu Abdullahi, Dambazau, Kayode Fayemi, Babachir Lawal, Maina, Maikanto Baru, Burutai, all APC Governors and other key members of the Buhari administration and the APC.” Fani-Kayode had claimed that the president’s 2015 election campaign was funded with looted funds.

But when asked to address the claims that some alleged looters were not named in the lists published by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, Sagay, who is the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption (PACAC), said: “Government might not have mentioned the names of some individuals due to ‘strategic’ reasons but such reasons would unravel themselves in the course of time.

“Nigerians must, however, know this government has poured its heart and might into fighting corruption, but corruption has fought back.

“And the shocking aspect is that it is the elites, the educated, the powerful who have been fighting this government. They have been so violent in the opposition to the fight against corruption that one is even shocked,” he said.

The presidential adviser further advised any person or group who feels strongly about deficiencies in the looters list to publish their own.

Sagay said, “Those who are complaining must surely know the persons who are omitted from the list. So, let them bring out their own list and let them correct the list which is incomplete.”