Civil society organisations (CSOs) have raised fresh concerns over the failure to utilize funds recovered from former Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke and former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
The groups disclosed that $50 million recovered from Diezani and $954,000 linked to Alamieyeseigha remain largely unutilized despite being earmarked for development projects.
Speaking at a two-day town hall meeting on recovered assets, the Executive Director of the African Network for Economic and Environmental Justice (ANEEJ), David Ugolor, said findings revealed that none of the proposed projects tied to the funds had commenced.
According to the CSOs, over a year after the Galactica restitution agreement returned $52.88 million linked to Diezani for the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project, there is no evidence of implementation or clarity on the location of the funds.
They also noted that three years after the repatriation of $954,000 connected to Alamieyeseigha for the development of primary healthcare centres in Bayelsa State, the project is still at the procurement stage, with authorities yet to select monitoring organisations.
Ugolor added that visits to designated healthcare centres showed no visible development, raising concerns about transparency and accountability in the use of recovered assets. He further stated that the Rural Electrification Agency had not provided sufficient information regarding the $50 million meant for renewable energy expansion.
While commending the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for recovering stolen funds, the CSOs stressed that recovery alone is insufficient without proper utilization that directly benefits citizens.
They warned that failure to transparently deploy recovered assets could erode public trust and weaken both national and international confidence in Nigeria’s anti-corruption efforts.
