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Buhari: Nigeria to Sell Assets Seized in Anti-graft Probes to Boost Treasury


FILE - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, Sept. 19, 2017.
FILE - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, Sept. 19, 2017.

Nigeria will sell all assets seized by the government in anti-graft probes and use the funds to bolster the treasury, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday.

Nigerian state coffers have in past years been ransacked by government officials and their associates, and corruption is prevalent throughout society. Buhari was elected in 2015 in part on a promise to rid the country of graft.

"All mismanaged and misappropriated national assets recovered will be sold off and proceeds paid to the treasury for the benefit of the country," he said, according to a statement from his spokesman.

The presidency statement did not say when the sales would happen, nor provide further details.

Very few officials from Buhari's administration have so far been prosecuted despite frequent allegations against them.

Notable exceptions were his sacking last October of Nigeria's most senior civil servant, Babachir Lawal, and the former head of the National Intelligence Agency for alleged involvement in corruption.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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