– The minister said government officials looted N273.9bn from pension funds between 2005 and 2011

– He said Nigeria spent N2.587trn on fuel subsidy in 2011, 900 per cent more than the N245bn that was appropriated for that purpose

– He drew a link between corruption and under-development

Nigeria’s federal government has yet again revealed that government officials looted N273.9bn from pension funds between 2005 and 2011.

Revealing this, the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who spoke while delivering his note as the guest lecture of the faculty of arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife, on Friday also listed other corruption cases in the country.

N1.9bn Special Intervention Ebola Fund Scandal; the Police Equipment Funds scandal in which about N774m was diverted; the Dasukigate that has so far revealed that 21 individuals benefitted from the scam to a tune of 54bn; the pension scam, in which top government officials in charge of pension funds in the country looted about N273.9bn from 2005 to 2011 and the fuel subsidy scam, in which Nigeria spent N2.587trn on fuel subsidy in 2011, 900 per cent more than the N245bn that was appropriated for that purpose.

He called on the citizens to form coalitions that will galvanise their individual efforts to tackle corruption, saying there was a role for everyone in tackling graft. The minister said once the people were determined to battle corruption, they were assured of victory.

He drew a link between corruption and under-development, and noted that corruption had under-developed Nigeria and condemned the citizens into perpetual poverty.