The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has reassured Nigerians that all the funds recovered by various government agencies in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign are safe and cannot be pilfered again as is being insinuated at some quarters.

Adeosun gave the reassurance while fielding questions during a press conference at the World Bank, IMF meetings in Washington.

She said that the administration had set up a single account where all recovered funds are kept for proper accountability and safekeeping.

She said: “We have a recovery account. All the recovered monies go into the recovery account which we reconcile.

“Now, in the budget, there was the provision that some recovered monies would go into it and that goes into specific projects in the budget.

“Any excess recoveries we have to wait and take some decisions. So far, we have recovered up to the amount we are expecting in the budget.”

Adeosun also pointed out that aside the known anti-corruption agencies of government, many other agencies also make recoveries, adding that government is aware of the development and all the recoveries are returned to the central account.

“All the agencies that recover send us their returns monthly and then we sweep it into a central account which is kept by the Accountant General, so that we can reconcile,” she said.

“Even some of the cash that is recovered, we have to make sure it goes into the bank.

“You’d be surprised; some agencies will recover cash and they think it is evidence and we are saying no, its money, put it in the bank.”