ABUJA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Monday said it has worked very hard to battle endemic corruption in the most populous African country.
Lai Mohammed, the minister of information, told reporters in Abuja that under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria is winning the war against corruption.
"Yes, corruption is fighting back furiously, but it cannot match the courage, the determination and the commitment of this administration, nor can it dampen the leadership of President Buhari," Mohammed said.
He said with the government's vigor in tackling corruption, Nigeria had added 500 million U.S. dollars to its Sovereign Wealth Fund and raised the foreign reserves from 23 billion dollars to 35 billion dollars, including stopping the payment of phantom subsidy running into billions of dollars to independent oil marketers.
According to government data, anti-graft agencies in the country have so far recovered 2.9 billion dollars from looters.
At least 43 million dollars and 56 houses were recovered from one former government official.
A whistle-blower policy recently introduced by the government had led to the recovery of 151 million dollars in looted funds from three sources, Mohammed said.
