MacArthur Foundation has said over $200 billion has been lost in Nigeria between 1970 and 2008 to corruption and procurement irregularities.

According to the foundation, the financial haemorrhage occurred through various channels, including inflated contracts, dubious asset disposals and outright theft of resources.

The Deputy Director at MacArthur Foundation in Nigeria, Amina Salihu, made the revelation in Abuja, yesterday, at a town hall meeting to commemorate the 2024 International Anti-Corruption Day.

The Guardian reports that the meeting, aimed at addressing systemic challenges in Nigeria’s public procurement processes was put together by Accountability Lab Nigeria, in partnership with the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and supported by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The event, themed, “Tackling Procurement Fraud and its Far-Reaching Consequences: A Collective Responsibility,” brought together government officials, civil society organisations, private sector representatives, and international development partners.

Salihu underscored the importance of ensuring transparency, competition and integrity in the country’s procurement process.

“Whenever you look up these things, you get all kinds of different statistics that trouble you. From 1970 to 2008 over $200 billion was lost in Nigeria through procurement, through inflating contracts, through asset disposals that were not very straightforward, through resources that had been hidden under the table”.

She highlighted the need for effective regulation and oversight to prevent corruption and ensure that resources were allocated efficiently.

She also acknowledged the importance of collaboration between government, civil society and the private sector to promote transparency and accountability.

According to her, corruption in Nigeria’s procurement process has severe consequences, including the diversion of resources meant for essential public services.

The Country Director of Accountability Lab, Friday Odeh, in his remarks, lamented that Nigeria’s public service was plagued by a significant lack of accountability.

He noted that the lack of accountability had led to rampant abuse of procurement processes and blatant misuse of public resources, resulting in substantial financial and temporal losses for the country.

According to the UNODC Representative, Maximilian Menhard, the International Anti-Corruption Day offers a crucial opportunity to raise awareness about procurement fraud, commit to integrity in public procurements and agree on relevant follow-up actions.

CEO of the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), Lucy Abagi, said a recent report by her organisation exposed significant transparency gaps in Nigeria’s public procurement processes.

The report found that over 56 per cent of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for procurement information were not responded to, highlighting the challenges citizens face in accessing such data.