Nigeria Says $15 Billion Stolen in Security Spending Scams
- Figure dwarfs previous government estimate of $5.5 billion
- VP Osinbajo says amount is more than half Nigeria's reserves
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Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said about $15 billion was lost by the previous administration to fraudulent security spending, almost three times more than was earlier estimated by the government.
Osinbajo, who along with President Muhammadu Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan in elections last year on an anti-corruption campaign, said the figure was only discovered a few days ago, dwarfing the previous estimate of $5.5 billion allegedly misappropriated from contracts to buy defense equipment to fight the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.