He declared that he found the country’s treasury “virtually empty.”

President Muhammadu Buhari who officially took power on May 29, 2015 following his election on March 28, 2015 has vowed to recover billions of dollars stolen from Nigeria’s treasury under previous administrations, BBC reported, citing Buhari who spoke to reporters in the capital Abuja on Monday, June 22, 2015.

"I hope we are starting and this culture of 100 days [in power] is bringing so much pressure, with [the] treasury virtually empty, with debts in millions of dollars, with State workers and even federal workers not paid their salaries," News 24 quoted Buhari as saying.  After declaring during the meeting of Governors on Tuesday, June 23, 2015 that, "The days of impunity and lack of accountability are over," the Head of State said the country would get the , "facts and the figures to help us recover our stolen funds in foreign countries,'' over the next three months, BBC  reported.

On Nigeria’s debt situation, BBC cited Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who estimated that the country’s debts stand at about 60 billion US Dollars. The debt situation is however, contested by the former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of the Goodluck Jonathan regime who claimed that the debt was much lower.

News 24 reports that in the week Muhummadu Buhari took office last May 29, Nigeria virtually ground to a halt because of fuel shortages linked to alleged government defaults on subsidy payments to fuel importers. At the same time, electricity production plunged to a record low of just over 1, 000 megawatts, short of the amount of power required for Nigeria's 173 million people. Upon taking power, Buhari reportedly described the economic situation he inherited as rank "bad management", without giving specific figures. To reverse the situation, Buhari told the press that the United States of America and other foreign partners would help Nigeria recover money stolen and starched abroad.