Muhammadu Buhari, who won the election, campaigned on the promise to crack down on corruption — and reclaim stolen assets. (Carl LeVan/The Monkey Cage) In Nigeria, billions of dollars each year flow illegally from public coffers into private hands. Nigeria’s kleptocracy undermines the regime’s ability to combat Boko Haram, a deadly terrorist movement that has displaced two million people in the country’s war-ravaged northeast. In a new Council on Foreign Relations corruption brief, “ Improving U.S. Anticorruption Policy in Nigeria ,” I argue that the United States could help deter corruption in Africa’s largest economy and most populous country. Following Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 presidential election victory, senior U.S. policymakers saw an opportunity to support his aggressive anti-corruption efforts. Thus far, U.S. efforts have consisted mostly of modest assistance programs for police investigators and civil-society watchdogs. […]