The Federal Executive
Council (FEC) has approved the establishment of a new
anti-corruption agency which will be saddled with proper
coordination of all recovered looted assets.
Briefing state house correspondents
after the FEC meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice,
Abubakar Malami explained that assets recovered have been in the
hands of several agencies and that better coordination will
encourage international/overall coordination in recovering more
looted assets.
It is on this premise that the new anti-corruption agency named,
‘Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency’ is to be saddled
with the responsibility of managing the assets that constitute the
proceeds of crime in Nigeria.
Malami told newsmen that the FEC has approved transmission of a
bill, titled, “Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency
Bill,” to the National Assembly.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), explained that
once the bill becomes law and the agency is established, it would
see to proper documentation and management of such recovered assets
and thereby guarantee transparency and accountability.
According to Mr. Malami, an agency of this nature has become
necessary in a bid to consolidate the gains achieved so far in the
government’s war against corruption.
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“The Federal Ministry of Justice presented to Council a memo
today (Wednesday).
“The memo is about a Bill which seeks the approval of the
Council to transmit to the National Assembly for passage.
“It is the Proceeds of Crime Recovery and management Agency
Bill.
“It is in essence a bill that is targeted and intended to
have in place a legal and institutional framework. The legal
component of it is having a law and the institutional component of
it is to have an agency that will be saddled with the
responsibility of managing the assets that constitute the proceeds
of crime in Nigeria.
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“What happens before now is the proceeds of crime are
scattered all over, and mostly in the hands of different and
multiple agencies of government inclusive of the police, the DSS
(Department of State Service), EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission), and ICPC (Independent Corrupt Practices and other
Related Offences Commission).
“So, with that kind of arrangement which is ad-hoc, there is
no agency of government that is saddled with the responsibility of
data generation, an agency that can give you off-hand the number of
landed assets, number of immovable assets, the amount in cash that
are recovered by the federal government by way of interim
forfeiture overweigh of a final forfeiture.
“So, it is indeed over time a kind of arrangement that is
not uniform and consistent.
“If you have a budget item for recovered assets, this agency
will now be in a position to provide information to the federal
ministry of finance, budget and National Planning on-demand as to
what amount is there available for budget purposes, thereby
establishing the desired transparency, the desired accountability
which has not been available before now,” the AGF stated.
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