By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku
Abuja, Nigeria – The Federal government of Nigeria has said that it will continue to partner with a broad coalition of NGOs, Civil Society Organizations, to recover all assets stolen and stashed away locally and abroad.
The Attorney General and Federal Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Mallami stated this at a Roundtable talk on Asset Recovery organized by the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) at Denis Hotel, Abuja, on Tuesday.
Represented by Special Assistant on Financial Crimes, Mr. Oginni Kehinde the Minister said “most of the assets, monies and property being recovered are from a great effort from the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
“We believe that part of the ways to recover these stolen assets is to work with CSOs, empower whistleblowers, and ensure that existing laws are strengthened before the passage of new ones.”
He called on Nigerians to join in the war against corruption and assist government with useful information which would lead to bursting of corruption cartels to recover stolen assets from them to finance development.
The Roundtable which was supported by Justice for All (J4A) was attended by Fifty-two (52) participants, drawn from Federal Ministry of Justice, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, NEITI and development partners, CSOs including journalists among others.
A communiqué issued at the end of the Roundtable and signed by all Civil Society Organizations which participated in the event lent their weight behind ongoing global efforts on asset recovery.
Among other considerations, the meeting said even though it was happy with the inclusion of civil society in the federal government delegation at the recent International Expert Meeting on Assets Management and disposal of recovered looted assets held recently in Addis Ababa, there were concerns that only one case out of the 50 indicted in the fuel subsidy probe of 2012 have been successfully sent to jail.
“We are concerned that weak cooperation of members of the international community in fast-tracking Nigeria’s asset recovery effort, lack of existing policy frame work on the management and disposal of recovered looted assets that provides clear roles for Civil Society will be the bane of the asset recovery thrust if something is not done in that direction,” convener of the roundtable, the Rev David Ugolor said at the meeting.
The communique also called for: “A policy frame work that guides the management and disposal of recovered looted assets which provides clear roles for CSOs to guarantee transparency and accountability in asset recovery and management in line with UNCAC provision.
“A compilation of a Register of all recovered stolen assets including Non-Monetary assets.
“The National Assembly to expedite the passage of the Proceeds of Crime Bill and the National Financial Intelligence Unit into law which should make provisions for adoption of non-conviction based asset forfeiture approach in tackling grand corruption.
“The Judiciary to speed up the trial of all oil subsidy corruption cases pending in various courts in Lagos and Abuja with a view to bringing all guilty to book.
“The International Community to strengthen their cooperation with Nigerian Government on corruption by repatriating all Nigeria’s stolen assets stashed in banks abroad to help Nigeria finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as tackle insurgency and humanitarian crisis involving over 2.6million Nigerians living in desperate situations having been displaced by years of insurgency.
“The international community to focus more attention on assets recovery for victim countries instead of the current energy on management of same and;
“Civil Society Organizations to hold both the Nigerian Government and the international community to account on their commitments to asset recovery in line with the provision of Chapter 5 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.”
