[dropcap]B[/dropcap]enin City, Nigeria – Africa Network for Environment & Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has commended President Mohammadu Buhari for signing extradition treaties with the United Arab Emirates, describing it as a demonstration of genuine commitment to bring corrupt public officials and looters taking refuge abroad to justice.
ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev. David Ugolor, in Benin City recently said his organization was excited about the new development in the fight against graft in Nigeria and call on the nation’s National Assembly to seal these treaties by passing, with the desired speed the Mutual Legal Assistance Bill and all such bills before it.
“Some treaties such as the ones recently signed by Mr. President often require a local implementing legislation to direct and enable a country to fulfil its treaty obligations,” Ugolor said.
The treaties which the President signed included the Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal matters, Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters and the Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, all of which ratified other tripartite agreements in the areas of legal assistance in criminal, civil and commercial matters, and extradition.
“We are happy that President Buhari and the Government of UAE took this important step because there are indications that the UAE over the years remained a safe destination for so many Nigerian public coffers looters to hide their loot, even in properties,” Ugolor noted.
Rev. Ugolor said that even though the treaties cover a whole range of bilateral protocols between Nigeria and other nations, ANEEJ was particularly happy that a good part of the protocols concern the repatriation of both the looters of our assets and the loot stashed abroad.
“An important eschatocol supporting the treaty concerning the Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil and Commercial Matters and the Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons signal to looters of our common patrimony hiding in Europe and America, is that even though the wheels of justice may grind a bit slow, the law will catch up eventually.”
Nigeria, together with Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Ukraine is important to the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) which was established as an outcome of the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit, hosted by the UK in May, 2016.
In August 2017, the GFAR held a Summit in Vienna, focusing on the communique issued by the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The thrust of that communique states that there will be a call for all proceeds of corruption wherever they may be, to be identified, seized, confiscated and returned.
“Therefore, what the treaties signed by Mr. President has done is put Nigeria strongly in the line of focus for asset recovery, highlighting the importance of strong political commitment, multijurisdictional coordination, and practitioner interaction,” Ugolor stated.
