President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has approved the
establishment of a new anti-corruption agency.
The new agency approved by the Federal Executive Council
will be saddled with proper coordination of all recovered looted assets.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami disclosed this to State House correspondents after
the FEC meeting on Wednesday.
He said the new agency, known as the ‘Proceeds of Crime
Recovery and Management Agency’, will oversee the responsibility of managing
the assets that constitute the proceeds of crime in Nigeria.
The Minister said the FEC has approved transmission of a
bill, titled, “Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency Bill,” to the
National Assembly.
He said, “The Federal Ministry of Justice presented to
Council a memo (on 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.
“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.
Recall that Ibrahim Magu, the suspended Acting Chairman of
the EFCC, had urged the Justice Ayo Salami-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry
investigating him to summon Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation,
AGF.
Magu explained that Malami should come before the panel so
his lawyers can cross-examine him on the credibility of the allegations he
made.
The suspended EFCC boss sought permission to subpoena Malami
to appear before the panel.
In response, however, Malami had said he will gladly before
the Justice Ayo Salami-led Presidential panel if he is summoned.
Magu’s activities as the acting Chairman of the EFCC from
2015 to 2020, is under investigation.
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