A bill for the creation of an agency to manage assets and funds recovered by law enforcement agencies has passed second reading at the Senate.
This is coming nine months after the Executive sent the bill to National Assembly titled “Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency.”
Senate Majority Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi north), while leading the debate on Tuesday, said the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global organisation that sets standards for countries to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, had observed that the recovery and management of stolen assets in Nigeria is “inadequate and does not comply with international standards”.
“Due to the lack of a centrally managed database on recovered assets, it is difficult to track and maintain the actual number of the seized assets, their location and their value,” Abdullahi said.
“There have been reported and verifiable instances over the years that showed that some recovered assets were being misused, stolen or lost.
“Further investigations have shown that some of the agencies opened multiple accounts for the payment of forfeited assets without keeping proper records.
“The exigency of Nigeria having in place this all important piece of legislation cannot be overemphasised, as Nigeria to date is still deficient in meeting this outstanding obligation under Recommendation 4 on Confiscation and Provisional Measures of the FATF Recommendations adopted by the FATF Plenary in February, 2012 and updated in June 2019.”
