Criminals and treasury looters are roaming unhindered in Nigeria because there is no law in place to question and check unexplained wealth, according to Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Olukoyede then called for legislation against unexplained wealth as a way of controlling this criminality.
The EFCC scribe made the presentation at a two-day International Law Conference themed ‘Unexplained Wealth in the Global South: Examining the Asset Recovery and Return Trajectory.’
Olukoyede spoke through Adebayo Adeniyi, the Abuja Zonal Commander and Assistant Commander of the EFCC, who represented him at the event.
He noted that treasury looters would have little cover if the issue of unexplained wealth was tackled more seriously across the world.
The conference was organised by Christopher University, Mowe, in Ogun State.
Olukoyede said that though there was an international convention in place, known as the Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO), Nigeria was yet to subscribe to it.
He pointed out that countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Mauritius, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Trinidad and Tobago had embraced the Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) since it came into force in 2018.
He, however, observed that the EFCC still relied on the provisions of Section 7 of its Establishment Act to address unexplained wealth.
“The issue of unexplained wealth is not a local issue. There are jurisdictional legislations across the world to tackle it. Till date, countries of the world are faced with criminalities emanating from money laundering practices and illicit funds,” Olukoyede said.
“This circumstance led to the promulgation of Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) that came into force in 2018. Several countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Mauritius and African countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean have come up with UWO. Nigeria is yet to come up with a national legislation on it.
“In Nigeria today, unexplained wealth has become a practical means of tracing, identifying, investigating and prosecuting corruption cases. As an anti-graft agency, suspects of any economic and financial crimes are usually required to declare their assets in the course of investigation.
“The basis for this is to properly establish their true asset base and their linkage or otherwise to any act of corruption,” he said.
He noted that owing to the absence of a legislation on the issue of unexplained wealth, the EFCC continued to rely on provisions of Section 7 of its Establishment Act to handle it.
He said concerns about unexplained wealth bordered on asset tracing, investigation and recovery.
“Nations are rapidly settling for non-conviction based asset forfeiture. The reason for this is simple: unexplained wealth can only be beneficial to the state if they are forfeited.
“Since inception, the EFCC has secured sizable assets from fraudsters. They range from houses, vehicles, barges, jewelry, money, furniture items and landed properties among others,” he said.
He noted that “procedures for asset forfeiture usually involve prosecution of the suspected fraudster”.
“Assets may be forfeited on an interim basis and may also be forfeited permanently, depending on the position of the law and the court.
“However, whether interim forfeiture or permanent forfeiture, what is important is for every ill-gotten wealth to be recovered and kept with the government,” he said.
He called on Nigerians to be forthcoming with information about suspicious assets in their communities, stressing that the commission relied on such intelligence to mobilise and get results.
“Countries in the global South are still far away from a culture of public accountability. Ethnic and religious biases often stand in the way of full disclosure of information by people in third world countries,” the EFCC boss said.
“The implication of this is that anti-corruption agencies can only operate based on the intelligence available to them.
“Also, recovery of stolen funds stashed in foreign jurisdictions is more complex. Institutions of state are usually involved in the recovery of such funds and this takes far more time and effort.
“The return trajectory involved in this may even take years and this can be really frustrating to anti-corruption agencies or government institutions involved in the recovery. Nigeria is having such instances in the recovery of looted funds by many government officials,” he said.
