The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has urged the implementation of legislation targeting unexplained wealth as a crucial measure to curb the illicit activities of treasury looters in Nigeria.
He said this during his address at a two-day International Law Conference themed “Unexplained Wealth in the Global South: Examining the Asset Recovery and Return Trajectory.”
During the conference organized by Christopher University in Mowe, Ogun State, on Thursday, Mr. Olukoyede highlighted that despite the widespread adoption of Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) by countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Mauritius, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Trinidad and Tobago since its introduction in 2018, the EFCC still relies on the provisions of Section 7 of its Establishment Act to combat the menace of unexplained wealth.
According to him, “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. 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.”
The Abuja zonal commander, Assistant Commander ACE1 Adebayo Adeniyi, represented the EFCC during the event. The chairman of the EFCC underscored that tackling the global issue of unexplained wealth more diligently would leave little refuge for treasury looters.
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“In Nigeria today, unexplained wealth has become 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. Owing to the absence of a legislation on the issue of unexplained wealth, the EFCC continues to rely on provisions of Section 7 of its Establishment Act to handle it,” He said.
Dele Oyewale, the spokesperson for the EFCC, stated that during the event, Olukoyede elaborated further on the commission’s expertise in asset recovery. He emphasized that the focus on unexplained wealth revolves around activities such as asset tracing, investigation, and recovery.
He said, “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, landed properties, among others.”