Hopes of repossession of seized assets by their original owners were dashed Monday as Federal Government inaugurated 22-member Inter-ministerial committee to dispose all forfeited assets within six months time frame.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who inaugurated the committee, “Inter-ministerial Committee on the disposal of Federal Government of Nigeria’s forfeited assets”, said President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the exercise.
Malami said the committee’s is to “ensure the expedient disposal of all FGN Forfeited Assets and generate revenue for the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
He warned the committee of the need to be upright in their assignment, saying that “the task before the Inter-Ministerial Committee is an enormous one and must be conducted with utmost dignity having the interest of Nigeria at heart.”
Further, the Minister of Justice cited that the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations, 2019, the Standard Operating Procedures and Terms of Reference are the working tools to serve as guidelines for the Inter-Ministerial Committee and how best to actualize the quick disposal of the FGN assets in line with Mr. President directive.
According to Malami, “In compliance with the directives of Mr. President, the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice issued Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations, 2019 to provide legal and administrative frameworks for the investigation, tracing, seizure and disposal of stolen or illegally acquired assets and proceeds of crime.
“The Regulation was drawn from the extant laws of the relevant anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies. It is aimed at ensuring proper coordination of the disposal of the Federal Government assets and for promoting a uniform, harmonized and transparent procedure to safeguard the assets recovered by the relevant agencies in line with the anti-corruption drive of this administration.
“It is my pleasure to note that Mr. President approved the composition of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Disposal of Federal Government of Nigeria Forfeited Assets on 27th October, 2020 which we are inaugurating today.”
The responsibilities of the Inter-Ministerial Committee include to: Implement provisions of the ATRM Regulations; Ensure the transparency of the disposal of Federal Government Final Forfeited Assets; Ensure the synergy and collaboration between the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and Law Enforcement and Anti-corruption Agencies, other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the Non-Governmental Organization in the collation of records of all assets; Ensure that information flow on assets are in place; Respond to any ongoing Asset Management Audit and the asset performance reports; Consistently implement enablers and controls that support decision making and efficiency of service delivery which govern the disposal of assets; and Development of targets for the Committee in order to measure its performance.
The 22-member Committee whose chairman is the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Dayo Akpata, were drawn from: Office of the Chief of Staff to the President; Federal Ministry of Justice; Federal Ministry of Finance; Federal Ministry of Works and Housing; Auditor-General of the Federation; Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Independent Corrupt Practices (and other related offences) Commission; Nigerian Army; Nigerian Navy; Nigeria Police; Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps;Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency; Department of State Security; National Drug Law Enforcement Agency; Department of Petroleum Resources; National Oil Spillage, Detection and Response Agency; Bureau of Public Procurement; Representatives of the Civil Society Organization; Representative of the Youth; Representative of the Media; and Any other Nigerian with exceptional expertise that could add value to the Committee as deems fit by the Attorney General of the Federation.
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