One-stop recovery
Nigerian Senate advances bill to create a single agency for managing recovered crime assets, aiming for better accountability and streamlined operations.
The Nigerian Senate has passed for second reading a bill to amend the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022. The amendment seeks to establish a single, independent agency dedicated to managing assets recovered from unlawful activities, replacing the current system involving 18 agencies like the EFCC and ICPC. Sponsored by Senator Idiat Oluranti Adebule (APC, Lagos), the bill aims to enhance accountability, streamline operations, and eliminate overlapping duties. It also proposes an automated database and clearer guidelines, separating asset management from investigation and prosecution. The bill has been forwarded to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters for further work.
Senator Adebule's bill aims to enhance accountability, streamline operations, and eliminate overlapping duties. This structural separation is intended to reduce conflicts of interest and promote professionalism in asset handling, drawing on international best practices from jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and the United States. The existing system has been criticised for inefficiencies, a lack of transparency, and duplication of efforts, alongside allegations of mismanagement and re-looting of recovered assets, which have eroded public trust.
The reform's potential strengths lie in improving transparency, coordination, and accountability. A centralised asset database, accessible to oversight bodies and, ideally, the public, would facilitate better tracking and auditing, reduce opportunities for corruption, and strengthen Nigeria’s standing with international partners, particularly in asset repatriation. Consolidating responsibilities could also prove more cost-effective by reducing administrative redundancies and enabling more strategic deployment of resources.
However, the success of this reform hinges on its design and the political will for its implementation. Institutional resistance is anticipated, as existing agencies may perceive the change as a threat to their authority and funding. Establishing the new agency will require substantial investment in legal frameworks, human capital, technological systems, and safeguards to prevent it from becoming another ineffective bureaucracy. Legal clarity is crucial to avoid constitutional or jurisdictional disputes that could hinder enforcement.
The bill's referral to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters provides a critical opportunity to address these concerns. The committee must balance competing institutional interests, design robust oversight mechanisms, and ensure the agency’s genuine independence, competence, and resilience against political interference. The amendment acknowledges that transparency and accountability in asset recovery are as vital as the investigations and prosecutions themselves. By disentangling these roles, the bill aligns Nigeria with global standards endorsed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
The timing of this amendment is particularly significant given Nigeria's current economic strain and the need to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and restore public confidence in its anti-corruption agenda. If enacted and properly executed, this reform could significantly enhance the credibility of the country’s asset recovery regime and encourage broader international cooperation in repatriating stolen assets. Ultimately, the bill represents a pragmatic and potentially transformative reform, but its impact will depend on sustained political will, institutional integrity, and a broader reorientation of Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture towards restorative justice and public accountability.