Tobi Shile
Last year, on Thursday, December 19 to be precise, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, announced that a central database had been created for the management of recovered assets stolen from Nigeria.
Malami, who stated that the central database was very essential for the transparent management of recovered looted assets, emphatically stated: “When corrupt monies find a haven, it will begin to fight back. “To that end, we have created a central database for recovered stolen assets which is under the supervision of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.”
The AGF, made the disclosure when he hosted members of the National Association of Judiciary Correspondents (NAJUC), who paid him a courtesy.
Malami, who spoke extensively on President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti- corruption fight, said the present administration has been fighting corruption in all its ramified manifestations including legislative framework, institutional infrastructure, the adoption of effective preventive measures against corruption and the latest (as at then), being the putting in place mechanisms for the management of recovered stolen assets.
Ten months after that pronouncement, there was nothing to suggest that the FG delivered on that promise as cases of abuse of office by officials of the EFCC have been on the increase.
However, the AGF, today (September 17), in Abuja, announced the launch of a new central database for the management of recovered stolen assets. Speaking during the launch, witnessed by officials from government agencies including the EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Malami said all the assets that have been recovered by the federal government are now tied to specific projects.
On his part, the ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, who graced the event, said that the idea of the central database system was to ensure that all anti-corruption agencies harmonise all recovered assets.
He suggested that all the anti-corruption agencies should be digitised and integrated for easy access.
Though bewildered by the news of the launch of a new database on Thursday, at a time an update on the supposed established one was being awaited, analysts opined that though this is coming late, it will help to curb the increasing cases of abuse of office by anti-graft agencies.
Notable among those who have lauded the new database was a renowned lawyer and a former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN).
He commended the President Muhammadu Buhari- led Federal Government of Nigeria for establishing the Proceeds of Crime Assets Recovery Agency, saying the coming into being of the new agency would make the anti-corruption strategy more effective in Nigeria.
Agbakoba described the move as a welcome development, pointing out that the EFCC originally put in charge of the task to be performed by the new agency was saddled with far too many responsibilities beyond its best capabilities.
The former NBA president said he was fully in support of divesting EFCC from managing assets recovered from proceeds of crime and further divestment of the agency’s power to prosecute as well, adding that taking such step would make the anti-corruption strategy more effective.
Recall that the former EFCC chair, Ibrahim Magu, was arrest, suspended and is currently being interrogated following a petition by Malami, who accused him of mismanaging recovered looted assets, among other allegations.
Specifically, Magu was said to have diverted the interests on N550 billion recovered by the EFCC at a certain period. A presidential panel headed by retired Justice Ayo Salami probing his tenure at the helm of the EFCC, reportedly found contradictory recovery figures emanating from the embattled EFCC chairman.