PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has argued the need for African countries to work collectively to recover stolen assets, if the continent is to get rid of corruption and achieve its full potential.
The President spoke yesterday as the special guest of honour as Nigeria marked the 6th African Union Day of Anti-Corruption with a national dialogue on this year’s theme: “Strategies and Mechanisms for the Transparent Management of COVID-19 funds”.
President Buhari highlighted the fight that Nigeria has fought against corruption since 2015 and lauded the country’s anti-corruption laws and agencies.
He emphasised the need to imbibe the young with ethics and a respect for the Rule of Law and curtail illicit financial flows.
Under the auspices of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) and members of the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT), the dialogue focused on transparency and accountability in the management of funds earmarked for recovery from Covid-19. The event was opened with remarks by members of the IATT, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), as well as goodwill messages by UNODC, among others.
In a keynote speech, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha also highlighted the government’s efforts, through the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, to provide policy direction and guidance to control the crisis at federal and state levels, including the mobilisation, deployment and monitoring of monetary and technical support from national and international sources.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) led a panel discussion on “Strategies and Mechanisms for the Transparent, Accountable Management of Recovered Proceeds of Crime”.
Speaking on best practices in this area, the UNODC Country Representative, Dr. Oliver Stolpe, proposed some specific measures to facilitate the effective implementation of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act (POCA), including the promulgation of unified Standard Operating Procedures for the management of seized and confiscated assets by the various law enforcement agencies.
Stolpe also called for creation of a shared registry and certification process for court appointed asset managers, establishment of a jointly managed storage facility and broadening the interpretation of sections of POCA to allow relevant CSOs to receive allocations from the Confiscated and Forfeited Properties Account.
On July 11, 2003, the African Union (AU) adopted the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption (AUCPCC).
Subsequently, the AU designated July 11 as African Anti-Corruption Day, an opportunity to pause and reflect on the role of corruption in the lives of ordinary Africans, and to share good lessons and practices in the fight against corruption.