Not a pin, penny of recovered assets will be mismanaged under my watch — EFCC boss

ABUJA — Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has assured Nigerians that no recovered asset will be mismanaged under his leadership.

Olukoyede gave the assurance on Tuesday while weighing into the ongoing debate over the management of forfeited and recovered assets.

In a statement posted on his X handle, the EFCC chairman said his position was based on practical experience, having previously served as Secretary of the commission and managed recovered assets for several years.

He opposed calls for the establishment of a single agency to manage all assets recovered by government agencies, arguing that similar arrangements in other countries had failed.

Olukoyede cited the United Kingdom, where he said an attempt to create a central agency for recovered assets cost more than £34 million before being scrapped within a year.

He also cited South Africa, saying a similar arrangement lasted only 16 months.

According to him, the scale of asset recovery in Nigeria makes centralised management impractical, noting that more than 20 statutory agencies recover assets on behalf of government.

He said the Nigeria Police Force alone had divisions in almost every local government and stations in most wards, making it impracticable for a single agency to manage assets recovered by the force and other government institutions.

The EFCC chairman also referenced the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, established to manage recovered assets, claiming that the government lost more than N5 trillion under the arrangement.

Olukoyede argued that the Proceeds of Crime Act, POCA, provided a more effective framework by placing responsibility on individual agencies to account for assets recovered under their mandates.

He said this approach, combined with Section 31 of the EFCC Act, remained an effective model for ensuring accountability in the management of recovered assets.

He challenged government agencies to account for assets recovered under their respective mandates.

Olukoyede said the EFCC publishes information on its recovered assets on its website within 24 hours, while its annual report had been submitted to the National Assembly on time throughout his tenure.

He concluded with a pledge to Nigerians: “Not a pin nor a penny of recovered assets will be mismanaged under my watch.”