EFCC seeks legislation against unexplained wealth

The EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has urged for a law against unexplained wealth as a way of curbing the criminal activities of treasury looters in the country.

EFCC Spokesperson, Mr. Dele Oyewale, in a statement, cited Olukoyede as making the plea at a two-day International Law Conference hosted by Christopher University, Mowe, Ogun State.

The theme of the conference is “Unexplained Wealth in the Global South: Examining the Asset Recovery and Return Trajectory.”.

Olukoyede said several countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Mauritius, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Trinidad and Tobago, had adopted the Unexplained Wealth Orders, or UWOs, since they became effective in 2018.

He said the EFCC was still depending on the provisions of Section 7 of its Establishment Act to deal with the problem.

“The issue of unexplained wealth is not a local issue. There are legal frameworks across the world to address it.

“To date, countries around the world are confronted with criminalities arising from money laundering practices and illicit funds. This situation led to the enactment of unexplained wealth orders, or UWOs, that became effective in 2018.

“Several countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Mauritius, and African countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, have introduced UWO. Nigeria is yet to introduce a national law on it,” he said.

The EFCC boss, who was represented at the conference by the Abuja Zonal Commander, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE1 Adebayo Adeniyi, stressed that treasury looters would have little protection if the issue of unexplained wealth was handled more seriously across the world.

“In Nigeria today, unexplained wealth has become a practical way of tracing, identifying, investigating, and prosecuting corruption cases.

“As an anti-corruption agency, suspects of any economic or financial crimes are usually asked to declare their assets in the course of an investigation.

“The reason for this is to properly determine their true asset base and their connection, or otherwise, to any act of corruption.

“Due to the lack of a law on the issue of unexplained wealth, the EFCC continues to rely on provisions of Section 7 of its Establishment Act to manage it,” he said.

Olukoyede said the worries about unexplained wealth focused more on asset tracing, investigation, and recovery.

“Nations are quickly opting for non-conviction-based asset forfeiture. The reason for this is simple: unexplained wealth can only be useful to the state if it is forfeited.

“Since inception, the EFCC has seized sizable assets from fraudsters. They include houses, vehicles, barges, jewellery, money, furniture items, and landed properties, among others,” he said.