Don’t Abuse Trust – Malami Warns Panel On Assets’ Sales
FG sets 6 months deadline
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI, ABUJA – With mounting allegations of underhand dealings rocking the inventory of officially forfeited assets in the country, the Federal Government has ordered their immediate sale within the next six months.
To carry out this onerous task is a 22-member inter ministerial committee inaugurated by Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami in Abuja on Monday.
The Committee’s mandate is clear; to sell off both movable and immovable assets recovered from suspected as well as confirmed looters of public property and resources in the country.
Referred to as: “Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Disposal of Federal Government of Nigeria Forfeited Assets”, its key “mandate is to ensure the expedient disposal of all FGN Forfeited Assets and generate revenue for the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
In a veil reference to waning public trust and confidence in most government Committees, Attorney General Malami challenged the members not to betray the trust reposed in them by government.
He disclosed that the Committee membership was drawn from relevant agencies that deal with the recovery and disposal of federal assets for effective coordination and mandate delivery.
Malami charged the committee to deploy; “the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations, 2019, the Standard Operating Procedures and Terms of Reference” as its working tools and guide on how best to actualise the quick disposal of the recovered assets in line with the directive of the President.
“I wish to implore the inter-ministerial committee to work as a formidable team with the relevant agencies in accordance with extant laws and regulations.”
The Justice Minister also expressed the “hope that the proceeds from this exercise will be a source of additional revenue for the country.”
“I must, however, warn that the task before the inter-ministerial committee is an enormous one and must be conducted with utmost dignity having the interest of Nigeria at heart. Thus, much is expected from the committee”, Malami said.
Leading the committee as its Chairman is the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Dayo Apata, who in his remarks at the occasion, pledged the panel’s readiness to execute its mandate with utmost commitment.
“I assure you that our committee will be guided by the twin principles of transparency and accountability,” he said.
Apata also requested all assets recovery agencies to urgently send records of recovered assets to the committee’s secretariat, situated in the Assets Tracing Recovery and Management Unit, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (OAGF)
The committee comprises members from Office of the Chief of Staff to the President; Federal Ministries of Justice; Finance as well as Works and Housing; Auditor-General of the Federation; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The team also include: The Nigerian Army; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Department of State Security (DSS); National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA); Nigerian Navy; Nigeria Police; Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Others on the committee are: National Oil Spillage, Detection and Response Agency; the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP); representatives of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs); a representative of the youth organisations, and a representative of the media.
To underline the all encompassing nature of the Committee membership, there is the standing instruction that “any other Nigerian with exceptional expertise that could add value to the committee as deems fit by the AGF” could be coopted to aid the panel’s work.
