In a major push for transparency and financial accountability, the House of Representatives has passed a crucial motion calling for a comprehensive national audit of all seized, forfeited, and recovered assets from May 29, 1999, to date.
The motion, introduced by Hon. Chris Nkwonta, addresses severe vulnerabilities in the country’s asset recovery framework and demands the immediate creation of a centralized, public-facing digital database to track properties and funds worth trillions of Naira.
Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, various anti-corruption agencies, ministries, security forces, and courts have confiscated a vast array of assets derived from illicit financial flows, money laundering, and terrorism financing. These assets include cash, landed properties, luxury vehicles, shares, aircraft, and digital assets.
However, despite the passage of the Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Act, 2022, the House raised alarm over the complete absence of a unified, publicly accessible National Asset Register.
The House expressed deep concern over persistent allegations of poor valuation practices and inadequate record-keeping, weak chain-of-custody procedures leading to the physical deterioration of recovered assets, unexplained leakages and the non-remittance of proceeds into the federation accounts, and high risks of conflicts of interest among managing agencies.
Hon. Nkwonta stated, “The total absence of a unified national database severely undermines public confidence and paralyzes effective legislative oversight. Deploying modern digital technology is the only way to ensure inter-agency coordination, bulletproof transparency, and total accountability.”
Exercising its investigative powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the House of Representatives officially resolved to:
- Urge the Federal Government to immediately verify all assets seized, managed, or disposed of by all Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), courts, and anti-corruption bodies spanning the last 27 years.
- Set up an Ad-Hoc Committee on Seized, Forfeited, and Recovered Assets in Nigeria to probe the physical inventory, current status, and cash proceeds of these assets nationwide.
- Task the committee with reviewing the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2022, to identify legal loopholes and report back within four (4) weeks for further legislative action.
This dual-pronged approach of a rigorous historical audit and a shift toward modern digital registries marks a decisive step toward eliminating corruption within Nigeria’s asset recovery processes.
