JUST IN:President Buhari Orders C’ttee To Sell All Assets Forfeited To Federal Government

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the sale of assets forfeited to the Federal Government within the next six months.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami made this known on Monday during the inauguration of a 22-member Inter-Ministerial Committee on the disposal of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s forfeited assets.

According to him, Buhari approved the composition of the Committee which is headed by the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata, since October 27.

He said: “It is my pleasure to note that Mr President approved the composition of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Disposal of Federal Government of Nigeria Forfeited Assets on 27th October 2020 which we are inaugurating today. The Committee has a time frame of six (6) months for the disposal of all Federal Government Forfeited Assets.”

Malami noted that the core mandate of the Committee was to ensure the expedient disposal of all forfeited assets, to generate revenue for the Federal Government.

“You may recall that pursuant to Mr. President’s directive in October 2018 following the recommendations of the Presidential Audit Committee on Recovery and Management of Stolen Assets, there was the need for effective and efficient management of recovered assets, as an interim measure, pending the passage of the Proceeds of Crime Bill. In compliance with the directives of Mr. President, the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice issued Asset Tracing, Recovery, and Management Regulations, 2019 to provide legal and administrative frameworks for the investigation, tracing, seizure, and disposal of stolen or illegally acquired assets and proceeds of crime.

“The Regulation was drawn from the extant laws of the relevant anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies. It is aimed at ensuring proper coordination of the disposal of the Federal Government assets and for promoting a uniform, harmonised, and transparent procedure to safeguard the assets recovered by the relevant agencies in line with the anti-corruption drive of this administration.

“Members of the Committee are drawn from the relevant agencies that deal with the recovery and disposal of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s assets. While the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Justice, Dayo Apata, SAN shall be the Chairman of the Committee, the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Unit under the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice shall serve as the Secretariat of the Committee.”