BEVERLY HILLS, September 16, (THEWILL) – The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the transmission of a Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency Bill to the National Assembly to facilitate the establishment of an Agency for recovered assets.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, presented the memo at the 15th virtual Federal Executive Council meeting which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa. He said the bill when approved by NASS, would ensure the establishment of the agency which would be saddled with the responsibility of managing all recovered assets across the country.
Malami told State House Correspondents that the bill which will be forwarded to National Assembly for approval is targeted and intended to have in place a legal and institutional framework through which all recovered stolen assets are pooled and managed under an agency, ending the era when various government agencies work at variance with regards to recovered asset
He further explained that once the bill becomes law and the agency is established, it would see to proper documentation and management of such recovered assets and thereby guarantee transparency and accountability
According to Malami “the federal ministry of justice presented a Council memo today. The Council memo is about a Bill which will seek the approval of the Council to transmit to the National Assembly for passage. It is a Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency Bill. It is in essence a bill that is targeted and intended to have in place a legal and institutional framework. The legal component of it is having a law. And the institutional component of it is to have an agency that will be saddled with the responsibility of managing the assets that constitute the proceeds of crime in Nigeria.”
“What happens before now is the proceeds of crime are scattered all over, and mostly in the hands of different and multiple agencies of government inclusive of the police, the DSS, EFCC, and ICPC. So, with that kind of arrangement which is adhoc, there is no agency of government that is saddled with the responsibility of data generation, an agency that can give you offhead the number of landed assets , number of immovable assets , the amount in cash that are recovered by the federal government by way of interim forfeiture overweigh of a final forfeiture. So, it is indeed overtime a kind of arrangement that is not uniform and consistent”, he added.
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The AGF further added that the new law seeks to move the fight against corruption to the next level.
“Next level of transparency, the next level of accountability in essence, will have in place an agency of government that is exclusively responsible for anything proceeds of crime. A one-stop-shop arrangement by which all the assets that are recovered arising from crimes that are indeed vested in the federal government, you have a one-stop arrangement where you can have information. As it is for example the federal ministry of Justice is only in a position to account and give a comprehensive account of what recoveries were made by the ministry.
Asked if the bill is a fall out of experience with the EFCC with particular reference to management of assets, Malami said: “Let me take you through the history lane as far as the proceeds of crime bill is concerned. There was an attempt some time back in 2007 to present to the FEC, it was unsuccessful, and the bill was not passed.
“There was a further attempt in 2011 to present the same bill with some material amendments, and then it did not succeed in getting the blessings of FEC. And there was a further attempt in 2019 to present the Bill and it wasn’t as well successful but it eventually succeeded today.
Malami dismissed the suspicion that the proposed agency was informed by the fallout of the ongoing investigation of the activities of the suspended acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.
Meanwhile, the Council also approved a new national policy on occupational safety and health, tagged National Policy on Occupational Safety 2020.
Minister of Labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said the new policy is aimed at ensuring that all workers are safe at their workplaces across the country, adding that it derives from provisions of the Nigerian constitution and the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) convention.
“The Federal executive Council today approved a new policy on occupational safety and health-2020. This policy is designed to make for safety and health of workers at workplaces. It derives from the main ground norm law of the 1999 constitution as amended, which in section 17 (3c) prescribes that the Nigerian State shall make laws and bye-laws for preservation of the health and well-being of workers in the workplaces; men and women at work. It also derives from the ILO convention 155, which Nigeria has also domesticated. Again, that talks about making the workplace conducive and ensuring the health and well-being of workers,” Ngige explained.
The Labour Minister also said the last time the policy was reviewed was fourteen years ago but the new one has a review period of three years.
“The last policy we have was approved in 2006 which makes it exactly 14 years since that was approved by the Federal Executive Council and that is the policy we have been working on. But u know that 14 years is a long span in the life of any law so in the course of operation, certain issues have been thrown up, the world has gone digital, work place mechanism and hazards have been changing and it was therefore necessary that we do a new policy. This policy we did now is what you call repeal and replace and it takes care of all that is needed for now, for the health of Nigerian workers,” he said.
The Minister explained that the new policy gives specific roles to agencies of government. He said “It gives specific roles to agencies, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA,) Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA,) Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA,) Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Health.
“Everybody has his own role now because it’s a cross-cutting situation as most Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government are involved.”
Ngige said the new policy has a review period of three years.
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