By Hadiza Ibrahim
The Acting Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulkarim Chukkol, on Monday charged law enforcement agencies to make use of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act (POCA), 2023, to improve their assets tracing and recovery efforts with the aim of delivering greater benefits to the country.
A press statement issued by the agency on Tuesday stated that Chukkol said this in a message delivered at the opening ceremony of a 4-day capacity building workshop on the proceeds of crime at the EFCC Academy, Abuja.
The EFCC boss, who was represented by Dr. George Ekpungu, who is the Secretary to the Commission, said the agency was determined to take the lead in the enforcement of POCA.
“Our various Departments, particularly Proceeds of Crime Management Department, are poised to key into the economic recovery and development strategies of this administration which emphasises crime prevention and uncompromising recovery of assets illegally obtained from the country,” he declared.
Also speaking at the event, the Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, who was represented by A.B. Abubakar, said “POCA is an act of necessity. It is a landmark legislation which singularly sets out a comprehensive scheme and prescribes processes and procedures for the tracing, restrain, seizure, confiscation, forfeiture and management of properties derived from unlawful activities”.
She revealed that efforts are being made to create a standardised automated asset forfeiture management system for the effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.
Similarly, the Commandant of EFCC Academy, Ayo Olowonihi, in his remark, emphasised the importance of taking away benefits from crime, while Professor Akinseyi George, President of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, identified greed as the major driver of crime as criminals are no longer bothered about going to prison, knowing that the proceeds of the crime are available for them to enjoy after serving their sentence.
The Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, who was represented by Adedayo Kayode, stressed the need to preserve seized assets from deteriorating to enable Government get good value when they are disposed of.
