No Assets Recovered by EFCC Will Be Mismanaged Under My Watch — Olukoyede

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has rejected calls for the creation of a single agency to manage all assets recovered by government agencies, arguing that such an arrangement would be impractical given the scale of recoveries across the country.

Olukoyede stated this in a post on his X account on Tuesday while weighing in on the ongoing debate over the management of forfeited assets.

The EFCC chairman, who previously served as Secretary of the commission and was involved in asset management, said his position was based on practical experience rather than commentary.

The chairman’s comments come against the backdrop of the increasing volume of assets recovered by the EFCC and other government agencies.

“I have followed the debate on managing forfeited assets closely. I am not a commentator on this — I am a practitioner. As Secretary of the EFCC, I managed assets for years.

“Some are calling for a single agency to handle all recovered assets. It was tried in the UK at a cost of over £34 million and folded within a year. South Africa tried it too. Sixteen months. Look it up.

“And consider the scale here. Over 20 statutory agencies recover assets for government. The Police alone have divisions in nearly every local government and stations in most wards, all forfeiting assets. No single agency could manage the Police holdings alone, let alone everyone else’s.

“We should also remember AMCON, set up to manage recovered assets — the government lost over ₦5 trillion there”, the anti-graft boss stated in his post.

Olukoyede argued that the Proceeds of Crime Act provides a more appropriate framework by placing responsibility for recovered assets on the agencies that recover them.

“POCA got it right by placing the duty on each agency: what did you recover, and what have you done with it? That, alongside Section 31 of the EFCC Act, is the most effective model anywhere in the world. So hold every agency to it. Ours goes up on our website within 24 hours, and our annual report has gone to the National Assembly on time every year of my tenure. My pledge to Nigerians: not a pin nor a penny of recovered assets will be mismanaged under my watch”, Olukoyede stated.

At a briefing in Abuja last week, Olukoyede said the EFCC had secured interim and final forfeiture orders covering 10,053 tangible assets under his leadership. The assets included real estate, vehicles, plots of land, electronic items, schools, factories, hotels, oil rigs, barges, machinery and aircraft, as well as 102 tonnes of solid minerals.

He also disclosed that proceeds from the disposal of finally forfeited assets amounted to approximately N12.07bn and had been paid to the Federal Government. The EFCC chairman said the commission recovered more than N1.23tn, $684.48m, £373,905.78 and €9.34m between October 2023 and June 2026, while N661.32bn and $492.37m had been released to beneficiaries.

The management and disposal of recovered assets have, however, remained subjects of public debate, particularly over transparency, accountability and the roles of agencies involved in the recovery process.

Earlier this year, Olukoyede also praised the Proceeds of Crime Act for streamlining the EFCC’s asset recovery and management processes, saying the law provided legal backing for the commission’s activities and helped reduce delays between forfeiture and disposal.

The debate has also been reflected in recent commentary over the commission’s handling of forfeited assets, including questions about the processes used in disposing of properties and other items recovered from suspected proceeds of crime.

Olukoyede, however, maintained that the focus should be on enforcing existing accountability mechanisms rather than establishing another central institution to take over the assets recovered by various agencies.

He therefore challenged all government agencies involved in asset recovery to account for what they recover and how the assets are subsequently managed.