Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Ola Olukoyede has assured Nigerians that no recovered asset will be mismanaged under his leadership.
Olukoyede gave the assurance on Tuesday amid the ongoing debate over the management of forfeited and recovered assets.
In a statement posted on his X handle, the EFCC chairman said his position was rooted in practical experience, having previously served as Secretary of the commission and managed recovered assets for several years.
He opposed calls for the creation of a single agency to manage all assets recovered by government institutions, arguing that similar arrangements in other countries had failed.
Olukoyede cited the United Kingdom, where an attempt to establish a central agency for recovered assets cost more than £34 million before being scrapped within a year. He also referenced South Africa, noting that a comparable arrangement lasted only 16 months.
According to him, the scale of asset recovery in Nigeria makes centralised management impractical, as more than 20 statutory agencies recover assets on behalf of the government. He pointed out that the Nigeria Police Force alone has divisions in almost every local government and stations in most wards, making it unworkable for a single agency to oversee assets recovered by the police and other institutions.
The EFCC chairman further referenced the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), established to manage recovered assets, claiming that the government lost more than ₦5 trillion under that arrangement.
Olukoyede argued that the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) provides a more effective framework by placing responsibility on individual agencies to account for assets recovered under their mandates. He said this approach, combined with Section 31 of the EFCC Act, remains an effective model for ensuring accountability.
He challenged government agencies to account for assets recovered under their respective mandates.Olukoyede noted that the EFCC publishes information on its recovered assets on its website within 24 hours, while its annual report has been submitted to the National Assembly on time throughout his tenure.
He concluded with a firm pledge to Nigerians: “Not a pin nor a penny of recovered assets will be mismanaged under my watch.”
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