COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY PARTICIPANTS AT THE CIVIL SOCIETY PRE-NATIONAL ASSET RECOVERY SUMMIT, HELD IN ABUJA ON 4TH MARCH 2025

Preamble

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), organised a Civil Society Pre-National Asset Recovery Summit which was held in Hawthorn Suites, Abuja, 4th March 2025. 

The Summit, which served as a precursor to the forthcoming National Asset Recovery Summit proposed by the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ), provided a platform for the Civil Society and other stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of asset recovery and management frameworks in Nigeria, in line with the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) Principles. The outcomes and recommendations for enhancing the governance of recovered assets will also feed into the National Asset Recovery Summit scheduled for March 2025, the 4th International Conference for Financing for Development scheduled for June 2025, and the Conference of State Parties (CoSP11) scheduled to hold in Doha, December 2025. 

Participants were drawn from representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs), as well as anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), FMoJ and its Asset Recovery and Management Unit (ARMU), the Inter-Agency Task Team, the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reform (TUGAR), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and other development partners.

Key Issues Discussed

Key issues discussed at the pre-summit included strengthening and enforcement of legislation on asset recovery in Nigeria, anti-corruption/asset recovery Agencies compliance with the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022, and combating illicit financial flows in Nigeria. The meeting also discussed preliminary findings of the ANEEJ/FCDO Asset Recovery Research Project, with opportunities for participants to make inputs and suggestions. The discussions were guided by the provisions on the role of civil society in ensuring transparency, accountability, and public engagement in asset recovery processes in line with the GFAR Principles and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Framework.  Below were the recommendations proffered.

Recommendations

Civil society and stakeholders urge the federal government of Nigeria to:

1. immediately commence an international campaign on stolen asset prohibition, in addition to the current stolen asset recovery efforts by foreign jurisdictions. 
2. increase political will and commitment to pursue domestic asset recovery, to compliment the current efforts at international asset recovery. 
3. conduct robust advocacy and policy engagement with members of the National Assembly to prevent illicit financial flows and address stolen wealth and recovery.  
4. urgently initiate amendment of the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022 to address the various issues raised as they affect asset recovery and management in Nigeria. 
5. urgently consider passage of the Whistleblower Protection Bill as a key anti-corruption legislation, to safeguard individuals and groups who expose corruption and financial crimes. 
6. immediately escalate recovery and utilisation of illicit assets held by serving and retired public servants who engaged in corrupt enrichment at all levels of government.
7. institutionalise platforms for non-government stakeholders’ inputs into the end-to-end asset recovery and management processes.
8. ensure collaboration with other tiers of government on public sensitisation on asset recovery and management to help address the existing low-level of public awareness.
9. immediately activate, institutionalise, and promote oversight of a centralised database on recovered assets to ensure transparency and accountability.
10. ensure the allocation of recovered assets to meet the needs of affected victims and marginalised communities, in addition to the provision of road and other critical infrastructure projects.

SIGNED:

1. Rev. David Ugolor, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ).
2. Tijani Abdulkareem, Socio Economic Research and Development Centre (SERDEC)
3. Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, Foundation Fpr Environmental Rights,Advocacy & Development(FENRAD)