EFCC Seeks N’Assembly’s Approval to Retain 7% of Recoveries

NLRC opposes commission’s request

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday urged the House of Representatives to accord the agency powers to retain seven per cent of all its recoveries from proceeds of crimes which are assets allegedly owned by corrupt public officials.

Secretary to the EFCC, Mr. Emmanuel Aremo who represented the Commission’s chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, made the plea to the lawmakers at a one-day public hearing on four bills on the proposed amendments to the EFCC Act 2004.

The anti-graft agency in a position paper on the amendments to the House Committee on Economic and Financial Crimes said that the enabling Act establishing it should be amended to give it the powers to retain seven per cent of recoveries from proceeds of crime by corrupt public officials.

The EFCC boss added that the seven percent of recoveries currently being proposed to be retained is still a far cry when compared to the percentage of proceeds of crimes being retained by anti-graft agencies of other neighbouring African countries, particularly Ghana which retains 30 per cent on a similar situation.

The agency also informed the lawmakers that it returned over N34 million to crime suspects who were later found to be unwarranted arrests in 2017 alone and assured of its readiness to return every kobo illegally taken with interest.

However, opposing the agency’s request, a commissioner at the Nigeria Law Reform Commission (NLRC), Prof. Jummai Audi, rejected the proposal for the retention of 7 per cent of recovered confiscated asset monies from suspects and convicts because the EFCC ought to have a comprehensive budget proposal from the outset in such a way that it will not contemplate the use of any confiscated asset or money or resources for its operations.