The Federal Government has expressed determination to recover and repatriate the country’s stolen funds stashed away in foreign countries.
At the launch of a new office complex for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Command, yesterday, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, said the Bola Tinubu-led administration “is determined to rid Nigeria of corruption.”
Hinting that the recovery and repatriation of Nigeria’s stolen wealth is an issue of great concern to Tinubu’s administration, Fagbemi said: “The EFCC is expected to continue to lead the charge to trace, recover and facilitate the return of our stolen wealth.”
According to him, it is Tinubu’s plan to rid Nigeria of corruption, noting that the EFCC is pivotal to the actualisation of the dream.
He said: “The EFCC is pivotal in the Tinubu administration’s plan to remove impediments to accountability in governance institutions and strengthen mechanisms and platforms by which Nigerians can hold public officers to account.”
In realisation of the objective, he hinted the government’s plan to embark on reforms that would strengthen legal frameworks that would improve the EFCC’s enquiries and assets recovery efforts.
Fagbemi added: “Beyond providing accommodation for the personnel of the commission, it is the contemplation of this administration to remove every institutional and legal obstacle encumbering the commission.”
He also reminded men of the commission of obligation to always conduct affairs of the anti-graft agency strictly in accordance with the rule of law.
“The Executive Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and I are in accord on this, and I hope all personnel of the commission will appreciate the fact that corruption is best fought within the ambit of the law,” he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, Olukoyede had charged his men to be unsparing in sanitising the business environment and support the country’s drive to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by tackling fraud of all hues, saying there would not be excuses for non-performance.
The anti-graft tsar reiterated his commitment to refocus the anti-corruption war by adopting modalities capable of stimulating economic development in the overall interest of Nigerians.
He described the opening of the ultra-modern zonal command’s office as “a dream come true”, describing it as a fulfilment of a promise he made few days back when he came on a familiarisation visit.
