The Chairperson of the EFCC urged parliamentary members to approve the Unable to Explained Wealth Bill

The Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has renewed an invaluation for the ratification of an inconable wealth bill, warning that Nigeria’s struggle for corruption will remain ineffective without a legal framework to request individual accountability for assets outside their valid income.

Speaking on Wednesday at the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance in Abuja, with the theme “Fiscal Governance in Nigeria: Mapping a new course for transparency and sustainable development,” Olukoyede expressed frustration over the failure of the National Assembly to impose the proposed law, which was previously rejected by the final assembly of the National Assembly.

“Over the past year, I have beg for members of parliament to pass this bill,” he said. “Without it, people who live far beyond their ability will continue to avoid supervision with legal technical guise. It does not make sense to demand evidence of predicate violations before the action can be taken against someone who is declared unable to justify their assets.”

This bill seeks to empower anti-corruption institutions such as EFCC to investigate and demand that people suspected of illegal enrichment without the need for evidence of previous violations, thus discussing the great gap in Nigerian legal architecture to overcome corruption.

Citing continuing investigation into the oil and gas sector, Olukoyede said the findings so far have been “confusing,” noting that what has been found is only the “peripheral layer” of corruption in the industry.

“In the last three weeks, we began an investigation in all commissions to extractive industries, especially oil and gas. What we found so far was disturbing and we had just opened a book,” he said. “If this is on the surface, imagine what is hidden under him.”

Olukoyede also attracted a relationship between corruption and the deepest security crisis in the country, on the grounds that mismanagement of public resources triggered violence, terrorism, and crime.

“When you see bandits, kidnappings, and terrorism, and track it to its roots, you will find the pattern of corruption practices and the transfer of public funds intended to improve people’s lives,” he said.

He highlighted a case in which a civil servant who worked for 20 years was found to have many high -value properties in Abuja’s upper class such as Maitama and Asokoro, assets that far exceeded the individual’s legal income.

“We calculate their salaries and benefits, and mathematics does not increase. But we are expected to prove the predicate violation. This is a gap that protects corruption, and it must be closed,” he said.

The Chairman of the EFCC also regretted the difficulties faced by Nigeria in restoring the assets stored abroad. He revealed that he recently visited several countries in an effort to reclaim the stolen national wealth, only to meet the resistance of foreign authorities.

“Only last month, I visited four or five countries chasing stolen assets. A ambassador told me that they found a plantation in Iceland owned by the Nigerian. Iceland, from all places,” he said.

Apart from his efforts, Olukoyede admitted that the theft scale was very broad so even the best anti-corruption encouragement would struggle to take more than half of the looted wealth.

“No matter how much capacity I built, it will never be enough to recover everything that is stolen from Nigeria,” he said. “The guards of these assets in foreign jurisdictions often do not want to release them. They make recovery efforts not to be difficult.”

He criticized international actors because of the involvement they felt in protecting looters, stating that countries that hold the stolen assets of Nigeria must be considered “accessories after facts.”

“I said this at the United Nations last December: If you hold the wealth of Nigeria, you are part of the problem. Some grumble, but I don’t care. We have shown them evidence, we have tracked funds, we have brought suspects to court, but those people are still being celebrated,” he said.

Olukoyede concluded by stating that Nigeria did not need to continue to borrow if corruption could be drastically reduced. He called for an urgent reform to strengthen transparency in making income and accountability in public expenditure.

“If we can eliminate even half of corruption in the system, Nigeria will not have a business loan. What we need is the framework of transparent, accountable, and efficient fiscal governance,” he said.