FG sets up committee to sell off forfeited assets

The federal government has given a six-month timeline to a 22-member committee for proper disposal of all forfeited assets.

Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, disclosed during the inauguration of the inter-ministerial committee on federal government of Nigeria’s forfeited assets, which held in Abuja on Monday.

Malami said President Muhammadu Buhari had, on October 27, 2020, approved the composition of the committee and given a six-month time frame for the disposal of all federal government assets.

The AGF noted that “members of the committee are drawn from the relevant agencies that deal with the recovery and disposal of federal government of Nigeria’s asset”.

He added that Dayo Apata, solicitor general of the federation, will chair the committee.

According to Malami, some of the responsibilities of the committee will include “implementation of provisions of the ATRM regulations, ensure the transparency of the disposal of federal government final forfeited assets, ensure the synergy and collaboration between AGF, law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, other relevant ministries, departments and agencies and the non-governmental organisation in the collation of records of all assets”.

The committee will also “ensure that information flow on assets are in place, respond to any ongoing asset management audit and the asset performance reports, consistently implement enablers and controls that support decision making and efficiency of service delivery which govern the disposal of assets; and development of targets for the committee in order to measure its performance”.

“The Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations, 2019, the standard operating procedures and terms of reference are the working tools to serve as guidelines for the inter-ministerial committee and how best to actualise the quick disposal of the FGN assets in line with Mr President’s directive,” Malami said.

“Your mandate is to ensure the expedient disposal of all FGN forfeited assets and generate revenue for the federal government of Nigeria.

“On this note, I wish to implore the inter-ministerial committee to work as a formidable team with the relevant agencies in accordance with extant laws and regulations.

“It is also my hope that the proceeds from this exercise will be a source of additional revenue for the country.

“I must, however, warn that the task before the inter-ministerial committee is an enormous one and must be conducted with utmost dignity having the interest of Nigeria at heart. Thus, much is expected from the committee.”

Responding, Apata, who is the chairman of the committee, gave the assurance that the committee would discharge its duties with transparency and accountability.

Meanwhile, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has since asked Malami to scrap the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations, 2019.

The group said the regulation has been nullified by a federal high court.