Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has said Nigeria had proven the viability of using recovered looted assets for long-term development.
Malami stated this, weekend, at a high-level side event on “Food Security Response: Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Securing Asset Returns for Sustainable Development,” held in conjunction with the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York City.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) jointly organised the event.
Malami said the 322 million dollars in looted Swissland assets that were recovered in 2017 lay the groundwork for lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
He said it got millions out of poverty through the Social Investment Programmes (SIP) that included National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, N-Power job creation and youth empowerment programme and National Social Safety Net programme, amongst others.
Malami said Food Security Response was placed on top of Africa’s 2022 agenda to align with the Global Sustainable Development Goal “to end hunger, achieve food.
He noted that crisis experienced in the globe as well as onslaughts of terrorism and criminality continued to exacerbate challenges to world peace posed by starvation, malnutrition, diseases, climate change which he said continue to contribute to a worsening global economy.
“Indeed, these challenges are truly interlocking and have put our collective ability to devise innovative solutions to the test,” Malami stated.
He added that findings from law enforcement organisations, in particular the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), that demonstrated how IFFS impede efforts to develop, including food security, while stressing the connection between illicit financial flows and food security.
He added that this year, President Muhammad Buhari, signed the Proceed of Crimes Act and the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act, among other laws, and that the federal government has placed laws and procedures in place to fight IFFs. (Ripples Nigeria)
