The Federal Government of Nigeria is transmitting the Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency Bill to the National Assembly for passage.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, disclosed this to State House reporters on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting.
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He said the agency, when created, would manage the assets that constitute the proceeds of crime in Nigeria.
Malami said the proposed Act would put in place a legal and institutional framework to manage such assets in the country thereby encouraging transparency and accountability.
He said before now, proceeds of crime were scattered in different and multiple agencies.
He said the proposed law sought to move the fight against corruption to the next level of transparency and accountability.
He added: “In essence, we’ll have in place an agency of government that is exclusively responsible for anything proceeds of crime.
Malami said President Buhari had earlier sanctioned that there should be a budget item for recovered assets since he assumed the mantle of leadership.
“So, if you’ve a budget item for recovered assets, this agency will now be in a position to provide information to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning on demand as to what amount is there available for budget purposes, thereby establishing the desired transparency, the desired accountability which has not been available before now.
Malami stressed that the bill had nothing to do with the ongoing probe of the suspended former EFCC Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu.
