We have recovered about $700m worth of assets since 2015 ― ICPC chairman

ICPC chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has advised African governments to prioritize the recovery of assets at domestic, regional and global levels, including the return of artworks and artefacts.

ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN), who gave this advice during a virtual Commonwealth regional conference for anti-corruption agencies in Africa said prioritization became necessary to facilitate the recovery of African assets.

According to him: “In Nigeria, precisely Benin, Edo State, two major artefacts have been returned while the country has recovered between $600 million and $700 million assets in the last six years.”

Presenting a paper titled: “Understanding the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR)”, the ICPC boss, therefore, advocated the strengthening of legal and financial institutions to further aid the process of asset recovery.

In a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, the chairman said this should include the establishment of funds, trusts and dedicated African escrow accounts to be held by regional financial institutions.

He said Africa could not eradicate poverty or meet sustainable development goals without improving domestic resource mobilization, adding that domestic resource mobilisation was being hampered by corruption and illicit financial flows.

“The reality on the ground is that domestic resource mobilisation cannot improve if corruption is not diminished; illicit financial flow from the continent is not reversed, and fiscal governance from revenue and expenditure sides is not improved.

“We need to reverse the anomaly of Africa being a net creditor to the world yet burdened by debt,” the chairman added.

On the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CAPAR), he said the policy and advocacy instrument was to assist Africa to identify, repatriate and effectively manage assets while respecting the sovereignty of member-states.

In her remarks at the conference, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt. Honourable Patricia Scotland, emphasised the need for African countries to tackle corruption, noting that social and economic resources were increasingly stretched.

“Corruption leads to illicit financial flows. Africa has lost $1.26 trillion to illicit financial flows while $50 billion is lost annually by the continent.

“Corruption and illicit financial flows need to be brought to the front burner as they have continued to pose an enormous challenge to the continent,” Scotland said.

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