The National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is likely to vote next month on a bill that would introduce civil forfeiture to the West African country, which for decades has been internationally known as a hotbed of crime and corruption.
The bill, proposed by the antigraft Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) about four months ago, is aimed at reclaiming unlawfully acquired public or private property-whether or not a person has been charged or convicted of a crime. If passed it would also target former and current politicians including presidents and governors, known as "politically exposed persons."
Femi Babafemi, the EFCC's head of media and publicity, said the bill is aimed at those who profit from crime and corruption by denying "them the enjoyment of these proceeds of crime."
Criminal asset forfeiture laws already exist in Nigeria, meaning a suspect may forfeit property deemed to be proceeds of crime if convicted. This bill would place the burden of proof on suspects. "This bill will shift the proof to the owners of these assets," Babafemi said. "They have to account for how they came about the assets."
Former Head of State General Sani Abacha along with his family and associates, for example, are estimated to have stolen as much as $5 billion in assets before Abacha's 1998 death, but only a fraction of the money has been recovered. The World Bank specifically cited the devastating effect of the Abachas' widespread theft last year when it launched its Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. "$5 billion is more than what Nigeria's federal government spent in 2006 on education and health," World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said in a statement. "This money could have provided antiretroviral therapy for two to three million Nigerians infected with HIV/AIDS for ten years."
Numerous state governors have also stood trial for corruption and money laundering in recent months, and stand to forfeit billions if convicted. But Babafemi said that suspects on trial, a process that can be delayed for several years at a time, still have access to their wealth and often flaunt it or hide their assets by transferring it into different bank accounts.
EFCC Executive Chairman Mrs. Farida Mzamber Waziri in early August took the civil forfeiture bill to the House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes. While it received support, critics also suggested that the bill would interfere with due process and Nigeria's Constitution. Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who voiced concern that civil forfeiture is tantamount to conviction before trial during the National Seminar on Economic Crime in September, could not be reached for comment.
Various amendments have been added to the bill since it was introduced, and Babafemi said he expects it will be reintroduced when the National Assembly reconvenes in January.
Meanwhile the EFCC has been tangled in its own controversy. Last week former EFCC Chairman Mallam Nuhu Ribadu said he would challenge his dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force in court, according to the Nigerian press. About a year ago Ribadu reportedly was pressured to step down and attend a yearlong training course, weeks after the arrest of a former governor from the ruling party. His efforts at fighting corruption were applauded by many in the international community, and his removal was widely criticized. "It's the timing that's most distressing," Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate in literature, told The Washington Post. "One of the biggest fishes in the corruption net had just been nabbed."
Then, earlier this month, reporters accused Waziri of accepting a Mercedes-Benz luxury jeep as a bribe from a governor-an allegation that governor, Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio, has denied. Other reports have alleged EFCC case files were missing, but Waziri denied those allegations this fall.
Despite the drama, Waziri's efforts to establish a civil forfeiture law have been applauded by some members of the international community. At the National Seminar on Economic Crime in September, Theodore S. Greenberg, a World Bank official, presented a paper titled, "Winning the anti-corruption fight through a Non-Conviction-Based Asset Forfeiture Regime.
"People must be punished for committing crimes," he reportedly told the crowd.
