The Senate has passed for second reading a bill which seeks to amend the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022, with a proposal to establish a new centralized agency to manage assets and properties recovered from unlawful activities.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Idiat Adebule (APC – Lagos West).
According to Adebule in her lead debate during plenary, the bill aims to improve accountability, transparency, and efficiency in handling recovered assets by removing asset management duties from the 18 agencies currently tasked with prosecution and property management under the extant law.
She described the amendment as a necessary step to address overlapping functions and inefficiencies embedded in the current law. She explained that under the 2022 Act, each of the 18 designated agencies established their own Proceeds of Crime Directorates, resulting in duplication of roles, lack of synergy, and inadequate safeguards for recovered properties.
According to her, the proposed amendment seeks to, “Establish a single, independent agency responsible solely for the management, administration, and disposal of recovered assets;