ANEEJ HAILS PCAR INAUGURATION, URGES PROFESSIONAL HANDLING OF RECOVERED ASSETS
Press Release
22nd November, 2017.
Benin City, Nigeria…The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has hailed the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on Asset Recovery, PCAR, saying that it yields to the call by Nigerians for a comprehensive audit of all seized assets.
ANEEJ executive director, the Rev David Ugolor who made this call said that the PCAR was a bold step from Mr. President.
‘ANEEJ recognises this as a great step which will hopefully strengthen institutional frameworks for Asset Recovery in Nigeria, help with the passage of the Proceeds of Crime Bill and become a permanent solution to the management of seized assets in Nigeria’, the Rev Ugolor said.
The inauguration of the PCAR comes on the heels of the Global Forum on Asset Recovery inaugural meeting which will hold in December in Washington, DC. It will focus on the asset recovery efforts of Nigeria, Ukraine Sri Lanka and Tunisia. Therefore, with CSOs coming together to help build an enduring asset recovery framework in Nigeria, the tone for the inauguration of the PCAR was set.
‘To put the inauguration of the PCAR in its proper perspective, it is important to state that the management of assets needs the expertise of seasoned practitioners who can turn recovered assets into value-added for Nigeria. If professionally managed, recovered assets can yield trillions of naira to government to help with financing critical areas of the economy like power, transport and basic infrastructure’, the Rev Ugolor said.