*Lauds Senate over passage of the bill
Ayo Ola
The Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has appealed to the House of Representatives to also pass the Proceeds of Crime Bill into law.
He also commended the Senate for what it described as the red chamber’s courage in passing the Proceeds of Crime Bill.
HEDA’s Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, in a statement on Tuesday also called on Nigerians to give every necessary support to the NASS in this regard, saying, if the bill is signed into law, the benefits would be unprecedented.
He stated that it is high time Nigeria stopped losing billions of Naira by the hands of a few Nigerians particularly allegedly by the Politically Exposed Persons, some of them, are suspected to be bent at crippling Nigeria’s economy.
Suraju said, “The amount of money stolen and banked in different foreign banks and properties in different parts of the world illegally acquired by some Nigerians since independence till date, is more than enough to not only turn Nigeria into a cynosure but envy of the world.
“Today, what do we have? Apart from the suffering of resource curses, we are the capital poverty of the world, the sixth (6) most miserable people on earth. Nigerians are not expected to live anywhere below average. But due to the diabolic attitude of some persons, Nigerians now attract sympathy, a laughing stock, and the Political leaders are doing just little to redeem the image of the giant of Africa.”
He added that HEDA Resource Centre expects the House of Representatives to do exactly as the Senate without hesitation and transmit same to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
He stated that the bill when it becomes law would expand the mandates of existing statutory institutions to manage proceeds of crime, rather than creating a new body to carry out such functions.
“More so, it would facilitate the establishment of departments in relevant organisations to manage forfeited assets as well as provide for an effective legal framework for the recovery of proceeds of crime.
It would also strengthen the criminal confiscation procedure by ensuring that the total benefit from a person’s criminal activity is recovered, among others, this was according to the chairman – Joint Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes; and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters. Suleiman Kwari (APC-Kaduna),” Suraju said.