In a bid to better manage and improve the accountability of proceeds of crime in the country, the Ministry of Justice is seeking to establish a new anti-corruption agency, known as the Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency (PCRMA).

According to the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, the country has for the past few years been on the road to recovering looted assets which thereafter remain in the hands of various agencies. The PCRMA will be saddled with the responsibility of coordinating international and local recovery as well as management of all recovered assets that are the proceeds of crime.

Osita Chidoka, Nigeria’s former aviation minister, however condemned the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the Agency. He stated emphatically that given the current economic situation in Nigeria, such approval ‘is another example of misplaced priority, tone deafness and lack of understanding of current realities.’ Consequently, he advised for the amendment of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Act could be amended to include every single activity of the PCRMA. He opined that an amendment to the AMCON act would be much cheaper and will reduce the redundancies of bureaucratic governmental organizations.