The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has urged the National Assembly to enact legislation that criminalises unexplained wealth and sudden fortune in Nigeria.
The commission noted that despite ongoing anti-corruption efforts, there is currently no legal framework to hold public officials accountable for owning assets that exceed their legitimate income.
Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede, made the appeal on Wednesday during his address at the National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance, organised by the Public Accounts Committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives in Abuja.
Olukoyede disclosed that the EFCC has just started scrutinising the financial records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and initial findings are already deeply concerning.
“Help me pass the Unexplained Wealth Bill. I’ve been begging for the past year. This same bill was thrown out in the last Assembly. If we don’t make individuals accountable for what they have, we’ll never get it right.
“Someone has worked in a ministry for 20 years. We calculate their entire salary and allowances. Then we find five properties — two in Maitama, three in Asokoro. Yet we’re told to go and prove a predicate offence before we can act. That is absurd.
“In the last three weeks, we started a commission-wide investigation into the extractive industry, particularly the oil and gas sector. What we have discovered is mind-boggling. We have only just opened the books. So much more corruption is to be unravelled. If this is what we’re seeing at the surface, imagine what lies beneath,” he said.
According to Olukoyede, the findings highlight the scale of financial mismanagement within the system. He described fiscal recklessness and poor management of public funds as major contributors to both economic hardship and national insecurity.
“There is a very strong connection between the mismanagement of our resources and insecurity. When you look at banditry, kidnapping, terrorism, trace it back, and you will find a pattern of corrupt practices and diversion of funds that were meant to improve people’s lives,” he said.
He criticised the legal barriers preventing the Commission from prosecuting suspects, explaining that the requirement of a “predicate offence” such as theft or fraud often stalls asset recovery efforts.
He argued that the proposed legislation would create strict liability for individuals found with assets significantly beyond their known and legal earnings.
“Once you are living beyond your means, you should be held to account. Until we do this, there will always be an escape route for the corrupt,” he said.
Olukoyede also pointed to the global dimension of Nigeria’s stolen assets, revealing that the EFCC is tracing illicit wealth in multiple countries, including unexpected locations.
“Last month alone, I visited four or five countries chasing Nigeria’s stolen assets. An ambassador even told me they discovered an estate in Iceland owned by a Nigerian. Iceland of all places!” he said.
He admitted that even the best anti-graft efforts cannot recover more than half of what has been looted, citing resistance from foreign custodians of stolen funds.
“There is no amount of capacity I can build, no level of effort I can put in, that will enable me to recover even half of what has been stolen from Nigeria because the custodians of those assets in foreign countries don’t want to let go. And they won’t,” he said.
He also criticised those hoarding looted wealth, recalling how he confronted delegates at a United Nations forum.
“I told them at the United Nations Forum last December that if you are holding onto Nigeria’s stolen assets, we see you as an accessory after the fact. They grumbled, but I didn’t care,” he said.
Olukoyede condemned the culture of impunity in Nigeria’s public sector, noting that some individuals under prosecution are still being publicly celebrated despite evidence against them.
“We are doing this work. We see people who have stolen our money. We have shown you evidence. We’ve traced where the money went. We are already in court. Yet, they’re being celebrated all over the place. Does that show we’re serious?
“If we execute even 60% of our capital budget efficiently between 2025 and 2026, we will empower small and medium-scale industries. We’ll build infrastructure. We’ll be fine,” he said.
He emphasised that Nigeria has enough natural and mineral resources and should not rely on borrowing to sustain the economy.
“What we need is transparency in revenue generation and accountability in public expenditure,” he said, urging national leaders to unite in the fight against corruption.
“If we miss it under this administration, I pity Nigeria. Let’s put politics aside. Let’s put ethnicity aside. This is about rescuing the soul of Nigeria,” he said.