Oyewale said no EFCC official has ever been involved in sharing proceeds of forfeited assets.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has debunked a report alleging that it shared N54 billion forfeited by some associates of a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, among some ministers and aides appointed by President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement on Wednesday, EFCC’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said the report betrays the author’s ignorance of the existing asset recovery and management framework.
Oyewale said no EFCC official has ever been involved in sharing proceeds of forfeited assets.
The statement read: “The EFCC denounces as false, the report by the online news platform, Sahara Reporters, alleging that N54billion forfeited by some associates of a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele was ‘shared’ among certain ministers and aides of President Bola Tinubu, in collaboration with EFCC officials.
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“No official of the Commission was, or has ever been involved in the ‘sharing’ of any proceeds of forfeited assets. The notion of “sharing of proceeds of forfeited assets” is strange to the Commission.
“The sensational report, promoted ostensibly to scandalise the agencies mentioned, betrays the author’s ignorance of the existing asset recovery and management framework. Both the EFCC Act, 2004 and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, 2022, are unambiguous in terms of the accounts into which proceeds of forfeited assets are to be paid.
“There is no ‘platform’ for the ‘sharing of forfeited assets’; the notion itself being infantile. Otherwise, Sahara reporters would not have withheld information about when and how the sharing occurred and who got what. The truth is, it simply did not happen!”
Oyewale warned that the EFCC would not fold its arms and watch its reputation damaged.