According to a research by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Nigeria has recovered more than $5 billion in assets in the last 25 years.
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), Executive Director of CISLAC, disclosed this at the 2024 Report on the Common African Position on Asset Recovery (CARPA) unveiling in Nigeria. The African Union established the CARPA framework in 2020 with the goal of assisting African countries in reclaiming money that has been illegally transferred.
“Over the past 25 years, Nigeria has recovered over $5 billion in stolen assets, including significant sums returned from Switzerland and the United States. Some notable cases include the Abacha assets, where hundreds of millions of dollars looted by former military ruler Sani Abacha were repatriated after decades of international negotiations,” he said.
Despite these recoveries, Mr. Musa highlighted persistent challenges in managing returned assets, noting that there’s still much to be done, especially when it comes to involving citizens and civil society.
Nigeria has achieved just 29% of key asset recovery indicators, hindered by the absence of a unified anti-corruption strategy and fragmented coordination among agencies, which continue to slow down recovery efforts.
He pointed out the lack of essential frameworks, like whistleblower protection channels, which would empower citizens to report corruption-related issues more safely.
The CISLAC report noted that Nigeria, along with other African nations like Morocco and Kenya, struggles to effectively manage returned assets, which limits their impact on national development.
In order to improve asset recovery efforts and fight corruption throughout the continent, the report underlined the necessity of closer international cooperation.
