In furtherance of its fiscal policy objectives of translating the recovered assets into funds, the Federal Government has invited bidders to bid for the sundry assets.
The assets, which were recovered or forfeited by suspects facing corruption charges and are located in 25 states, include vehicles, ships, plants, boats, and machinery as well as electronics and furniture, as part of efforts to raise funds to meet its obligations.
A statement issued from the office of the Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr. Dayo Apata (SAN), urged interested individuals and or entities to look out for the bid requirements in media publication and “make submissions in the required format and within the specified timelines.”
He stated that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Disposal of Assets Forfeited had already commenced the assets’ disposal process on February 1, 2021, with the publication of bid requirements in the Federal Tenders Journal and two national newspapers.
The Solicitor General stated that the disposal of the affected assets was in line with the mandate of a committee approved by President Muhammadu Buhari to supervise the sale and the inherent prosecutorial powers of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
Apata who is also the chairman of Inter-Ministerial Committee, assured prospective bidders that the process of the assets disposal would be transparent, adding that to ensure this, the committee “intends to engage Valuers and Auctioneers as part of the disposal process.”
According to him, members of the committee have completed the conflict of interest and non-disclosure forms and also adopted a communication and media strategy to keep the public abreast of its activities.
It would be recalled that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), had inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial committee in November 2020 in compliance with the presidential directive.
The President directed the committee to ensure that the forfeited assets should be disposed within six months of its inauguration.
According to the minister, the setting up of the committee is sequel to the president’s directive in October 2018 following the recommendations of the Presidential Audit Committee on Recovery and Management of Stolen Assets and a need for efficient management of the assets.
He said: “It is aimed at ensuring proper coordination of the disposal of the federal government’s assets and for promoting a uniform, harmonised and transparent procedure to safeguard the assets recovered by the relevant agencies in line with the anti-corruption drive of this administration.
“Your mandate is to ensure the expedient disposal of all FGN forfeited assets and generate revenue for the Federal Government of Nigeria. Accordingly, I wish to solicit the cooperation of all members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee in that respect”, Malami added.
