Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Dr Musa Aliyu (SAN), has called for stronger regional cooperation to recover stolen assets across West African nations.
Aliyu made the call during his remarks at the seventh Annual General Assembly, AGA, of the Network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa, NACIWA, held at the ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja, yesterday.
He emphasised the need for intensified collective efforts, effective information sharing and deep mutual trust among anti-corruption agencies across the ECOWAS sub-region to improve results in asset tracing and recovery processes.
Aliyu described the theme, “A United ECOWAS Against Corruption: Strengthening Regional Collaboration for Asset Recovery and Exchange of Information”, as urgent and timely, urging member states to take coordinated action.
He said West African countries must work together to enhance cooperation tools that supported tracing, recovery and repatriation of stolen assets looted from national treasuries and stashed within or outside the region.
“Asset recovery works best through regional and global partnerships, built on trust, legal reciprocity and operational synergy between anti-corruption institutions”, Aliyu said.
He noted that NACIWA member states must act in unity, enabling them to swiftly track illicit assets and stop reinvestment of stolen wealth within the West African region’s economic and financial systems.
Aliyu also highlighted ICPC’s recent achievements in recovering assets through criminal and non-conviction-based forfeiture methods, which had led to landmark recoveries benefitting Nigeria and its citizens directly.
However, he stressed that domestic success was not enough. Without strong regional and international partnerships, the global scale of illicit financial flows would remain a significant challenge across West African nations.
The event featured a high-level panel moderated by Yusuf Rafsanjani of CISLAC, with representatives from Nigeria, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Panelists expressed insights on how to build sustainable, cross-border partnerships in asset recovery and enhance information exchange mechanisms to disrupt networks of financial crime operating across national borders.
The General Assembly ended with participants reaffirming their commitment to deepen regional cooperation, harmonise national legal frameworks and accelerate collective action against corruption and illicit financial activities throughout the ECOWAS region. NAN
