By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to classify resource theft — including illegal mining and mineral smuggling — as international crimes, warning that such activities pose serious threats to peace, security, and development across the subregion.
Declaring open the 7th Annual General Assembly of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja, Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, said the growing theft of mineral resources was fuelling insecurity and undermining economic growth.
“Illicit outflows remain a major challenge. The stealing of mineral resources is on the rise across the region, contributing to the proliferation of small arms, kidnapping, banditry, and other violent crimes,” Tinubu said. “These have worsened our security challenges and hindered the region’s development prospects.”
He urged ECOWAS to take the lead in mobilising international support to criminalise and combat the trade in stolen minerals.
“The time has come for ECOWAS to galvanise the world against trade in stolen minerals from West Africa,” the President added.
The assembly, themed “A United ECOWAS Against Corruption: Strengthening Regional Collaboration for Asset Recovery and Exchange of Information,” brought together heads of anti-corruption agencies, ECOWAS officials, development partners, and civil society representatives.
Tinubu also highlighted Nigeria’s efforts in asset recovery, saying his administration had prioritised transparency and accountability through new legal frameworks.
“Our commitment is to ensure that recovered stolen assets become enablers of growth and instruments of social inclusion,” he said. “Two flagship programmes of my administration — the Students Loan Scheme and the Consumer Credit Scheme — have commenced operations with N100 billion injected from recovered proceeds of crime by the EFCC.”
In his remarks, Ola Olukoyede, Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and President of NACIWA, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to promoting regional cooperation in the fight against corruption.
He noted that NACIWA had recorded major milestones, including ECOWAS recognition, observer status at the GlobE Network, and the establishment of a permanent secretariat in Nigeria.
“Political transitions, security concerns, and governance challenges across member states remind us that our fight against corruption is inseparable from broader efforts to strengthen political stability and social justice,” Olukoyede said.
Also speaking, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and Senator Emmanuel Udende, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption, commended the EFCC’s leadership and called for deeper collaboration among member states in tackling corruption and financial crimes.
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