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A former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Kanu Agabi, SAN, has warned that Nigeria risks betraying future generations if anti-graft and security agencies fail to intensify the recovery of the nation’s stolen wealth. Agabi, who made the call in Abuja, said repatriating looted funds was no longer optional but a generational obligation.
“We must repatriate our looted funds, or we have failed as a generation,” he said, urging agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to sustain the pressure on asset recovery.
He argued that reclaiming stolen assets was central to restoring public confidence in government and securing the country’s economic future.
Agabi spoke at the public presentation of two books by retired judge and legal scholar Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye — Electronic Evidence (Second Edition, with the Evidence Act, 2011) and A Compendium of Cases on Electronic Evidence (Volume II, 2020–2025) held alongside the launch of the Justice Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye Educational Foundation for indigent students.
Former Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, chaired the event.
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Responding to Agabi’s charge, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede said financial crimes had become one of Nigeria’s greatest threats, fuelling insecurity, terrorism and economic hardship, and called for stronger collaboration among law enforcement, the judiciary and citizens.
Olukoyede disclosed that the commission had recently secured convictions against a former minister and other high-profile suspects and had also prosecuted foreign nationals allegedly involved in laundering funds linked to criminal networks. He said the EFCC had begun deploying artificial intelligence to strengthen investigations and urged lawmakers and legal scholars to review emerging legal issues around AI and digital evidence.
Agabi also praised Omolaye-Ajileye’s decades of integrity in legal practice, saying his conduct “has never brought him under suspicion, even at a time when the nation is rife with suspicion”. He called on judicial officers to collectively defend the judiciary’s image rather than leaving individual judges exposed, questioned the practice of retiring experienced judges while still capable of service, and urged them to continue contributing in legislative or advisory roles. He also urged lawyers to embrace continuous learning as the profession’s greatest asset.
The event drew serving and retired judicial officers, senior advocates, academics and security chiefs, who commended Omolaye-Ajileye’s contributions to electronic evidence jurisprudence and the new foundation supporting indigent students.
