By: The guardian

President Bola Tinubu has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to designate the stealing of mineral resources from the region as an international crime and urged global leaders to reject trade in stolen West African resources The President made this declaration at the 2025 yearly General Assembly of the Network of Anti-corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA) held in Abuja

Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, Tinubu observed that recovery of stolen assets remains central to the region's fight against corruption He lamented that West Africa's post-independence economic and political development has been severely hampered by corruption, particularly through the theft and offshore stashing of national resources by corrupt officials

The President emphasized that illicit financial outflows continue to plague the region, with mineral resource theft fueling the proliferation of small arms and light weapons while exacerbating violent crimes like kidnapping and banditry These security challenges have significantly worsened the region's development prospects, according to Tinubu

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi highlighted several obstacles in the fight against corruption, including uneven laws on asset recovery, weak cooperation on mutual legal assistance, gaps in judicial collaboration, limited funding for anti-corruption bodies, and political interference in sensitive cases He called on member states to promptly ratify, implement, and enforce ECOWAS anti-corruption and asset recovery protocols

NACIWA President Ola Olukoyede, who chairs Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, noted that the assembly provided an opportunity to assess the region's collective progress and learn from experiences since the current executive committee took office in 2022