Put Victims at Centre of Asset Recovery, ANEEJ Tells UN Meeting in Addis Ababa

By Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has called on governments and international partners to place victims and affected communities at the centre of asset recovery and return processes, saying the true measure of success should be lives restored, not merely money recovered.

This was contained in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna.

The statement said the Executive Director of ANEEJ and Publisher of The Common Good Letter, David Ugolor, made the appeal while presenting a statement at the OHCHR Africa Regional Expert Meeting on Supporting Governments’ Efforts to Repatriate Funds of Illicit Origin to Promote Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Ugolor told the meeting, convened by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), that corruption affects identifiable victims whose rights are directly violated when public funds are stolen.

“When funds meant for roads, hospitals, schools and social programmes are stolen or transferred abroad, real people experience the fallout. Families lose loved ones on unsafe roads; communities lose access to markets and essential services; and governments lose resources necessary to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights,” he explained.

Highlighting Nigeria’s infrastructure challenges, he noted that persistent failures on major roads in the Niger Delta, coupled with uncertainties surrounding public-private infrastructure concessions, affect the rights to life, health, livelihood, movement and development.

To address the situation, Ugolor proposed a “Victim-Centred Infrastructure Restoration Model.” The model suggests that recovered assets linked to corruption in infrastructure or other public services should be used to repair the original harm suffered by individuals and communities.

He emphasised that returned assets should be used to complete or repair affected infrastructure, implement urgent safety measures, restore livelihoods, and provide appropriate support to victims and severely affected families.

“Victims and affected communities must be treated as rights-holders—not just beneficiaries. They should participate in decisions regarding how recovered assets are allocated, implemented and monitored,” he stated.

Ugolor also announced plans for a “Common Good People’s Tribunal on Infrastructure Failure, Corruption and Victims” to support the approach.

He described the proposed tribunal as a non-judicial public accountability platform that would gather testimonies from victims and families, review contracts, identify implementation failures and provide opportunities for governments and private-sector actors to respond.

The tribunal would also commission independent legal, financial and engineering assessments and produce evidence-based recommendations for investigations, remedies and reforms.

He said the initiative could be complemented by ANEEJ’s Monitoring of Recovered Assets through Transparency and Accountability (MANTRA) model, which demonstrates how civil society organisations and affected communities can independently monitor returned assets, verify projects and beneficiaries, publish findings and engage authorities when problems arise.

Ugolor shared seven key recommendations with the panel. He urged asset recovery processes to identify victims and document harm through human rights impact assessments, ensure victim participation in allocation and oversight decisions, and directly link asset recovery to the restoration of damaged infrastructure, sectors and communities.

He also called for transparency at all stages, including the publication of return agreements, allocations, contractors, beneficial owners, expenditures, milestones and audit reports.

Additionally, he recommended institutionalising independent monitoring using methods similar to MANTRA, including citizen-led social audits and expenditure tracking.

Other recommendations included holding private-sector entities accountable by requiring contractors, concessionaires and financial institutions to conduct human rights due diligence and provide remedies.

He also called for the establishment of accessible grievance mechanisms through which victims could report abuse and challenge decisions without fear.

“Our central message is simple: Recovered assets must not merely return to national treasuries; they must restore rights, opportunities and dignity to the people harmed by corruption,” Ugolor stated.

“A human rights-based asset recovery system must shift focus from counting returned money to measuring restored lives.”

Participants at the two-day meeting in Addis Ababa are exploring how repatriated funds can help advance economic, social and cultural rights across Africa, with emphasis on transparency, accountability and victim participation.