Organisation: Africa Network for Environment and Economic
Justice (ANEEJ)
Name of Organisation’s Representative: Rev. David Ugolor
Website: www.aneej.org
Email: email hidden; JavaScript is required
Country: Nigeria
Which seat are you nominating for? Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Seat

Profile of Organisation

Since 1997, ANEEJ has championed the call for stoppage of illicit financial flows from Nigeria and other developing countries to the secrecy jurisdictions in western countries. It has, in same vein, championed the campaign for the repatriation of looted assets of
Nigeria stashed in Western banks and was active in the call for a UN instrument against corruption, money laundering and illicit financial flows. In April 2016, the UNCAC Coalition Coordination Committee (CCC) approved ANEEJ’s application to become an Ordinary member of the new association: the UNCAC Coalition.

ANEEJ worked with over 100 civil society organisations while hosting the Secretariat of the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Campaign, Nigeria from 2004-2008 and the Nigerian Network on Stolen Assets. The organisation also coordinated CSOs that were involved in monitoring of repatriated Late General Sani Abacha loots under the Public Expenditure Management and Financial Accountability Review (PEMFAR), a tripartite agreement between the World Bank, Civil Society and Nigerian governments. ANEEJ facilitated the Nigerian CSOs engagement in the Second Review Cycle of Chapter II and V of the UNCAC in Nigeria.

ANEEJ is currently leading a broad coalition of NGOs working on the monitoring of recovered stolen assets of the late Sani Abacha, $322.5m from Switzerland through the MANTRA Project with support from UKAID/DFID Nigeria.

Organisation’s Experience

ANEEJ has been very active in the UNCAC Coalition Working Group on Asset Recovery activities and during the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) held in December 2017, in Washington DC, USA. At GFAR, ANEEJ was nominated by CSOs to present the global civil society statement to the Forum and also participated actively in all the civil society preparation of the statement. ANEEJ facilitated Nigerian civil society preparation and participation in the Second Cycle of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Implementation Review in Nigeria. ANEEJ has also been participating in civil society engagement with the Conference of State Party (CoSP) meetings and also organised side events on the utilisation of recovered assets for Sustainable Development during Abu Dhabi CoSP, as well as participating in UNCAC Coalition side events.

ANEEJ has served as a resource institution in UNCAC Coalition and UNODC training of UNCAC Coalition members and African Civil Society groups in Addis-Ababa and Ethiopia. ANEEJ also participated in UNCAC Coalition strategy plans and meetings. ANEEJ has made an official submission to the UNGASS Preparatory Meeting.

Top Three Priorities to Achieve for the Coalition

Profile of Candidate

Rev. David Ugolor is the Executive Director of Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ). ANEEJ is an NGO based in Benin City promoting good governance and anti-corruption work through research, policy dialogue, education and advocacy. David Ugolor has over two decades working experience on anti-corruption work and also has Master Degrees in Agricultural Economics and the Study of Corruption from the Universities of Benin and Sussex. He has made several presentations on corruption, Illicit Financial Flows and Sustainable Development at both local and international workshops, and seminars. David Ugolor has participated as a resource person in several UN meetings and also facilitated civil society engagement with Open Government Partnership, currently serving as the Co-Chair of the Anti-
Corruption Working Group of the Open Government Partnership Nigeria. David Ugolor facilitated the Pre-Global Forum on Asset Recovery consultation in Nigeria and participated in the GFAR panel debate held in December 2017, in Washington DC.

Rev. David Ugolor is presently coordinating the implementation of independent CSO monitoring of $322.5millions of the Abacha loot which will be used for conditional cash transfer programmes in Nigeria. The Conditional Cash Transfer Programme is one of the
key social investment policies of the Federal Government of Nigeria that is targeting the poor Nigerians and will help address the issue of sustainable development goal in Nigeria.

You can watch a video about ANEEJ’s history here, and learn more about ANEEJ’s Executive Director, David Ugolor here.