The head of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, Ola Olukoyede, has asked lawmakers to create a new law that would make it illegal to have wealth that cannot be explained. He said this kind of law is important for stopping corruption in Nigeria.

Olukoyede made this request while speaking at a national event on public finances and accountability in Abuja. The event was organized by lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives. He said Nigeria can’t win the fight against corruption unless the law allows the government to question and take away property that a public worker should not be able to afford.

He said the findings from a current investigation into Nigeria’s oil and gas sector have been shocking. “We’ve just started looking into the matter,” he said. “And what we’ve seen already is troubling — we can only imagine how much more is hidden.”

Olukoyede also said that corruption in government affects the economy and leads to more insecurity in the country. He believes that poor management of money meant for public use causes problems like terrorism and kidnappings.

According to him, most times the EFCC cannot act fast because the law says they must first prove a person committed a specific crime like stealing or fraud. This makes it harder to arrest people or take their suspicious assets.

“I’ve been pleading for lawmakers to pass the Unexplained Wealth Bill,” he said. “The last National Assembly rejected it. But if people are not asked to explain how they got their riches, we will never fix this problem.”

He gave an example of a civil servant who has worked for 20 years but owns several houses in rich areas of Abuja like Maitama and Asokoro. He said it’s not right for EFCC to be forced to first prove theft before acting.

Olukoyede also mentioned that this year, 146 out of 194 foreigners arrested by the EFCC for internet-related financial crimes have been found guilty. They will serve their jail terms and then be sent back to their home countries.