The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, February 19, disclosed its plan to launch a verifiable address database designed to track criminal assets across the country.
The initiative, known as the Proof of Address (PoA) system, is being developed in collaboration with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) to create a nationwide database of confirmed residential and commercial addresses.
This was disclosed during a courtesy visit by an ALGON delegation to the EFCC’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
The delegation was led by the lead technical partner, Segun Obayendo, alongside Abdulmajeed Abubakar, deputy director political at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The secretary to the commission, Muhammed Hammajoda, who received the team on behalf of the EFCC chairman, assured them of the agency’s full support.
Hammajoda explained that the PoA system would address longstanding challenges encountered during investigations and prosecution of financial crimes, particularly in proving ownership of properties suspected to be proceeds of crime.
According to him, establishing accurate and verifiable addresses is critical in determining whether a suspect is a property owner, tenant, or linked third party, thereby strengthening the commission’s evidentiary processes in court.
Abubakar disclosed that the PoA initiative will be implemented across the 774 local government areas of the country.
He noted that the system aims to provide residents with secure and verifiable addresses to support good governance, service delivery, national security, and economic planning, while enabling security agencies to effectively track and mitigate criminal activities.
Obayendo added that the concept of the PoA revolves around capturing accurate citizen location and demographic data, with the National Identification Number (NIN) forming part of the framework required to authenticate individual addresses.
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