The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, admonished Nigerians to be vigilant and play their part in checking the illicit flow of the nation’s resources out of the country.
He gave the charge in his office while receiving a report on illicit financial flows from a coalition of Nigerian civil society organizations led by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, according to a statement on Wednesday, by the anti-graft agency’s spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren.
He reportedly said, “It is one thing for properties to be taken to the UAE and the UK, it is another thing that we here in Nigeria are ensuring that you don’t have the opportunity to take them out in the first instance. That is why we want to be proactive in our approach to law enforcement and the fight against corruption in this country.’’
Bawa said part of the EFCC’s mandate was to ensure that proceeds of crime were identified and repatriated for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“It is not an easy task, it is something that cuts across jurisdictions. UK, UAE have their own laws, processes and procedures, but we have a lot of bilateral and multi-lateral agreements that we are signatories to; to discuss about issues of information sharing, investigation as well as repatriation of ill-gotten assets,’’ he stated.
He promised to study the report presented by the coalition and ensure that justice was done, noting that the nation has been cheated for quite a long time by people saddled with the responsibility of governance.
The EFCC boss also used the forum to revisit his statement on assets declaration by bankers and the controversies it has stoked in the media.
He said it was within the mandate of the Commission to demand the asset declaration forms of Nigerians in both private and public sectors in line with extant laws.
Bawa stated, “What the EFCC said is that, ‘look, come June 1, we will be demanding for copies of declaration of asset form from the bankers.’ That was what we said; we never said come and declare to us because we have studied the law, we will be demanding and we have the powers and right to demand information from individuals and from organizations.’’
“All the people that are taking these funds out of the shores of this country are not doing that alone; there are conspirators, engineers helping them, professionals are helping them, accountants and financial institutions are helping them. We are not trying to look at what happened before but we are determined the future will be better,’’ he added.
HEDA Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraj, who spoke on behalf of the coalition, said they were at the EFCC headquarters to formally present a report on ‘Fixing Nigeria’s Illicit Financial Flows’, compiled by Prof Gbenga Oduntan of Kent University, in support of the anti-corruption mandate of the EFCC.
Explaining that the group was motivated to “stop the flow of funds out of Nigeria”, Suraj disclosed that the 316-page report was “part of our contribution to your clear determination to go after suspicious assets.”
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