The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has
said that the suspension of Nigeria from the EGMONT Group is a
drawback for the Federal Government’s anti-corruption war.
The EGMONT group is an international body of Financial Intelligence
Units, dealing largely on financial intelligence gathering and other
economic crimes for sharing among key agencies of government in member
nations.
The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, an affiliate of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was Nigeria’s representative
on the body before it was suspended on July 5.
Nigeria was suspended from the group during a meeting of the heads of FIUs in Macao this year.
The international body was said to have punished Nigeria following a
petition a former top official of the NFIU sent to EGMONT, alleging
misdemeanours within the NFIU.
But, speaking in Abuja, Dogara noted that the development was a
setback for the anti-corruption war of the current All Progressives
Congress government.
His Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan,
in a statement on Sunday, quoted Dogara as expressing his pains when
the Director-General of Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money
Laundering in West Africa, Col. Adama Coulibaly, visited him in Abuja.
GIABA is a unit under the Economic Community of West African States.
The speaker stated that the timing of the suspension was
regrettable, especially that the APC government was committed to
fighting corruption.
However, he assured the GIABA official that the National Assembly
would do everything within its powers to ensure that Nigeria was
re-admitted into the group.
Dogara added that the anti-corruption war could be easily won if
countries cooperated with one another by refusing to serve as save
havens for looted funds.
He also said similar cooperation was needed in the war against terrorism.
The speaker spoke further, “No nation can survive as an island.
“It will take the collective cooperation by agencies in different countries to combat both terrorism and corruption.
“Unfortunately, we are facing the two in Nigeria with the Boko Haram violence in the North-East.
“It is impossible to fight terrorism and corruption without a strong legal framework.
Anti-corruption war: Nigeria’s suspension from EGMONT group, a setback, says Dogara
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October 03, 2017
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