Nigeria on Thursday in New York called on the global community to take action to prevent and combat corruption as well as strengthen international cooperation against illicit financial flows.
Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made the appeal at UN Headquarters during Nigeria’s statement at the Special Session on Corruption.
The three-day special session of the United Nations General Assembly on corruption focuses on “Challenges, measures to prevent and combat corruption and strengthen international cooperation”.
He spoke of the need for a multidimensional approach to tackle illicit financial flows, as recommended by the report of the High Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for the Achievement of Agenda 2030 (Panel FACTI).
Bawa said the report (FACTI Group) paved the way for financial integrity for sustainable development, clearly showing how to redirect resources lost due to illicit flows to finance the implementation of Agenda 2030 and the achievement of of the SDGs.
Nigeria further calls for the simplification of evidentiary requirements and other mutual legal assistance procedures to seize, confiscate and repatriate the proceeds of corruption, where appropriate, in order to strengthen international cooperation for the recovery and timely return of assets.
“Let me reiterate that the fight against illicit financial flows is urgent and important in our collective efforts to fight corruption.
“We remain committed in our efforts to track, investigate and prosecute corrupt individuals and entities and repatriate these funds and assets to their countries of origin,” said the EFCC President.
He said Nigeria looked forward to the full implementation of all the commitments expressed in the Political Declaration, in particular on asset recovery and restitution, to support development finance as well as the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
The EFCC boss told the international rally that Nigeria, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, has made the fight against corruption one of the administration’s cardinal goals.
He said civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and whistleblowers have been encouraged to join the fight against corruption and contribute their quota in this regard.
The EFFC president explained that “a whistleblower case led to the recovery of $ 43 million.
“Public corruption is denounced day by day and several politically exposed persons have been and are being prosecuted and dispossessed of their illicit assets.
“We have engaged with international law enforcement agencies around the world and some of the collaboration has led to the recovery and repatriation of the stolen funds.
“This has led to the recovery and repatriation of stolen funds, including the recent return of £ 4.2million by the UK government which was stolen from Nigeria by a former governor.”
In addition, Bawa said procurement processes had been strengthened and the activities of the guards were monitored by the Special Anti-Money Laundering Control Unit to deter the theft of public funds.
“Policies have been introduced to mitigate revenue leakage, including the development of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS).
“NACS is developed with five cardinal pillars identified on prevention, public engagement, ethical reorientation, enforcement and sanctions, and recovery and management of stolen assets / proceeds of crime.
“The strategy aims to provide a national roadmap in the fight against corruption,” he said.
In addition, he said that Nigeria had maintained its commitment to the social reuse of recovered assets, as evidenced by the financing of major road infrastructure projects and other social initiatives consisting of cash transfers to the lesser groups. more vulnerable, school meals and micro-credit financing. diets. (NAA)
