The Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions, EFCC and Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Unit, NFIU, are at loggerhead over attempts to destroy files
of corrupt politicians and high profile members of the society under
investigations.
The Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is the Nigeria arm of the
global financial intelligence unit (FIU) and is presently domiciled within
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as an autonomous Unit.
No fewer than ten heavily armed mobile Policemen are presently occupying
the premises of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU),
restraining her officers from entering the office Complex to perform their
lawful duties.
Sources within the Unit, who confirmed the report to our Correspondent
frowned at what they described as intimidation to cover up corruption by
the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.
They however accused the Policemen of attempting to forcefully gain access
to the Unit’s offices to destroy useful evidence gathered for the
prosecution of certain very important cases of corruption and terrorism.
Commenting on the development, a legal practitioner, Prosper Robinson
described the situation as unfortunate.
He condemned what he described as impunity in defense of corruption by the
present EFCC leadership and called on the President to take urgent steps
to sanitize the Commission.
Continuing, Robinson lamented that the development is capable of putting
spanners on the progress made in the war against money laundering and
terrorism in Nigeria, a feat that got Nigeria delisted from the list of
high risk countries by the global money laundering watchdog-Financial
Action Task Force recently.
He insisted, “NFIU should serve all law enforcement Agencies and not just
EFCC. The fact that it is domiciled in EFCC does not give the Commission
total control over NFIU.”
The setting up of the NFIU is part of the efforts of the federal
government in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorist
activities in Nigeria, and as a precondition for the removal of Nigeria
from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of Non-cooperation
countries and territories (NCCTs).
This development appears to have confirmed the long held position by
stakeholders that the aim of establishing the NFIU may not be fully
achieved if it does not operate independently; a situation that informed
the initiation of the NFIU autonomy Bill pending at the National Assembly.
The NFIU autonomy Bill seeks to establish the Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Agency as the central body in Nigeria responsible for
receiving, requesting, analyzing and disseminating financial and other
information to all law enforcement and security agencies and other
relevant authorities.
All efforts to reach both the NFIU Director and EFCC Spokesman for
comments proved abortive, as their lines could not be reached.