Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has said
economic crime can better be tackled if countries partner each other and
share strategic information to stop the network of those who commit such
crimes.
Amaechi made the statement Monday while delivering a keynote speech at the
opening of the 34th Cambridge University prestigious International
Symposium on Economic Crime, at Jesus College, University of Cambridge,
United Kingdom. The Rt. Hon. Jeremy Wright, the Attorney-General of
England and Wales and Advocate General of Northern Ireland also spoke on
the first day of the week-long symposium.
In his address titled: “Beyond Blame Game: The Imperative of Tackling
Economic Crime Together” Amaechi said economic crime is often committed in
an organised manner involving several people, sometimes across countries
through multiple jurisdictions. Although such crimes may originate from
one country, it often involves the participation of clandestine, criminal
networks operating in different countries, playing one role or the other
and benefiting from such illicit proceeds.
“At the 7th African Union and Economic Commission for Africa conference
that held in Abuja back in 2014, the former President of South Africa,
Thabo Mbeki stated that Africa loses between $50 billion to $60 billion
annually as a result of Illicit Financial Flows (IFF). These are said to
occur through forms of tax avoidance including transfer pricing or
mispricing- depending on which side you are- through which multinationals
minimize their tax obligations by shifting their profits from high tax to
low tax jurisdiction thereby short-changing some of their host countries
especially in the developing world and draining them of legitimate
revenue, impeding their projects and denying their population access to
basic services,” Amaechi noted.
He further explained that because economic crimes are committed through
networks, sometimes spread over countries, It is therefore a global
problem that can only be effectively tackled through global collaboration
and partnership.
“For this to happen, the public and private sectors especially the banks,
must come into collaboration beyond high sounding rhetoric and public
relations. Institutions from both developed and developing countries must
learn to share information and act swiftly to erode the efficacy of these
networks to successfully use any jurisdiction either as transit routes or
safe havens for proceeds of economic crime. Strong, effective, regulatory
and enforcement capabilities must be encouraged both domestically and
internationally through technical cooperation. Partnerships must be
encouraged to provide platforms to share best practices and intelligence
and strengthen legislations between jurisdictions.
He also noted that leaders across countries and institutions must take
responsibility when economic crime or corruption happens. “That is what it
means to be held accountable. In doing so, leadership is expected to do
three simple things; perhaps four. They are – upholding the primacy of
leadership and political will, insisting on the force of example,
enforcing the urgency of incentives and the necessity of sanctions and
finally by leveraging on the power of partnership.
“As someone who has been in active politics for more than thirty years, I
have learnt that many well intended reforms are possible only if the
leader can offer the requisite leadership and muster the right political
will. In my country, since our President, Muhammadu Buhari was elected, he
did not leave anyone in doubt that the fight against corruption will not
only be taken seriously but will form a cardinal plank of his policy
direction. So far, he has made several pronouncements that set the tone of
his commitment to strengthening anti-corruption agencies to go after
anyone who has questions to answer. The President’s resolve was enough to
signal all of us, members of his cabinet and the citizenry, that an end
has come for the old ways of doing things. Currently, many people who have
been indicted in one form of corrupt practice or another are being
prosecuted in our courts. That, I believe is the way to show leadership
and take responsibility.
“Another important factor is what I refer to as the force of example.
There is very little any leader can achieve if he talks the right
political talk without offering personal examples. In these days of
internet and social media revolution, citizens often spend time to
scrutinize the reputation and activities of any leader to find out if they
are consistent with what he or she stands for in the media. Essentially
leaders must practice what they preach if they expect to be taken
seriously both by those within their organisations, state or country or
outside,” he stated.
Amaechi again gave the example of President Mohammadu Buhari and his
commitment to lead the fight against corrupt practices through personal
example.
“Through the implementation of calculated policies to block conduits of
waste, the cost of running the central government in Nigeria has been
reduced by more than twenty-five percent in the last eighteen months. In
the last one year about a cumulative amount of 3.4 trillion naira have
been recovered in cash and assets while about 115-billion-naira worth of
cash and assets have been located in the United States, United Arab
Emirates and even here in the United Kingdom. Our President has stopped
at nothing to demonstrate that whosoever is caught in corruption related
crimes will not be spared. In his days as military President, and through
other positions he has held in public life, he has upheld a life of
integrity. He is a typical example of how a leader can inspire committed
followership through the force of example.”
Amaechi concluded that economic crime has become a strong force that can
only be successfully confronted if all hands are on deck.
“As an interconnected and rapidly globalising world, it’s vital we work
together, in partnership, to collectively fight economic crime. This is a
common enemy and a very smart one for that matter. It seeks to beat every
barrier that we mount against it. It is my humble submission that we must
hold hands together as never before to confront the spread of economic
crimes squarely and successfully.”