The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Transparency International, Nigeria, have commended the call for bankers to declare their assets in Nigeria.
They said the directive issued by the Chairman, Mr Abdulrashed Bawa, was rightly in line with Sections 1 and 7 of the Bank Employees, etc. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, which compel Bank employees to make full disclosure of assets within fourteen days.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), Executive Director, CISLAC and Head, Transparency International, Nigeria, and made available to The Union Nigeria in Abuja.
According to the statement, “We welcome the decision by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for operators in the Nigerian financial system, particularly bankers to declare their assets as from June 1, 2021.”
“It is imperative to note that the 1986 law was enacted to ensure adequate measures in sanitizing the nation’s financial system by helping to prevent money laundering and illicit financial flows (IFFs) through which terrorism is largely funded, to effectively tax bank executives, and to expose illegal financial transactions.”
The coalition stated that despite the powers of and the checks put in place by the CBN and other relevant institutions regulating the sector, it appears that the system is being manipulated as Nigeria loses between $15 – 18 billion annually to IFFs.
In this lieu, they coalition urged the the CBN to back-up and support the efforts of the EFCC in complementing their shared responsibility of sanitizing the banking sector which is expected of institutions fighting one just course.
They also urged the relevant National Assembly committees, particularly the Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, and other Financial Institutions and the House Committee on Banking and Currency, to discharge their oversight mandates effectively and efficiently;
We urge, “the EFCC to remain undeterred in its resolve to champion reforms that will be instrumental to driving the anti-corruption agenda of the current administration; and the Private sector players especially the financial sector to see themselves as partners in progress to foster good governance and development to the teeming population of Nigeria.”
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