The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede on Tuesday, September 30, 2024 called for public/private partnership in combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, ML|TF|PF.
He made the call in Abuja while delivering a goodwill message in a Roundtable Discussion on “Developing Public-Private Partnership, PPP Model to Combat Financial Crimes in Nigeria,” organized by the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU in collaboration with the British High Commission.
Olukoyede, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Regulatory Compliance, Francis Usani stated that a public-private partnership framework for coordinated action against the challenges posed by ML|TF|PF was a robust modality that should be embraced, noting that both the public and private sectors are affected by the grave impacts of financial crimes.
“For us at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, we are stopping at nothing to enforce every extant regulation to fight the scourge of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML, is leaving no stone unturned in bringing every Designated Non-Financial Institution, Business and Profession, DNFBP, to align with regulations meant to sanitize our financial space.
“I urge players in the public and private sector to partner more functionally with all the regulatory bodies to make a good success of the existing regulations. The regulations and sanctions accompanying them are meant for compliance and deterrence.”
Speaking further, he stated that “For the public-private partnership platform to yield bountiful results, we must be stronger in institutional vigilance. Internal cleansing is also crucial. Every public and private entity must continually do financial sanitation to bring their systems into optimal compliance with regulations.
“Partnership is functional when capacities are built, systems are strengthened against infractions and regulations are understood and obeyed. There is no better way of building a meaningful platform.”
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of NFIU, Hajiya Hafsat Bakari, while looking forward to Nigeria’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force, FATF Grey List, appreciated both the public and the private sectors for their efforts in combating money laundering and all other forms of financial crimes.
“In August this year, we met with the private sector to open conversations around collaboration because no single institution, either public or private, can combat the scale and sophistication of financial crimes alone. Countries across the world including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and India have successfully leveraged public-private partnership models to strengthen the AML/CFT regimes.
“Silo approaches are no longer sufficient. We must move towards a partnership that builds trust and encourages real intelligence sharing. This initiative comes at a particularly important time for Nigeria. We are confident with all that we have done, we shall see Nigeria`s exit from the Grey List. We are looking forward to the end of October, we should have that positive news coming from there. A structured PPP will show our effectiveness in bridging the gaps between policies and implementation.”
Speaking on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, Chika Nnanna, revealed that Nigeria, like many emerging economies faced serious threats from complex crimes.
He said “As criminals not only disturb peace and security but also discourage foreign investments by ruining public trust and undermining the rule of law. Despite our efforts, a recent report by the Intergovernmental Action Against Money Laundering in West Africa, GIABA, states that Nigeria remains a high risk jurisdiction for illicit financial flows.”
Fagbemi further noted that traditional mechanisms are often reactive and unable to keep pace with the innovation and network of financial criminals.
“We are facing adversaries that are technologically advanced, globally networked and invisibly transnational. This demands a new approach which is the PPP approach and if properly implemented, it will break down silos and unite all actors through coordinated response,” he said.
The Representative of the British High Commission, William Robinson commended the commitment and efforts of Nigerian law enforcement agencies at combating money laundering since the return of democracy.
“The United Kingdom has worked together to build law enforcement institutions and we have maintained close operational partnership in joint investigation. This is not an easy task as criminal actors are exploiting increased complex mechanisms while emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies demand new capabilities.
“I urge law enforcement agencies, regulators and banks to collaborate in real time on financial crimes because combating money laundering requires coordinated collaboration.”
