The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu has inaugurated a committee to reposition the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

The committee was inaugurated the same day the Senate vowed to separate the NFIU from the EFCC.

The NFIU helps tackle money laundering and monitor financial flows.

It was recently suspended from the Egmont Group.

The Egmont Group is a united body of 154 Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs).

The EFCC committee will be chaired by Abdullahi Shehu, a former Director-General of the Inter-Governmental Action Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).

Other members of the committee are Chidi Chukwuka from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC); Bamanga Bello, Head of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML); Jamila Yusuf of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Udofia Akpan Obot, a former Deputy Director, CBN while Joke Liman of the EFCC is to serve as secretary.

The Committee has one month to submit its report.

Magu charged the committee to take a holistic look at the mandate and operations of the NFIU with a view to coming up with proposals to reposition the agency for greater efficiency.

He reminded them that membership of the Egmont Group was critical to Nigeria’s effort to tackle money laundering, and monitoring of financial flows within and outside the country.

The Acting EFCC Chairman mandated the Committee to, among others, address the concern of the Egmont Group by providing the necessary frameworks needed “to coordinate the effective process of amendment of Section 1(2)(c) of the EFCC Act to expressly reflect NFIU as an autonomous unit under EFCC so as to provide legal basis or clarity on its operational independence from the EFCC.

Responding on behalf of the members of the committee, Shehu expressed delight at the opportunity given to them to serve the country

“We see this as a call to service and we assure you that we will ensure that we carry out this task judiciously in order to reposition the NFIU, and ensure that it is autonomous as this will further strengthen the anti-corruption fight”, he said.

Shehu however acknowledged that there were challenges in the country’s anti-money laundering framework which must be tackled for the country to fully achieve the objective of fighting corruption and money laundering. (TV360 Nigeria)

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