Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced that it is turning its searchlight on bankers in its renewed efforts to hunt down ill-gotten wealth in the country.
EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who disclosed this on Tuesday at the State House after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on his action plan said more attention will also be devoted to cybercrime “which has become a big problem to this country”.
Bawa explained that said the focus on bankers is part of the agency’s renewed vigour to crackdown on financial crimes in all sectors of the nation’s economy.
He said: “We understood that the tail end of every financial crime is for the criminal to have access to the funds that he or she has illegitimately gotten.
“We’re worried about the roles of financial institutions. We have discussed, but we hope that all (staff of) financial institutions, particularly the bankers, will declare their assets as provided for by the law, in accordance with the Bank Employees Declaration of Asset Act.
“The EFCC, come the 1st of June 2021, will be demanding this asset declaration forms, filled by the bankers so that the line that we have drawn from the first of June is really complied with by all bankers.
“We reviewed a lot of things that we want to do towards the eradication of financial crimes. As you are aware, I was here about two weeks ago before taking over.
“He (Buhari) is happy with what he has heard so far with the reforms we are working on with the new EFCC going forward, in terms of the way we investigate, prosecute and the way we are generally executing our mandate.
“My assurance to Nigerians, going forward, is that we are going to do our best to ensure that this country is free of financial crimes,” said Bawa.
