Magu: Senate to stop Nigeria’s expulsion from Egmont Group

Mulls bill to separate NIFU from EFCC

By Taiye Odewale Abuja

Worried by the December deadline given Nigeria by the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, to comply with its standards or risk expulsion from the international association of intelligence agencies, the Senate, yesterday made an urgent move to stop the imminent expulsion.

To this eff ect, the upper legislative chamber has resolved to pass a law creating a substantive and autonomous Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). NIFU, the federal government’s agency that represents Nigeria at the meetings of the group, was suspended till January 2018 at the July 2017 meeting in China, with a threat of an expulsion if the country failed to meet the group’s standards with regards to its operations. But the Senate, following a motion, entitled “Dire implications of the suspension of Nigeria from the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units” by Senator Chukwuka Utazi (PDP Enugu North), vowed to “make the unit legally and operationally autonomous with powers for the employment, reward mining, promotion and discipline of its workforce independently”. It also resolved to empower NIFU to, in line with international best practices, exchange and relate with all countries on issues aff ecting its mandate at the bilateral and multilateral levels, urging the Ministries of Justice, Finance and Interior to ensure that Nigeria’s suspension is immediately reversed. It further urged the Executive to include in any supplementary budget estimate that may be presented to the National Assembly before the end of the year, a separate budget for the NFIU in view of the need to lift the suspension of Nigeria as soon as possible. It also mandated its Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes to draft a bill on the need to separate MFIU from EFCC and report back to the Senate within four weeks. Leading debate on the motion, Senator Utazi, who chairs the committee, disclosed that the group hinged its suspension of Nigeria on the fact that NIFU is still domiciled within the EFCC instead of granting operational autonomy which was the major reason for the unit’s admission into the group in June 2007 and agreed by the board of anti-graft agency. Other reasons listed for suspending the country, included the alleged meddlesomeness of the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, in the aff airs of NFIU by his interference in the operations and staffi ng of the Unit, leading to the departure of many competent hands as well as divulging confi dential information concerning the activities of the EGMONT Group. Utazi warned that “if Nigeria is allowed to be expelled at the expiration of December deadline, it will attract international sanctions against the country’s fi nancial system.” In his contribution, the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, stressed the need for a public hearing among all relevant stakeholders, including the Offi ce of the National Security Adviser, ONSA; Attorney General of the Federation, OAGF; Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; Department of State Services, DSS, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Matter, ICPC and the EFCC among others, to resolve the issue of autonomy for the NIFU. Ekweremadu informed that it was the immediate past AGF, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, who moved the NIFU under EFCC because he supervised the antigraft agency while staff of NIFU, who are also trained men and offi cers of EFCC, believed the Unit should be independent. Also, Senators Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central), Foster Ogola (PDP Bayelsa West) and Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West), said NIFU should be separated from EFCC. In his remarks, Senate President Bukola Saraki, lamented that “Nigeria’s suspension from EGMONT Group is a setback in our fi ght against corruption and, as such, we must move swiftly because we cannot aff ord to be cut off from the group.

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