EFCC tasks banks’ compliance officers on money laundering

• Reps berate contractor over delay of CBN’s project

Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu, has charged financial institutions in the country to stop laundering illicit funds for corrupt politicians and criminals.

Magu gave the charge at the general meeting of the Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN) yesterday in Lagos.
A statement issued in Abuja by the commission’s Acting Spokesman, Tony Orilade, quoted Magu as saying that politicians, who had stolen the nation’s commonwealth, had begun to repatriate such funds to the country for the purpose of influencing the elections through votes buying and compromising electoral officers.

He also charged members of the group to join hands with the Commission to ensure that the coming election was not compromised, adding that the impact could be grievous and devastating.

Speaking, Vice President of ACCOBIN, Wumi Adeniyi, expressed gratitude to Magu for honouring the invitation to the event. Adeniyi, who is also the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of Heritage Bank Plc, commended the EFCC boss for what he described as his “boldness in fighting corruption and other economic and financial crimes in the country.He also highlighted some of the challenges facing banks’ compliance officers and sought EFCC’s assistance to tackle them.

“We encounter a lot of legal burdens, particularly as it concerns the arrest and detention of compliance officers, among others,” he said. Meanwhile, the contractor handling the Centre of Excellence Building at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, a corporate social responsibility project of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday came under severe criticism for failure to deliver it on schedule.

While inspecting CBN’s projects in Lagos State, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, therefore, demanded explanations from the contractor.

The lawmakers explained that the project had Quintec as its main contractor, before Beton Bau Nigeria Limited emerged as sub-contractor to it.
Chairman of House Committee on Banking and Currency, Jones Chukwudi Onyereri, said the committee would want to understand the challenges that had delayed the project to enable the committee to make appropriate appraisal ahead of approving the apex bank’s 2019 budget.