• Experts Task Lawyers On Knowledge Of Money Laundering Laws
The Executive Director of the Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor, has raised alarm over Nigeria’s persistent losses to illicit financial flows, warning that the country’s development prospects will remain bleak unless political leaders curb financial recklessness and strengthen asset recovery measures.
This was even as experts have advised Nigerian lawyers to be conversant with money laundering laws to save themselves from trouble.
Speaking at a two-day workshop in Asaba, Delta State, Ugolor asserted that billions of dollars are siphoned out of Nigeria yearly through corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and other financial crimes.
The workshop, supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), was aimed at building the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Delta State to engage government effectively on asset return, restitution, and monitoring.
Ugolor noted that between 2001 and 2010 alone, Nigeria lost nearly $40 billion, contributing to the $148 billion the African Union estimates leaves the continent each year.
“These outflows weaken our institutions, deprive citizens of essential services, and erode public trust in governance,” Ugolor stated. “Without robust legal frameworks, stronger asset recovery strategies, and active civil society oversight, recovered funds risk being mismanaged and re-looted, further denying Nigerians the development they deserve.”
Citing examples of recovered assets, Ugolor recalled the $322.5 million Abacha loot repatriated in 2017 and allocated to social investment programmes, as well as the $311.8 million recovered in 2020.
While commending Nigeria’s progress in asset recovery and compliance with the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) principles of transparency, accountability, and public benefit, he stressed that “more work is needed to institutionalise these principles to avoid future mismanagement.”
He urged CSOs to position themselves as watchdogs in asset restitution processes, describing them as key actors in promoting transparency and accountability.
Also, speaking in Owerri on Friday, the co-chair of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Anti-Money Laundry (AML) Committee, Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, tasked lawyers to expand their scope on money laundering laws of the country.
He gave the advice during the Train of Trainers (TOT) Workshop on the AML Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and the use of the NBA AML Portal, organised by the African Centre for Governance, Asset Recovery and Sustainable Development (the African Center), with funding support from the ANEEJ and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UK FCDO).
He told the participants, including representatives from the NBA branches in Imo and Abia states, that their deep knowledge and practice of the AML and CFT laws would save them from trouble.
In their speeches and paper presentations, the Deputy Project Director, African Centre for Governance, Asset Recovery and Sustainable Development, Nma Nnaobi-Ayodele; and Programme Officer of Jerusa Nimfel, Chris Ugwuala, among others, urged the participants to deepen their knowledge of all money and property laundering issues, working through the NBAAMLC, to reduce the risk of money laundering.
