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Illicit financial flow caused by corrupt leaders, foreign accomplices in Nigeria –CISLAC, EFCC

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Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said illicit Financial Flow (IFF) in Nigeria was perpetuated by past corrupt leaders and their foreign accomplices and multinational companies.

Executive Director CISLAC, Mr Auwal Rafsanjani and EFCC Chairman, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa said this at a conference on Illicit Financial Flow (Corruption in Arbitration) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Bawa, represented by Mr Abiodun Adebanjo, Head, Research Unit, Department of Policy Research and Statistics, EFCC, said that IFF remained Nigeria’s most pervasive and daunting challenge.

“The situation we have seen in Nigeria is that corrupt government officials and their private sector collaborators use fronts and ownership structures that do not provide sufficient information about the true identities of the natural persons behind the title to hide illicit money and transfer same to safe heaven foreign jurisdictions.

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“The real problem is not just about anonymity but the lack of transparency on the part of the countries where these monies are being held to the countries where these monies being are stolen from.

“In Nigeria, we see a case in which influential officials use their positions to pilfer government resources and extract maximum rent from the country’s mineral resources with minimum or no benefit to the citizens.

“In practical terms, billions of dollars are lost annually in royalties and fees for licenses which politically connected individuals appropriate to themselves, using fronts and secret ownership arrangements.

“This deprives Federal Government huge amounts of monies needed for development,’’ he said.

Bawa said that investigations by the EFCC and other international law enforcement agencies revealed that the massive flow of illicit money out of Nigeria was facilitated by Global Shadow Financial System (GSFS).

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This, he said comprised of tax havens, secrecy jurisdiction, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing, multinational asset stripping and money laundering techniques.

Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr Rafsanjani said that the situation of Nigeria regarding IFF and Money Laundering (ML) was extremely challenging.

“Putting things into perspective, Nigeria loses about 15billion dollars to 18billion dollars annually to Illicit financial outflows.

“This is largely generated by tax evasion but fueled also by grand corruption, organised crime activities and many other licit and illicit practices.

“Although Nigeria might be an extreme case, this model is replicated throughout Africa.

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“Recent high UN panel calculated that for every 1 dollar gained through foreign direct investment and oversees development aid, Africa loses 2 dollars because of illicit financial outflows,’’ he added.

Rafsanjani said that corruption and gaps in the investor-state arbitration proved to be another area where Nigeria lose precious resources while most Nigerians live in abject poverty.

The executive director said that a single case in point was the Process & Industrial Developments Limited contract which may cause Nigeria gigantic loss of funds.

He said that the arbitration case concerned a 2010 contract relating to the construction and operation of a gas processing facility between Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID).

Rafsanjani said the P&ID was a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

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The executive director said that in less than three years after the contract was signed, P&ID initiated arbitration, alleging that Nigeria had not performed its obligations under the contract and sought for damages for lost profits.

He said that the tribunal concluded that Nigeria had repudiated the contract and awarded P&ID 6.6 billion dollars in damages plus seven per cent interest per annum.

 

“Even though neither party had taken significant steps to perform their obligations under the contract.

“Nigeria did not immediately pay the award. This damage in favor of the P&ID, a sum which if includes the seven per cent interest per annum will be at about 10billion dollars, a figure equal to 28 per cent of the country’s current 2021 annual budget,’’ he said.

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Rafsanjani said if Nigeria had had a clearer and more robust laws and processes around public procurement, such a deal would have never happened.

The executive director said that public procurement laws and procedures needed to be upgraded, made unconditionally public and be rigorously enforced.

He advised that Nigeria should also avoid signing up for Public Private Partnerships that were not in the public interest.

Rafsanjani said that unless all government contracts, especially those concerning the oil sector, were made public, Nigeria would continue to lose billions of dollars monthly due to corruption, incompetency, and international scams.

He called for a beneficial ownership register as well as the adherence to open contracting principles and also called on the federal government to inaugurate the procurement council as stipulated in the Procurement Act 2007.

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Prof. Sadiq Radda, Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) said that as far as government was concerned, there was no going back in the fight against corruption.

Radda said that the current administration made commitment to Nigerians that corruption would be fought, in order words it would not be business as usual because Nigeria would not make progress until corruption was fought.

NAN

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Gunmen Attack Anambra Police Station, Kill Four Officers

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Gunmen Attack Anambra Police Station, Kill Four Officers
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Unknown gunmen in the early hours of Wednesday attacked a police station located in Atani, the headquarters of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.

It was gathered that the gunmen launched the attack on the police facility around 1:30 am on Wednesday.

A further report had it that four police officers were killed in the attack.

Since the emergence of Charles Soludo as the Governor of Anambra State there had been series of attacks on police and government facilities in the state.

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Meanwhile, the spokesman of the state police command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, has confirmed the development.

He said, “The hoodlums came around 1 a.m., and unlucky for us, four police operatives paid the supreme price.”

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng on hearing of the attack immediately mobilized men of the command from various units to the area.

“The hoodlums were still there when the CP personally led men of the command to the affected area, and the timely arrival saved the day and the hoodlums were successfully repelled, and the facility was saved.

“We have commenced intelligence already, and we hope to unravel the persons behind the attack.”

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Supreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John Yakubu

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Supreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John Yakubu

Supreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John YakubSupreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John Yakubu

The Supreme Court has affirmed the six years imprisonment imposed on a former Federal Director of Pensions, Mister John Yakubu, and also ordered him to refund the sum of N22.9b to the Federal Government.

The N22.9b was part of the police pension fund he admitted before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to have been misappropriate

Justice Tijjani Abubakar in a judgment in an appeal filed by Yusuf upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal which in 2018 sent him to six years imprisonment in addition to the refund of the sum.

The apex court held that Yusuf and others engaging in fraudulent practices must be told through court judgments that it is no longer business as usual.

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Sept 26, 2021A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mallam Yusuf Ali, says it is not to late for members of the  National Assembly to revisit the issue of  electronic transmission of election results to ensure credibility.Ali, who made the remarks while speaking in an interview with newsmen on Sunday in Osogbo, said the more credible elections were, the less litigations they will attract.The  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports  that the Nigerian Senate had on July 16, passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021, after division among its members on the electronic transmission of results.

The clause 52(2) of the bill gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the discretion to determine when, where and how voting and transmission of results will be done.

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The Senate had ruled out the possibility of having results transmitted electronically when it voted that the NCC, with the National Assembly’s approval, would determine whether INEC could transmit results electronically or not.

Similarly, the House of Representatives, on July 16, passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, maintaining the controversial Clause 52(2) as presented amidst protests, especially by members of the minority caucus.

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Justice Abubakar said that the appeal of the former federal pension director seeking to set aside the six years jail term against him was frivolous and devoid of merit.

He further held that victims of the convicted director deserve restitution which can only be achieved through justice.

Yusuf had dragged the Federal Government before the apex court seeking to overturn the six years imprisonment slammed on by the Court of Appeal.

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The former pensions director, who is serving the six years jail term at the Kuje correctional facility, also asked the Supreme Court to set aside a whopping sum of N22.9 billion he was ordered to refund to the government treasury by the Court of Appeal in a 2018 judgment.

He was sent to prison in 2018 by the Court of Appeal in Abuja upon being found guilty of defrauding the Federal Government to the tune of N22.9 billion through police pensions.

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Stakeholders task Nigerian youths on good governance, leadership advocacy

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Dr Odiakpo Obire, the founder of Good leadership for Africa, an Abuja based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said the aim of the awards were to encourage African leaders to take their place as leaders among world leaders.
He said the youths of Africa had what it takes to elect the right leaders into offices as this was fundamental to their future and the success of the country.


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Abuja Nov 5, 2021 (NAN) Stakeholders in governance have urged Nigerian youths to be advocates of good governance and leadership in order to make Nigeria a better place.

They gave the advice in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the second global good governance awards and summit held in Abuja on Friday.

The theme for the award is “ Good governance mentality for global impact.

Dr Odiakpo Obire, the founder of Good leadership for Africa, an Abuja based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said the aim of the awards were to encourage African leaders to take their place as leaders among world leaders.

He said the youths of Africa had what it takes to elect the right leaders into offices as this was fundamental to their future and the success of the country.

According to him, good governance and leadership are achievable and controllable by the youths.
“ Good governance and leadership make strong institutions.

“ The Africa and Nigeria of our dreams cannot be achieved if youths neglect accountability and advocacy of good leadership’, he said.

Obire stated that everyone appointed into a leadership position could help achieve a great Nigeria if they put the needs of the masses first and do what was expected of them.

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“ From the Federal Government to the local government, to the appointees to the least held office, everyone has the responsibility to do the right thing, ” he said.

He said democracy in Nigeria is over 22 years and youths had to rise to the responsibility of advocating for good leadership and accountability.

“ Good governance starts from selecting good leaders by the youths, ” he said.

Amb. Louis Temisan, Mayorking Ultimate International Magazine said a lot of people, institutions and NGOs are worthy of celebration because they advocate good governance.

“ People, institutions and NGOs who are staff minded, support youth empowerment, community development deserve all the celebration and recognition, ” he said.

According to him, advocating for and publicising good governance will challenge other lacking leaders to do better in their respective communities.

Amb. Anthony Nwangwu disclosed that good governance should be measured by good directions and steps taken by a leader to ensure life was easy for people.

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He said good governance is not measured by the number of cars a leader has or how much cash they throw around.

Nwangwu said good governance affects every facets of life.

NAN reports that about 30 people from the private and public sectors were recipients of different awards.

Some category of these awards include, award of Excellence in Human resource, award of best security outfit and award of best youth empowerment. (NAN)

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