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Bawa, EFCC boss suspended, lands in DSS net

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr AbdulRasheed Bawa, has been suspended indefinitely on the order of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The suspension of the Bawa was contained in a press release on Wednesday evening signed by Willie Bassey, the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary General of the Federation.

The suspension follows weighty allegations bothering on abuse of office among others which were levelled against him, according to the president.

Bawa has also been directed to immediately hand over affairs of his office to the Director of Operations of the Commission pending conclusion of investigations.

Meanwhile, the Department of State Services (DSS) has confirmed that the suspended EFCCChairman has arrived its office for questioning.

The Public Relations Officer of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

“The DSS has invited Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the EFCC and he has arrived a few hours ago.

“The invitation relates to some investigative activities concerning him,” he said.

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EFCC records high financial crime convictions

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says conviction figures from economic and financial crime prosecutions in 2023 are rising across various commands of the commission.

Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, Executive Chairman of the commission, made the disclosure on Thursday in Benin during a one-day training on effective reporting of economic and financial crimes for journalists in Edo.

Bawa described the feat as significant, not only for the commission but also for the entire nation, as conviction figures were proof of the effectiveness of the war against graft.

Represented by the Benin Zonal Commander, Mr Kanu Idagu the chairman said that the event was one of the modest efforts of the commission to build synergy and strengthen media understanding and appreciation of the work of the commission.

Bawa said that the Benin session was a continuation of a series that began a few years ago and four of such were held in some zonal commands and the headquarters in 2022.

The chairman noted, however, that the scope had been expanded to accommodate more journalists in the zonal commands of the Commission.

“Over the years, the media has been one of the commission’s most critical stakeholders in the fight against corruption.

“Let me use this opportunity to commend the professional and patriotic efforts of the Fourth Estate of the Realm in beaming searchlights not only on the works of the EFCC, but on all shades of economic and financial crimes.

“The robust reporting of the activities of the commission has been quite helpful.

“Let me also use this opportunity to state that the EFCC remains committed to its mandate of tackling all forms of economic and financial crimes across the country,” he stated.

The EFCC boss recalled that the commission secured 3785 convictions in 2022, a 70.5 per cent improvement over its record for 2021, which was 2220.

The anti-graft agency, he claimed, recorded 98.93 per cent success rate in prosecution for the year, given that the commission lost only 41 cases, representing 1.07 per cent within the period.

Bawa urged journalists, as important allies in the anti-graft war, to be more involved and up their ante in the area of investigative reporting.

The chairman also urged journalists to offer the leads into uncharted areas where economic and financial crimes might be taking place.

The chairman told the trainees that the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 had become a new mechanism for the fight against money laundering practices in the country.

This, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, he said, were fresh legal armaments against illicit financial flows.

According to him, Nigerians need to be more informed about these important legislation; hence the workshop to crave the indulgence of pen pushers to step up active reporting of these laws.

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EFCC, Trade Ministry Set To Tackle Intellectual Property Theft

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has assured the Registrar, trademarks, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Barrister Shafiu Adamu Yauri, of the commission’s preparedness to collaborate with the Ministry in sanitising the business environment for the betterment of the country.

Bawa said, “I want to assure you that our arms are open, we will collaborate together to ensure that the sanity that your department wants to bring to the system is enhanced by the enforcement and prosecution of those that cross the line.”

The EFCC boss, who spoke during a courtesy visit by the registrar and his team to the commission, noted that trademark infringements and other intellectual property violations were within the purview of the commission, adding that the anti-graft agency will not hesitate to deal with those who cross the line.

“We have to sit together and agree with one another to do what we have to do together to sanitize our business environment for the betterment of our country. Issues of trademark infringement, intellectual property, copyrights as well as patent rights are issues that are within the purview of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate as well as prosecute, of course, in collaboration with sister agencies, particularly yours,” he stated.

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said the chairman reminded the registrar of the new Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2022 and urged him to study the legislation to understand its implications on trademark issues.

Bawa further mooted the idea of setting up a joint committee that will work out the fine details of the proposed collaboration between the two institutions.

Speaking earlier, the registrar, Barrister Yauri said that the purpose of the visit was to find ways of strengthening collaboration between the two agencies in tackling envisaged issues of money laundering that may arise with Nigeria signing the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) and effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights

“It is important that we have this visit because with Nigeria’s signing into the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, AfCFTA the market is expanding. We are no longer talking about the geographical territory of Nigeria, we are talking about one single market for Africa.

“It very important at this onset that we have this collaboration between usto put the perspective of the trademarks registry in good shape and also to collaborate to ensure effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights,” Yauri said.

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Babatunde-Irukera

Joint investigations in money lending industry begins  

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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the joint regulatory and enforcement committee to probe rights violation in money lending industry has begun its investigations.  

The Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, made this known in Abuja on Monday.  

He said that the committee received more than 500 electronic mails and information in respect of the investigation.  

According to him, some already established infractions will shortly be proceeding to enforcement by either two or more of the agencies depending on the scope or what the enforcement operations will be.  

“Yes, investigation has commenced. All agencies involved are currently exchanging information and gathering more.  

“We have received approximately 500 additional emails at the created dedicated platform to gather information in furtherance of the investigation.  

“Modalities include key operatives of the agencies meeting based on the joint investigative framework already developed and currently being analysed.  

“Others that will continue under the investigation framework require additional information which is being procured by both direct and indirect means,” Irukera, said.  

The joint committee is made up of representatives from the FCCPC, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).  

Others are the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and National Information Technology Development Agency.  

Irukera said the committee would lead efforts to address multiple potentially dubious conducts of certain money lenders, otherwise known as loan sharks.  

He, however, expressed regrets that the act was fast becoming a dominant and abusive practice targeting some of the most vulnerable in society.  

He said: “Continuing complaints about questionable repayment enforcement practices including public shaming and violations of privacy have led to significant and understandable consumer aggravation and dissatisfaction.’’  

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EFCC identifies insider connections as facilitator of most banking frauds

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Mr Bawa Usman, Zonal Head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in Sokoto, has said that insider connections facilitate most financial frauds in the banking industry.

Bawa, whose zone covers Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, stated this on Tuesday in Sokoto at a roundtable with Compliance Officers of various commercial banks.

He said that the meeting was convened to strengthen relationship and collaborations between the  EFCC and commercial banks as a way to sanitise the system against frauds.

The Zonal Head said that the commission often encounter delay in getting responses to investigation letters forwarded to banks.

“Such delays jeopardise our investigation. Financial institutions must collaborate with us toward curtailing money laundering, illegal financing and other illicit flows of money.

”The meeting is a response to the directive of the EFCC leadership. It is one of numerous strategies toward fighting all manners of corruption.

”The commission strives to ensure that fraudsters do not get away with proceeds of crimes undetected. To achieve this, we are appealing to all banks to facilitate better working relationship with the anti-graft agency.”

He enjoined bankers to improve on ways of tracking illicit finances and transactions, stressing that Point of Service Operators (POS) or money agents needed to be well informed on financial regulations.

Usman further urged banks to put more effort toward ensuring that eligible bank customers obtained Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) numbers, and stressed the need to review their data registers to ensure compliance.

He called for complete investigation of cases rather than stopping half way, noting that complete checks usually offer opportunity to know how frauds happened and the best way to avoid recurrences.

He expressed disappointment with the idea of opening bank accounts with mere phone numbers, arguing that nearly 40 per cent of Americans do not have accounts.

“Nearly 40 per cent of Americans do not have accounts. So, it is not very compulsory for everybody in Nigeria to have a bank account,” he said.

The officer advised banks to strictly monitor activities and understand that regulations from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) do not supersede the money laundering act enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.

Responding, a participant, Mr Jimoh Jamiu, from Fidelity Bank, said that the banks were trying their best toward combating money laundering.

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Commission, EFCC partner to recover revenue

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By Chris Ndibe

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), to recover unremitted revenue accruable to the federation account.

Chairman of the Commission, Mr Elias Mbam, stated this during a courtesy visit to the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Mohammed Umar.

Mr Christian Nwachukwu, the Public Relations Officer of RMAFC, made this known in a statement in Abuja.

He quoted the chairman as saying that this would be achieved by the revenue generating and collecting agencies.

According to him, the  commission will be partnering with the EFCC in the area of monitoring and blocking of leakages in the remitting of generated revenues, by the revenue generating and collecting agencies.

Mbam noted that  the current dwindled revenue, informed by the oil crisis, which was the main source of revenue to the federation account, had given more need for the RMAFC to collaborate with the EFCC in monitoring and enforcement.

He further said that the collaboration would minimise revenue leakage and maximise remittance of accrued revenue to government.

In his response, Umar expressed satisfaction for the RMAFC readiness to partner with the EFCC, in its fight against corruption arising from revenue leakages.

He promised to collaborate with RMAFC to ensure that the revenue leakage of the federation account was blocked and  remitted same timely, to the federation account.

The EFCC boss, however, requested that RMAFC should spell out areas of concentration in the working synergy.