Illicit Funds Fuelling Terrorism, Underdevelopment In Africa -EU, EFCC, ANEEJ, Others Warn

Unless a holistic action driven by patriotic zeal against illicit funds, Nigeria and the African continent would continue to wallow under the vice – grip of terrorism and Underdevelopment.

Therefore, the question of unrestrained corruption and fraudulent cash transactions bedeviling the country and Africa is expected to be at the centre of crucial discourse by stakeholders drawn from international and national Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and media partners converging in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

The two – day conference, organised by the NGOs coalition led by the Africa Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), supported by the European Union (EU), SeCFin Africa, a France – based organisation, LEADERSHIP learnt, aimed to train CSOs and media professionals to be in the vanguard of tackling illicit funds inflows into and out of Nigeria and Africa.

Under the theme: “Strengthening CSOs and Media Capacity to Contribute to the Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), the Executive Director, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, at a press conference held to herald the event which starts on Thursday, lamented that illicit financial flows continue to pose one of the most serious threats to Nigeria’s economic stability.

He noted that such hydra – headed sleaze had over the years robbed Nigeria of realistic policy actions towards improving education, job creation, infrastructure development and the general socio-economic well-being of the citizenry.

Ugolor listed avenues of siphoning funds in Nigeria to include corruption, money laundering, procurement fraud, tax evasion, trading frauds, profit shifting and other illicit practices.

“The scale of this losses on yearly basis should trouble everyone of us, because the burden falls hardest on the ordinary citizens. Resources that should have expanded public services and lifted communities out of poverty are instead diverted away from national and State development priorities

“The results is weaker public institutions, diminished trust in government, deepening inequality in many parts of the country and worsening insecurity,” he noted.

Ugolor pointed at the nightmare currently being experienced along the Benin- Sapele road, where he disclosed that the contractor is reportedly abandoned the road and absconded with the N140 billion contract sum, speaks volume about the government and lack of political will to fix the system.

” Benin – Sapele – Warri failed road project has caused untold hardship to Nigerians. This is a clear case of illicit financial flows as the people continue to suffer,” he noted, recalling that Nigeria has built a robust legal , policy and institutional architecture such as EFCC, ICPC NFIU, Code of Conduct Bureau, Bureau of Public Procurement to tackle illicit funds challenges, regretting that despite these measures, the sleaze continues wantonly.

He regretted that the siphoning of funds abroad continue to persist despite the efforts of government agencies that could stop the menace .

He disclosed that the persistence of illicit fund flows showed that the legal frameworks and federal institutions alone were not enough to checkmate perpetrators of these financial crimes .

He, therefore, called on CSOs’ representatives to arm themselves with outcomes of the training to handle challenges of illicit financial flows in Nigeria and Africa.

In the same vein, the Operations Coordinator for SecFin Africa Project, Mr. Philippe Pacaud, in remarks noted that some of the illicit funds from Nigeria and Africa were being used to sponsor terrorism and other corrupt indulgence, stressing that
“it is known to us that illicit funds flows are used to sponsor terrorism and we must tackle it immediately.”

The representative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Theresa Nwosu, Head of Corporate Affairs department of the anti – graft agency, stressed the need for effective synergy and coordination to stem the scourge.