Osinbajo Wants Banks Habouring Illicit Funds Labelled Criminals, Punished
Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday called for the criminalisation of banks and financial institutions, which receive stolen funds from corrupt persons, arguing that deposit of illicit funds in such banks cannot take place without their active connivance.
Osinbajo made this remark yesterday in Abuja at a Conference on Promoting International Co-operation
in Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Enhancing Asset Recovery to Foster Sustainable Development.
The acting president, who said countries where stolen funds had been laundered were also part and parcel of the problem, said it was high time such financial institutions were made to face the music for their perceived criminal acts.
According to him, much progress would not be made in the fight against illicit funds unless such far-reaching decisions were taken.
“It took years for some people to agree that when somebody loots money where people make a decent living, that is more criminal than a crime against humanity, more dangerous than trafficking in drugs.
“It’s a good thing that we are here with our partners who agree that not only are these stolen assets criminal, but that they are returned to their appropriate owners.
“There is no way the transfer of these assets can happen without a handshake between the countries that they are transferred to and the international banking institutions in the countries in which they are transferred. There is no way it will happen without some form of connivance.
“We have to look at somehow delegitimising those kinds of financial institutions and criminalising them so that banks and financial institutions that actually engage in this act are called out and made to face the consequences of engaging in criminal practices. If that isn’t done, we are not likely to go very far.
“For there to be collaboration, there must first be connivance. In the agreement and conventions we will be signing, we must find a way and ensure that financial institutions are not given a free run and hold them accountable,” he said.
Osinbajo who further said African and developing countries must realise that it is their responsibility to ensure that stolen funds are recovered, added that it is not enough to merely talk about it but also to take decisive steps against it.
Pointing out that some countries where illicit funds had been laundered created hurdles, which made recovery of such funds difficult, he observed that when corruption is fought, it also fights back with vigour.
He lamented the call by some unscrupulous Nigerians for the legitimisation of corruption, arguing that those making the calls are custodians of stolen funds whom he said wanted to bring down the system.
Recalling that the Thabo Mbeki Committee on illicit funds reported that most illicit funds in Africa were coming from Nigeria, the acting president was swift to add that huge sums of money took capital flight from the country.
“Like President Muhammadu Buhari has said repeatedly, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria; when corrupt monies find safe havens, it will begin to fight back and if government is not careful, it can fight back.
“In Nigeria, for instance, where corruption fights back so eloquently, the government itself, if it is not careful, can be overwhelmed. If you look at the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria, there is a major fight back in the media.
“There is a media war between people fighting corruption and those behind the stolen funds.
“It is called media trial. I don’t know what that means. If you discover, for instance, large sums of money in an air conditioned room, there is nowhere it will not make news anywhere in the world.
“So, this whole idea of trying to legitimise corruption is definitely being fuelled and sponsored by those who have these resources, who have stolen funds.
“Unless we see it as a problem that can bring down our system, then we will never be able to fight. I hope we will be able to advance this with other African countries.
“The Mbeki report shows that most of the illicit funds flow that comes out of Africa are from Nigeria and that shows us very clearly, especially the security agencies, that we simply have to do more. It is evident that so much money is leaving our shores,” he stated.
In his remarks, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, said a study had shown that between 2006 and 2013, 55 top Nigerian government officials and private businessmen illicitly diverted N1.35 trillion, the equivalent of $7.5 billion.
“This was what was revealed. What was not revealed turned out to be far more mind-boggling. This includes trillions squandered in fuel subsidy scams, the multibillion dollar Dasukigate, hundreds of millions of dollars taken from the NNPC by the former minister to bribe election officials in 2015. The list goes on,” he added.
He further said a release by the administration in January 2016 on the negative impact of looting, showed that one-third of stolen funds could have provided 600.18 kilometers of roads; built 36 ultra-modern hospitals per state; provided education for children from primary to tertiary levels at the rate of N5.34 million per child; and 20,062 units of two-bedroom houses.
He also said while the annual flow of criminal activities in the world is estimated to be between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion, half of the figures come from developing countries like Nigeria.
“It is therefore vital that we increase our capacity for understanding the illicit financial flows, the hemorrhage, if we are to meet our sustainable development goals, or if we are ever to transform something better. We have to acquire the capacity to stop these,” he insisted.
In his submission, the keynote speaker, Mr. Akere Muna, Chairperson, International Anti-Corruption Conference Council, said the African continent loses $50 billion to $80 billion to illicit financial outflows annually.
According to him, despite the huge inflow of development assistance to Africa, the continent has remained a net creditor, pointing out that if illicit financial flows were tracked, “we need to know how they move; to recuperate them, we need to know where these flows are parked”.
He commended the Nigeria government for making the fight against corruption its number one priority, saying it was not an easy choice and echoed Osinbajo, saying, “When corruption is fought, it fights back.”
“The fight against corruption on our continent is indeed the fight for the soul of Africa. How much longer will we watch our resources depleted and the future of our children mortgaged for the sake of a greedy few?” he queried.