Senate to probe use of grants by EFCC’s unit

The Senate has set up a panel to probe the management of
international grants received by the National Financial
Intelligence Unit under the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission. The legislature has also concluded plans to move the
unit out of the commission and make it independent.

The move followed the adoption of a motion moved by Senator
Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu-North) at the plenary on Wednesday. The
motion is titled, ‘Dire implications of the suspension of Nigeria
from the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.’

The lawmakers unanimously granted all the prayers of the motion
including the passing of a law that would create “a substantive and
autonomous Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and make the unit
legally and operationally autonomous.”

The Senate Committee on Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption,
chaired by Utazi, was mandated to sponsor a bill to the effect
within four weeks.

They also granted the prayer to empower the NFIU to exchange and
relate with all countries on issues affecting its mandate at the
bilateral and multi-lateral levels.

The Senate also urged “the three-line Ministries of Justice,
Finance and Interior to do all within their powers to ensure that
Nigeria’s suspension is immediately reversed, and ensure that all
conditions specified by the Egmont Group are met to re-admit and
improve Nigeria’s standing within the group, while increasing their
levels of cooperation and coordination to ensure that Nigeria
achieve membership of FATE.”

Another prayer was to urge the executive to include in any
supplementary budget estimate that might be presented to the
National Assembly before the end of the year a separate budget for
the NFIU in view of the need to lift the suspension of Nigeria as
soon as possible.

Utazi alleged that the EFCC had been preventing moves to make
the NFIU an independent body.

Speaking extempore after moving the motion, Utazi said, “I know
that fireworks will come from three places: One is the hired hand
of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption led by
Prof. Itse Sagay, who does not believe that anything good can come
from this parliament; who believes that he is the only person who
has the knowledge and understanding of law, and will turn cases
upside down because he does not have good intention towards the
National Assembly.

“The second is Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
who will come up against these issues and the efforts we are making
here to make sure that things work. But we are not going to renege.
This is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are
going to live up to the billing of this body and ensure that we do
things right.

“The third is the hired and sponsored media critics of the
Senate and the National Assembly as a whole; who may be hired
tomorrow to appear on television and turn this case upside
down.”

He added, “What is at stake is the international funding that
comes to NFIU. The EFCC does not want this unit to go away because
of the funding, but we have to rise above the funding which comes
there.”

Seconding the motion, the Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu, said, “I remember that there was a huge debate on this
matter in the last Senate.

“Eventually, the last Attorney General of the Federation,
because the EFCC reports to his office, was able to domicile it in
the EFCC. The problem now, which the EGMONT Group is complaining
about, is that all the (members of) staff of NFIU are all from the
EFCC, and they believe that it is not right, that it is supposed to
be independent.”

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in his remarks, said,
“Clearly, this suspension is a setback in our fight against
corruption and, as such, we must move swiftly because we cannot
afford to be cut off from the EDMONT Group.”

The Senate has set up a panel to probe the management of
international grants received by the National Financial
Intelligence Unit under the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission. The legislature has also concluded plans to move the
unit out of the commission and make it independent.

The move followed the adoption of a motion moved by Senator
Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu-North) at the plenary on Wednesday. The
motion is titled, ‘Dire implications of the suspension of Nigeria
from the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.’

The lawmakers unanimously granted all the prayers of the motion
including the passing of a law that would create “a substantive and
autonomous Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and make the unit
legally and operationally autonomous.”

The Senate Committee on Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption,
chaired by Utazi, was mandated to sponsor a bill to the effect
within four weeks.

They also granted the prayer to empower the NFIU to exchange and
relate with all countries on issues affecting its mandate at the
bilateral and multi-lateral levels.

The Senate also urged “the three-line Ministries of Justice,
Finance and Interior to do all within their powers to ensure that
Nigeria’s suspension is immediately reversed, and ensure that all
conditions specified by the Egmont Group are met to re-admit and
improve Nigeria’s standing within the group, while increasing their
levels of cooperation and coordination to ensure that Nigeria
achieve membership of FATE.”

Another prayer was to urge the executive to include in any
supplementary budget estimate that might be presented to the
National Assembly before the end of the year a separate budget for
the NFIU in view of the need to lift the suspension of Nigeria as
soon as possible.

Utazi alleged that the EFCC had been preventing moves to make
the NFIU an independent body.

Speaking extempore after moving the motion, Utazi said, “I know
that fireworks will come from three places: One is the hired hand
of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption led by
Prof. Itse Sagay, who does not believe that anything good can come
from this parliament; who believes that he is the only person who
has the knowledge and understanding of law, and will turn cases
upside down because he does not have good intention towards the
National Assembly.

“The second is Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
who will come up against these issues and the efforts we are making
here to make sure that things work. But we are not going to renege.
This is the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are
going to live up to the billing of this body and ensure that we do
things right.

“The third is the hired and sponsored media critics of the
Senate and the National Assembly as a whole; who may be hired
tomorrow to appear on television and turn this case upside
down.”

He added, “What is at stake is the international funding that
comes to NFIU. The EFCC does not want this unit to go away because
of the funding, but we have to rise above the funding which comes
there.”

Seconding the motion, the Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu, said, “I remember that there was a huge debate on this
matter in the last Senate.

“Eventually, the last Attorney General of the Federation,
because the EFCC reports to his office, was able to domicile it in
the EFCC. The problem now, which the EGMONT Group is complaining
about, is that all the (members of) staff of NFIU are all from the
EFCC, and they believe that it is not right, that it is supposed to
be independent.”

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, in his remarks, said,
“Clearly, this suspension is a setback in our fight against
corruption and, as such, we must move swiftly because we cannot
afford to be cut off from the EDMONT Group.”