The national assembly has passed
the bill seeking to make the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU)
autonomous.
The senate passed the bill after
considering a conference committee report presented by Chukwuka Utazi, chairman
of the anti-corruption committee, on Wednesday.
The conference committee report
was passed in the lower legislative chamber on Tuesday.
A harmonised version of the bill
will be forwarded to the president for assent.
Senate President Bukola Saraki
urged the executive to quickly assent to the bill and ensure the independence
of the unit
“I will like to thank the members
of this senate for taking here again in the fight against corruption because
our suspension from the Egmont Group has a lot of ramifications,” Saraki said.
“I hope that by this conference
report, they (Egmont) will have a second view and readmit us. I hope that the
executive will quickly assent and ensure the independence of the unit.”
In July 2017, TheCable reported
how Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit suspended (NFIU) from the Egmont
Group.
The group said if Nigeria failed
to provide a legal framework granting autonomy to the NFIU, the country would
be expelled from the global body when it holds its next meeting in Argentina.
In the event of an expulsion,
Nigeria would no longer benefit from financial intelligence shared by the 153
member countries, while the country’s ability to recover stolen funds abroad
will be hampered.
Nigeria will also be blacklisted
in international finance and this could affect the use of credit and debit
cards by Nigerians abroad.
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