President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, said since assuming office he has made deliberate efforts to tackle corruption by funding the anti-graft agencies and not interfering in their activities.
Tinubu described corruption as one of the most significant
obstacles to the country’s progress, saying all hands must be on deck to
confront it.
Represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, the
President spoke in Abuja at the 6th Annual General Assembly of the Network of
Anti-corruption Institutions in West Africa.
He said, “Corruption remains one of the most significant
obstacles to the progress and prosperity of our nations.—
“It undermines the very fabric of our societies, erodes
public trust, and impedes equitable distribution of resources. As leaders, we
are all responsible for confronting this challenge head-on with unwavering
resolve and concerted actions. We have worked hard over the past year to
strengthen all the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria by not interfering in
their activities and ensuring that they are equitably funded.”
Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Authority of the Economic
Community of West African States, called on ECOWAS countries to harmonise their
legal frameworks and strengthen the independence and capacity of
anti-corruption institutions, among others.
Tinubu said, “Let us move beyond rhetoric and focus on
concrete actions that will harmonise our legal frameworks to close loopholes
exploited by corrupt individuals. Enhance cross-border cooperation in
investigations and asset recovery. Invest in innovative technologies to detect
and prevent corrupt practices.
“Promote transparency in public procurement and resource
management. Engage civil society and the media as partners in our
anti-corruption efforts. And sixth, strengthen the independence and capacity of
our national anti-corruption institutions.”
In his presentation, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affair,
Yusuf Tuggar, said African countries lose an estimated $8.6bn yearly to illicit
financial flows.
Stating the disadvantage of illicit financial flows, the
minister noted that it weakens economies, deprives governments of essential
revenue, and causes poverty.
Tuggar said, “On a
continental level, the menace of corruption is intimately tied to illicit
financial flows, which siphon billions of dollars from Africa every year. The
continent loses an estimated $8.6bn annually to illicit financial flows,
equivalent to around three per cent of Africa’s GDP.
“These funds, often hidden in tax havens and opaque
financial systems, represent stolen resources that could have been used to
build schools, hospitals, roads, and other critical infrastructure. Illicit
financial flows weaken our economies, deprive governments of essential revenue,
and deepen the cycle of poverty and suffering. The link between illicit funds
and insecurity is clear.”
Tuggar said regional cooperation alone was not enough to
curb illicit financial flows on the continent.
He stressed that the international community must support
Africa’s efforts by ensuring transparency in local financial systems and ending
the provision of safe havens for illicit funds.
Tuggar said, “The global nature of financial systems means
that the fight against corruption and illicit financial flows must also be pursued
at the global level.
“The United Nations Resolution on Tax Cooperation,
championed by Nigeria on behalf of the African group, is a landmark initiative
calling on countries to work together to improve international tax cooperation,
greater transparency, and the elimination of safe havens that allow for the
squirrelling away of ill-gotten gains.
“Paying local taxes
and tackling the transfer price system that multinationals use to evade them
requires a global consensus. The international community must support Africa’s
efforts by ensuring that local financial systems are transparent.
“It must stop providing safe havens for ill-gotten funds.
This requires a commitment from all nations, particularly those that host
financial centres.”
Tuggar also called on the international community to strengthen
partnerships with Nigeria and other African countries to ensure that national
resources are returned to their rightful jurisdictions.
“Better cooperation would allow for stolen crude oil to be
tracked and shut down from the City of London, home of Lloyd’s Insurance and
Lloyd’s Shipping Register. This is where we desperately need the application of
advanced technology in AI and blockchains rather than in weapons and kinetic
approaches,“ he added.
Tuggar also called for the consideration of countries’ peculiarities
while coming up with universal laws.
He said, “Regrettably, international law has focused more on
African countries than others.
“A case in point is the International Criminal Court.
Universal laws should take the idiosyncrasies of both Global North and Global
South nations into consideration so that laws are made not to criminalise but
rather to create economic incentives. The weaponisation of the global financial
system would only result in more conflicts.”
The minister stated that the framing of some of the criteria
for measuring corruption and money laundering must be challenged.
“The formalised economies of the Global North seemingly get
away with more infractions and pay their way out of trouble, while developing
countries with sizable informal economies suffer the consequences of great
disdain for infractions that cause less harm to the global financial system,”
he added.
Tuggar advised developing nations to be concerned about the
activities of cryptocurrency raiders.
He said Nigeria suffered from the exploit of Binance and the
use of cryptocurrency to manipulate the naira’s exchange rates.
Tuggar said, “The activities of exogenous cryptocurrency
raiders that target local currencies of developing nations should become more
of a collective concern.
“Specifically, Nigeria has suffered from the exploits of
Binance and the use of cryptocurrency to manipulate the Naira’s exchange rates.
This sought to undermine the gains of President Bola Tinubu’s macroeconomic
reforms, translating to real-life consequences and further delaying the
attainment of SDG goals.
“Those with proceeds of corruption tend to use illegal
currency exchanges such as Binance to launder their proceeds by paying a higher
premium to the detriment of the value of the Naira.
“Nigerian authorities have taken action against Binance
through the judicial system and due process of law, just as U.S. authorities
did when they fined Binance over $4bn in 2023. The fight against corruption is
not an option, it is a necessity. It is a fight for the soul of our continent
and the future of our children.”
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