By Ukpono Ukpong
The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abdulrasheed Bawa, has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s plan to redesign Naira notes is very significant to the anti-graft war in the country.
Bawa said this yesterday while speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The EFCC Chairman said that the redesign will present the avenue for the anti-graft agency to monitor the cash transactions within the system.
He said the redesign will give the CBN the opportunity to collect all the monies back into their system as well as control the monies that they are going to release back to the system.
Bawa said: “It is very significant. You know, that there is an obligation of money laundering law that we have, in which an individual is expected to carry out a transaction that is above five million naira through the financial institution. There’s also a threshold where a corporate entity is expected to carry out a transaction that is above N10 million in a financial institution.
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“This is so because financial institutions are expected to be making currency transaction report and suspicious financial report to the relevant agencies and with that the institutions like ours will be able to monitor which funds are legitimate and which funds are not.
“We are here now where 85per cent of our currency is out of circulation and people are carrying out transactions that are above the threshold as provided for and we are not able to monitor.
“Once the money is back within the financial institution, it will help to further boost economic activities in the sense that there will be more money for people to borrow and then we on our part, will have the avenue of monitoring what we are doing with all the huge resources that are out there before that are now within the financial institutions, DailyTimesNGR gathered.
“So, it is a good thing for all of us, for the entire country and that is why we are calling on Nigerians to embrace the policy as well as thank the President for coming up with this and then of course, to champion the cause of the successful implementation of this narrative design.
“On our part, of course, you know, we will continue to call on Nigerians that the whistle blower policy is still on and running and for information that of course, Nigerians will come forth with, they stand the chance of getting up to 5% of what we will successfully recover.
“As of November 4th, the EFCC has recorded 3,228 convictions in court. Half of these convictions is related to cybercrime.
“It has never happened in the history of this country. So this is a huge problem that we have in which our younger brothers and sisters are engaged in this crime.”
The EFCC boss also said the number of governors being monitored by the Commission for suspected cases of money laundering has increased beyond the three earlier mentioned.
He, however, did not give the actual number of the affected governors under the EFCC radar or surveillance operations.
Recall some governors, including that of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, had challenged the EFCC to search his property over allegation that a “humongous amount of money for laundering through cash payment of salaries,” had been discovered in one of his residences.
Matawalle made the offer in a statement issued by Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, the State Commissioner for Information.
However, the anti-corruption boss urged the citizens to partner with the commission in exposing corrupt politicians hiding huge amounts of cash for selfish motive.
”We are monitoring everything, Nigerians are helping. Well, I don’t want to give you the figures so that you will not go and speculate whether they are in the north or in the south, but it’s important that Nigerians key into it,” he said.
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