Nigeria Content Online

The Federal
Government yesterday said that money laundering, terrorism financing,
and other forms of economic and financial crimes constitute major
obstacles to development in the West African sub-region.

The Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello
Adoke, said this in Abuja at the 14th plenary meeting of the Action
Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA). He said that
such crimes have had an adverse impact on regional security and
development.

“I wish to state
that in Nigeria, the implementation of a robust AML/CFT regime has
remained the top priority of the Federal Government,” said Mr. Adoke.

“Nigeria’s resolve
in this regard stems from the fact that development and security are
only possible in an environment free of corruption, money laundering,
terrorism financing, and other economic crimes,” he added.

Mr. Adoke said that
since the country’s adoption of the Mutual Evaluation Report in 2008,
the government had taken practical steps to address all the observed
weaknesses in the report.

Cash transactions

He applauded the
group for its achievements, including the signing of various memoranda
of understanding, thus guaranteeing more cooperation, information
exchange, mentorship, and joint operations in countries in the region.

In his remarks, the
director general of GIABA, Abdullahi Shehu, said the dependence on cash
transactions in the economies of the region presents a unique challenge
in the identification, tracing, and recovery of laundered proceeds of
crime.

He suggested ways
forward, which included raising awareness among stakeholders, examining
payments on cash transactions in financial institutions, and examining
the existing framework, including legal arrangements for the control of
cash movement in the region.