Vows to turn the heat on looters

Soni Daniel – Northern Region Editor

The tone of Nigeria’s anti-corruption war changed dramatically yesterday when the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, disclosed that corrupt and influential Nigerians had turned their attention from Europe and American but were stashing their loot in African countries considered as safe havens.


The Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Magu

Ibrahim Magu made the stunning revelation at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria’s EFCC and Nigerien High Authority against Corruption and Related Crimes, HALCIA, in Niamey, the country’s capital.

Magu said that unlike in the past when Nigeria’s looters of public treasury took their loot to safe havens in Europe, America and some islands, such elements had now found some African countries more attractive to hide their illicit cash and property.

Magu said: “From available intelligence and our investigations, it has been revealed that looters from Nigeria now go to Ghana, Egypt, Cameroun, South Africa, Equatorial Guinea, Niger Republic, Morocco, and Seychelles and so on, to stash their loots. This has led to a sharp increase in the number of Nigerians buying properties in African countries.

“In fact, some corrupt Nigerians even go to the extent of changing their names and acquiring the destination countries’ international passports in collusion with corrupt public officers in their countries of residence in order to hide their identities and evade detection.

But he vowed to turn the heat on the looters until the war against corruption was won by the government and the culprits sent to jail to serve as a deterrent to others.

The MoU, according to the EFCC in Abuja on Friday, is geared towards strengthening collaborative efforts between the Nigerian front row anti-corruption agency and its Niger Republic counterpart.

The signing of the document was the climax of a two-day working visit by the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu to the West African country.

But Magu begged the Nigerien authorities to help Nigeria confront the growing illicit cash movement along the borders of the two countries by identifying the owners of huge cash owned by some Nigerians in that country’s financial system and sharing the information with the EFCC to enable the agency to determine whether it is part of the proceeds of crime or not.

He also pleaded with them to assist Nigeria by identifying the numerous property owned by Nigerians including the details of the owners in order to enable the commission to ascertain if such Nigerians acquired them with looted funds or proceeds of crime

Other request by the EFCC boss to the Nigerien government included: Stopping moves by persons who plan to move funds during the elections hrough the usual medium to destabilise the political stage in Nigeria, increased clampdown on Nigerians who are involved in cyber crime and handing over their details to Nigeria and assisting the EFCC in the arrest of persons on its ‘Wanted Persons List’ who might have absconded through Niger Republic.

 President of HALCIA, Gousmane, said there was no better time than now for EFCC and the agency to sign the MoU for stronger collaboration between Nigeria and The Niger Republic in the fight against corruption.

He said: “We are ready and willing to partner with Nigeria. Nigeria has the experience and the human capacity and with President Muhammadu Buhari who is a renowned anti-corruption icon, we have no choice but to leverage on Nigeria for capacity building in taming the corruption monster,” Gousmane said.

One of the side attractions of the visit was Gousmane’s presentation of a horse as a special gift to Magu.

Source

When you read about how some government agencies are handling certain things, you can't help but feel that the leaders of these agencies are not well educated, or knowledgeable enough to handle such tasks.
Of course to illiterate and semi-literate Nigerians, it is "Go after the looters, kill them, jail them!".

But that is NOT how to deal with intricate matters of international dimensions, because the impact will linger long after the implementers of such policies are gone. Funnily, some of the impact will come when the implementers are retired and they start wondering why their pensions are not paid for years on.

Seldom do they remember their contributions to the destruction of the country's assets, including international ones. They are driven by raw ignorant passion. lol

For YEARS, Nigerians have invested in MANY African countries, and for years they did their businesses in those countries without worrying about their own government. Suddenly, one week to the general elections, the EFCC just wakes up to start talking about these Nigerian assets in African countries?

Nobody is supporting looters here, far from it; but if Nigerians don't invest their money in Africa(their own backyard), is it Europeans that will invest money in Africa?
Nigerian banks, for example, expanded MASSIVELY into Africa under the past PDP governments of Nigeria; but now APC government is trying its level best to shrink those investments, citing "looting".
BTW How would the EFCC distinguish between genuine Nigerian assets and looted ones in those countries?
No be Africa again?

If my PDP political opponent has done legitimate business in say Cameroon for 25 years, and amassed assets there, how would the EFCC know how he got his assets legitimately (over 25 years) if he is running for elections in a state my APC needs to win badly?
But more importantly, to turn a legitimate asset into "loot" in Cameroon is as simple as placing a phone call to Paul Biya (or his goons) in exchange for some other return favours, and the dictator would happily declare the legitimate asset as illegitimate.

The countries mentioned are as corrupt on many levels as Nigeria, after-all they are AFRICAN. Some of them have coveted Nigerian assets in their countries for years, and now a Nigerian government agency may in fact give them the moral and diplomatic pretext and cover to seize these properties.

All in a bid to win elections?

What happens a day after you win? Million of lost Nigerian assets in Africa in-tow?
Consistently, the CBN reels out foreign exchange in-flow into Nigeria, citing billions of dollars Nigerians send into the Nigerian economy annually. These amounts to more than oil revenues in some instances. Does the EFCC understand these dynamics?

I honestly don't think I've ever seen a more sinister and invidious political stratagem in Nigeria. Ever.

I can't wait for this election to be over so that maybe we get progress and some fresh air.

The bulldogs and their "witch-hunt" escapades...