BY VICTOR BUORO – In what many critics have already termed as bowing to pressure over sustained public attacks for allegedly covering up some high-profile crimes, the Federal Government on Thursday announced that it has identified no fewer than 96 financiers of terrorism in the country.
Additionally, the government, through the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), said it has also identified 424 associates/supporters of the financiers as well as 123 companies and 33 bureaux de change, which aid and abet terrorism financing nationwide.
Besides, the work of the NFIU has led to the identification of 26 suspected bandits/kidnappers and seven of their co-conspirators.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, who announced the figures at a news conference in Abuja, said the feat was achieved between 2020 and 2021, signifying the seriousness of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to sustain its fight against corruption and criminal activities in Nigeria.
Giving further highlights on the situation of things, Alhaji Mohammed said from its analysis of tax evasion and tax avoidance linked to corruption, the NFIU “identified N3,909,707,678,112.43 in VAT and N3,737,918,335,785.82 in Withholding Tax due to the Government”.
He also disclosed that the NFIU has presented about 1,165 intelligence reports on cases of corruption, money laundering, and other serious offences to 27 domestic agencies for investigation, prosecution, and asset recovery.
According to him, within the same period, 2020-2021, under review, the Unit was involved in tracing and returning fraudulently-obtained funds totalling US$103,722,102.83, 3,000 Pound Sterling; 7,695 Singapore dollar, and 1,091 Euros to 11 countries of victims who came into the country.
The Minister, who described fighting corruption as a marathon and never a sprint, said investigations, arrests, prosecutions, and asset forfeitures, which are the immediate and visible indices by which many measure successes in tackling corruption, constitute – as important as they are – only a part of the strategies to tackle corruption on all fronts.
While maintaining that the administration’s efforts in identifying and plugging loopholes of financial haemorrhage deserved praise, Alhaji Mohammed said the administration should also be given a pass mark for what he described as “the high recovery” of slush funds and convictions of looters of public funds by its anti-graft agencies in recent years.
