BY MICHAEL EBOH

The Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) has agreed to extend its support for law enforcement agencies involved in the fight against financial crimes to increase and improve their powers to investigate, prosecute and convict in relation to Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, ML/TF, offences.

According to a statement from GIABA, the support becomes necessary, especially after the independent assessment of its 2007 – 2009 Strategic Objectives which show a low level of successful prosecution and conviction of identified cases.

The, the agency said, necessitated a key objective of its 2011-2014 Strategic Plan which is to increase and improve investigation, prosecution and conviction in relation to ML/TF offences.

GIABA said in collaboration with member states, it has expanded its offer of technical assistance to include empowerment of law enforcement agencies saddled with the responsibility of conducting robust investigation and prosecution of cases of financial crimes, thereby enabling them to take ownership of the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing on a sustainable basis.

According to GIABA, All ECOWAS member States have been identified for a demand-driven technical assistance.

It further stated that as GIABA member states are classified as Low Capacity Countries (LCCs), it is expedient that they require continuous support in order to build their capacities to improve their anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems.

To this end, the agency stated that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) that will see it providing technical assistance to the Commission in furtherance of its mandate of fighting economic crimes and corruption in Nigeria.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, which took place at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, the Director- General of GIABA, Dr Abdullahi Shehu said the technical assistance being offered by his organization to the EFCC should support the training and re-training of staff; improve overall operations of the Commission; and strengthen its capacity in the area of investigation and diligent prosecution of economic and financial crimes with a view to increasing the number of convictions.

He also expressed delight that the technical assistance was motivated by a well-articulated proposal from EFCC, which he believes would also strengthen the management of the suspicious and currency transaction reports from reporting entities.

The Director General emphasized that the gesture is in furtherance of the institution’s fulfillment of its Technical Assistance mandate to member States with a view to building their capacities in the global fight against the menace of Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorism Financing (TF).

“I have promoted EFCC as a model law enforcement agency, which other agencies can benefit from,” Dr Shehu stated.

The EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, thanked GIABA for its efforts in strengthening AML/CFT regimes in region. He welcomed the excellent quality of cooperation between EFCC and GIABA and affirmed that “the grant agreement illustrates the vitality of this cooperation, which will enable EFCC enhance the capacity of its personnel in tackling economic and financial crimes in the country and the region at large.

He reiterated that the fight against economic crime and corruption was not dependent on EFCC alone, especially as it concerns conviction, as there are institutions that play crucial roles in the justice chain. “All we can promise is to increase the number of cases while improving on their prosecution.” Lamorde stated.

While thanking GIABA for the support, Lamorde gave assurance that the Commission will maximize the opportunity with the highest sense of responsibility and transparency.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by officials of both agencies. Mr Lamorde signed for the EFCC while Dr. Shehu signed on behalf of GIABA.

In this initial engagement, GIABA said a grant is offered to the lead agency in the fight against financial crimes in Nigeria, while GIABA will closely monitor and follow up to ensure the purpose of the grant is well achieved.

The technical assistance offer is a continuous process and other member states in the region have been targeted to benefit from similar technical assistance in subsequent years in addition to other various supports that GIABA has been providing for all its members states.