Why Buhari would sign law separating NFIU from EFCC — Aide

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to sign a bill that
detaches the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU from the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, a presidency
official said Monday.

The proposal has pitted the acting-chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim
Magu, against Attorney-General Abubakar Malami for months, and Mr.
Buhari had largely refrained from making his position known on the
matter.

The Senate picked up and passed the bill in July, a
few weeks after the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units,
an international body that monitors money movements to combat
terrorism and illicit practices, suspended Nigeria’s financial
intelligence monitoring department.

The suspension was a major blow to the Buhari administration’s
fundamental aim of combatting corruption, since it effectively
deprived the country of needed cooperation from foreign countries,
especially the West.

Following its passage in July by the Senate, the bill has
proceeded to the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are
expected to pass it.

Mr. Malami supports the measure, complaining in a memo to Mr.
Buhari that the consequences of Nigeria’s suspension from the
Egmont Group were multi-faceted and far-reaching.

Mr. Magu opposes outright removal of NFIU from the control of
EFCC, but supports the setting up a committee to review all extant
regulations for improved transparency.

Juliet Ibekaku, an assistant to Mr. Buhari on justice reform,
said Mr. Buhari recognises the overarching benefits of an
independent NFIU and would act accordingly once the bill gets to
his table.

“It’s a critical legal framework for Nigeria” that
will demonstrate the independence of the country’s financial
intelligence unit, Ms. Ibekaku said at an anti-corruption dialogue
in Abuja Monday.

The event, tagged: Conversation on Anti-Graft Campaign, was
organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development, a civic
intervention think-tank based in Abuja.

Ms. Ibekaku said the NFIU was not designed for only the EFCC,
saying Mr. Buhari would consider all elements of the bill prior to
granting a presidential assent.

“It’s going to be used by all law enforcement agency and not
meant for one agency,” Ms. Ibekaku said. “The decision to sign it
will be based on different factors and not on an individual.”

She also echoed the Attorney-General, saying the NFIU as
currently constituted “was deemed not satisfactory to the
international community recently.”

Ms. Ibekaku was removed as the head of NFIU late 2013, and
there had been speculation that she was responsible for the
scathing petition that prompted Egmont Group to suspend
Nigeria.

Participants at the anti-corruption forum asked for more
transparency from the federal government, noting that the
government’s avowed war on corruption won’t thrive amidst
opacity.

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to sign a bill that
detaches the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU from the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, a presidency
official said Monday.

The proposal has pitted the acting-chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim
Magu, against Attorney-General Abubakar Malami for months, and Mr.
Buhari had largely refrained from making his position known on the
matter.

The Senate picked up and passed the bill in July, a
few weeks after the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units,
an international body that monitors money movements to combat
terrorism and illicit practices, suspended Nigeria’s financial
intelligence monitoring department.

The suspension was a major blow to the Buhari administration’s
fundamental aim of combatting corruption, since it effectively
deprived the country of needed cooperation from foreign countries,
especially the West.

Following its passage in July by the Senate, the bill has
proceeded to the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are
expected to pass it.

Mr. Malami supports the measure, complaining in a memo to Mr.
Buhari that the consequences of Nigeria’s suspension from the
Egmont Group were multi-faceted and far-reaching.

Mr. Magu opposes outright removal of NFIU from the control of
EFCC, but supports the setting up a committee to review all extant
regulations for improved transparency.

Juliet Ibekaku, an assistant to Mr. Buhari on justice reform,
said Mr. Buhari recognises the overarching benefits of an
independent NFIU and would act accordingly once the bill gets to
his table.

“It’s a critical legal framework for Nigeria” that
will demonstrate the independence of the country’s financial
intelligence unit, Ms. Ibekaku said at an anti-corruption dialogue
in Abuja Monday.

The event, tagged: Conversation on Anti-Graft Campaign, was
organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development, a civic
intervention think-tank based in Abuja.

Ms. Ibekaku said the NFIU was not designed for only the EFCC,
saying Mr. Buhari would consider all elements of the bill prior to
granting a presidential assent.

“It’s going to be used by all law enforcement agency and not
meant for one agency,” Ms. Ibekaku said. “The decision to sign it
will be based on different factors and not on an individual.”

She also echoed the Attorney-General, saying the NFIU as
currently constituted “was deemed not satisfactory to the
international community recently.”

Ms. Ibekaku was removed as the head of NFIU late 2013, and
there had been speculation that she was responsible for the
scathing petition that prompted Egmont Group to suspend
Nigeria.

Participants at the anti-corruption forum asked for more
transparency from the federal government, noting that the
government’s avowed war on corruption won’t thrive amidst
opacity.