Egmont: Senate, House Disagree on NFIA as Threat of Nigeria’s Expulsion Looms

Despite the looming threat of Nigeria’s expulsion from the Egmont Group, a 152-nation network of national financial intelligence units, the Senate and House Committees on Anti-Corruption have been at loggerheads over the domiciliation of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

The bill to grant financial and operational autonomy to the unit, which has been passed by both legislative chambers, is before the conference committee of the National Assembly, which is required to harmonise the discrepancies in both versions of the legislation.

But while the Senate committee recommended that the unit be moved from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the House committee has remained adamant that the autonomous unit must be retained within the EFCC.

The failure to agree on the domiciliation of the unit has delayed the transmission of the bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent, THISDAY has learnt.
If the impasse is not resolved, Nigeria which was suspended from the group in July 2017, would be expelled at its next meeting expected to hold next month, a development which holds dire consequences for the nation’s financial sector.

THISDAY, February 6, 2018

 

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