Yemisi Izuora
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have held a crucial meeting met to strengthen the country’s fight against economic crimes.
The meeting, which took place at the Head Office of the CBN in Abuja, on Thursday provided an opportunity for the two agencies to share experiences and review challenges in the fight against economic related crimes.
Both agencies adopted strategies aimed at curtailing the unwholesome activities of economic saboteurs which include smuggling of commodities like rice, textile materials, fertilizer, wheat and other items on the prohibition list for accessing foreign exchange through official window, as well as tracking illicit financial flows.
Other areas which the two agencies are collaborating include anti-money laundry and the monitoring of politically exposed persons in thecountry.
The inter-agency meeting, chaired by the Director, Governors’Department of the CBN, Mr. Jeremiah Abue, also agreed to improve the level of information-sharing and surveillance of the financial sector.
The CBN under the auspices of the Bankers’Committee had said that any individual or corporate body found to complicit in economic crime or attempts to circumvent economic lawsand regulations of the country may be barred from operating a bankaccount in any bank in Nigeria.