Asset Declaration: EFCC Goes Tough, Reveals What Will Happen to Top Financial Executives
- Abdulrasheed Bawa, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has urged the top echelons of the financial institution to declare their assets before June 30
- The anti-graft czar, who had issued June 1, as the deadline for the asset declaration, extended it to allow the bank executives to comply with the directive
- Bawa noted that the order was given to sanitize the nation’s financial system and block some of the loopholes currently being exploited illegally
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FCT, Abuja - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has issued a final warning to managing directors and top executives of financial institutions to submit their asset declaration forms.
The Punch reports that the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said that it had expected all operators in the Nigerian financial system, especially bankers to declare their assets latest June 1, 2021.
Source: Facebook
Defaulters of asset declaration may go to jail
Legit.ng gathered that the declaration of asset is in line with the Bank Employees, ETC (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, which may cause defaulters to risk 10 years in jail if found guilty by any Federal High Court.
According to the report, the anti-graft agency extended the deadline till June 14 to allow bankers to comply with the order effectively.
The newspaper also noted that the EFCC chairman had sent a final reminder to all the affected bank executives and given them till the end of June to declare their assets.
Bawa reportedly said:
“The truth is that this law has been in place for over 35 years, but it was hardly ever enforced and so these bankers would just declare anything or not declare at all. However, the EFCC is now demanding the declaration forms as part of moves to sanitise the system.
“To this effect, the chairman has written a reminder to the banks, asking all top executives to comply latest by the end of June."
Bawa had recently said that the asset declaration is part of measures to sanitize the nation’s financial system and block some of the loopholes currently being exploited by unscrupulous players in the sector to undermine the Nigerian economy through money laundering and illicit financial flows.
He said that section 1 of the Bank Employees, ETC. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986 makes it mandatory for every employee of a Bank to make full disclosure of assets upon employment, and annually in subsequent years.
BBC Pidgin also reports that the law under section 7 (1) stipulates that It shall be an offence for an employee of a bank to own assets in excess of his legitimate known and provable income.
Section 7(2) of the act stated:
“Any employee guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this Section shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for ten years and shall, in addition, forfeit the excess assets or its equivalent in money to the federal government."
Bawa who also expressed worry about youth involvement in cybercrime, however, appealed to parents to take a special interest in the activities of their children.
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EFCC chairman Bawa says N6b, $261m, houses recovered in 100 days
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the EFCC chairman, Bawa declared that the sum of $261 million, N6 billion, and 13,000 pounds illegally acquired by suspected criminals were recovered in 100 days.
It was reported that the anti-graft czar also said the commission recovered 30 real estates, 32 automobiles, farmland and other properties acquired by suspected fraudsters.
He stated that the $100m is part of outstanding remittances that INTELS owed the country in handling logistics at Nigerian ports.
Source: Legit.ng
