Asset Declaration: We are Not Witch-hunting Bankers, EFCC Chairman Bawa Says

Asset Declaration: We are Not Witch-hunting Bankers, EFCC Chairman Bawa Says

  • The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa has cleared the air concerning bankers’ asset declaration
  • Bawa on Monday, October 11, said the anti-graft agency’s directive to bankers to declare their assets is not meant to bring them down
  • He noted further that the move by the commission was needed to sanitise the banking system and save it from total collapse

Abeokuta, Ogun - The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has dismissed claims in regards to the recent directive to bankers on asset declaration.

Daily Trust reports that on Monday, October 11, Bawa said that the anti-graft agency’s directive to bankers to declare their assets is not meant to witch hunt them.

He stated that going by rots in the financial institutions, the EFCC and stakeholders need to sanitise the industry as Nigeria cannot afford to go through another serious crisis in the banking sector.

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We are not witch hunting bankers on asset declaration- Bawa
EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa has said that the anti-graft agency wants to sanitise the banking system from corrupt practices. Photo credit: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
Source: Facebook

He disclosed this at an opening session of a capacity-building workshop organised by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for the law enforcement agencies in Abeokuta.

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The EFCC chairman said the directive was misconstrued by some people he tagged as “ignorant.”

The workshop was themed “Effective Investigation and Prosecution of Banking Malpractices in Nigeria”.

Bawa, who spoke through the Head of Lagos Zonal Office of EFCC, Ahmed Ghali, vowed that despite the stiff opposition of the policy, the anti-graft agency would not relent in its efforts in sanitising the country’s financial institutions, The Nigerian Tribune also reported.

He said:

“I recall that upon assumption of office, one of the major pronouncements I made was giving a directive to bankers to declare their assets before June 1, 2021. I had given the directive genuinely out of the sincerity of purpose, knowing the rots that permeate the nation’s banking sector."

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He urged bankers and financial institutions to partner with the EFCC to rid it of the “slew of corrupt practices” and other financial crimes in the banking sector.

Message to criminals: Pension thieves must face justice, EFCC vows

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that for those who are stealing pension funds, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has a message for them.

The anti-graft commission has promised to arrest and prosecute them.

In fact, EFCC claimed it had probed and also prosecuted pension frauds involving N157bn from 2016 to 2020, Punch Newspaper reports.

NLC, Ogun residents block Abeokuta-Lagos expressway

In another development, in efforts to bring an urgent solution to their problems, some residents of Ogun state have taken to the street to protest the deplorable state of their roads.

The protesters who include members of the Nigeria Labour Congress blocked the Sango Ota section of the Lagos—Abeokuta Expressway.

Specifically, they are demanding that the federal and state governments should find a lasting solution to the state of the road, Legit.ng gathered.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
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Esther Odili (Politics and Current Affairs Editor) Esther Odili is a journalist and a Politics/Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng with 6+ years of experience. She Holds OND and HND in Mass Communication from the Nigerian Institue of Journalism (NIJ), where she was recognized as the best student in print journalism in 2018. Before joining Legit.ng, Esther has worked with other reputable media houses, such as the New Telegraph newspaper and Galaxy Television. In 2024, Esther obtained a certificate in advanced digital reporting from the Google News Initiative. Email: esther.odili@corp.legit.ng.