EFCC invites journalists to assist in mobilising people to fight corruption

Journalists all throughout the nation have been urged to support the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its efforts to eradicate corruption in the nation.

At a one-day course on effective reporting of economic and financial crimes, Abdulkarim Chukkol, the acting executive chairman of the commission, made this appeal.

The workshop was held at the EFCC Zonal Command Office, Iyaganku, in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, and it was attended by journalists from print, electronic, and internet media.

Chukkol asserted that journalists are the means through which the EFCC informs the Nigerian public about its operations in her speech, which was given by Halima Mustapha Rufa’u, acting commander of the commission’s Ibadan Zonal Command.

He explained that the training was set up to improve the participants’ skills and provide them the opportunity to carry out their responsibilities as financial crime reporters more effectively.

The head of the EFCC further advised journalists to warn friends and family of politicians and other people in elected office that doing so might result in them being imprisoned if their businesses or bank accounts are used to launder the proceeds of criminal activity.

Approximately 1,145 family members and close associates of politicians and public office holders are currently categorised as Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) under the Money Laundering Act 2022, he continued.

He insisted that the panel was committed to seeing that anyone who plagiarised from the public coffers was prosecuted.

The decision to involve you all in a training session is boosted by the recognition that you occupy a vital position in the battle against corruption, he said, insisting that ignorance of the law would not be an excuse. You serve as the means through which the EFCC informs the Nigerian people about our operations. You both play significant roles in encouraging people to support the battle against corruption. As a result, the media is one of the EFCC’s most important supporters.

The country’s anti-money laundering framework has been reinforced thanks to the Commission’s enforcement actions, the official continued. Recoveries of several billion naira have also been made. The Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), which has been given new life, is a crucial part of this framework and is leading the battle against money laundering and illegal financial flows among Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs). These organisations’ operations, which are susceptible to money laundering, are now subject to stronger regulation.

In order to reduce corruption to the bare minimum, Larrys Peters Aso, who presented a paper titled “Understanding the New Money Laundering Laws in Relation to Activities of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions,” urged journalists to continue their reporting.

Another speaker at the session was Mr. Dele Oyewale, who talked on “Investigative Journalism and Nigeria’s Fight Against Money Laundering,” and Taibat Sallahudeen, who discussed “New Trends in Cybercrime: How Not To Become a Victim.”