There is no hiding place any more for banks and their officials who aid corruption by hiding looted funds as Yemi Osinbajo, acting President, yesterday called for their prosecution at the opening of a three-day conference on “Promoting International Cooperation in Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Enhancing Asset Recovery to Foster Sustainable Development.” The event was organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC.
Osinbajo faulted those who accuse the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of engaging in media trial, saying it was corruption fighting back.
Speakers at the event included Abubakar Malami, Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF; Geoffrey Onyeama, Foreign Affairs minister; Itse Sagay, PACAC chairman; Akere Muna, a member of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, who was the keynote speaker; Nuhu Ribadu, former EFCC chairman; Bolaji Owasanoye, PACAC Executive Secretary and Femi Falana, activist-lawyer among others.
Osinbajo said most of the illicit funds from Africa were from Nigeria, whilst referring to a report by the High Level Panel that was headed by former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki and commissioned by the African Union and the United Nations  Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA.
Thd acting President urged anti-graft agencies to do more to curb the trend. “That shows us very clearly, especially the security agencies, that we simply have to do more. It is evident that so much money is leaving our shores,” he said, and said financial institutions that aid corruption should face the consequences.
“There is no way the transfer of these assets can happen without a handshake between the countries that they are transferred from and the international banking institutions in the countries in which they are transferred. There is no way it will happen without some form of connivance. We have to look at somehow delegitimising those kinds of financial institutions and criminalising them. Banks and financial institutions that actually engage in this must be called out and made to face the consequences of engaging in criminal practices. If that is not done, we are not likely to go very far,” intoned Osinbajo.
The acting President said corruption fights back when stolen monies find safe havens and are accessed by the corrupt. “In Nigeria, for instance, corruption fights back so eloquently that government itself, if not careful, can be overwhelmed,” he explained.
He added that some of those guilty of corruption fight back through media attacks on government: “If you look at the anticorruption fight in Nigeria, there is a major fight back in the media. There is a media war, between people fighting corruption and those behind the stolen funds. It is called ‘media trial’ – I don’t know what that means. If you discover, for instance, large sums of money in an air conditioned room, there is no where it will not make news in the world. So, this whole idea of trying to legitimise corruption is definitely being fuelled and sponsored by those who have these resources, who have stolen funds.”
Muna said Africa loses between $50 billion and $80 billion through illicit financial flows and that the continent remains a net creditor despite the inflow of development assistance.
Hence, he said secrecy in financial transactions, which he noted had been hijacked by greed and self-interest, must end. “It is imperative that we make it a priority to double efforts to end the use of financial secrecy for corruption, drug smuggling, money laundering, terrorism, people trafficking and other illicit financial practices,” said Muna.
He reiterated a recommendation by the Mbeki Panel – that escrow accounts should be created within development banks to keep recovered stolen assets, pending when they are returned to the owners. “Frozen money should not stay with the complicit bank, but in an escrow account with a third party pending the courts’ or competent authorities’ determination as to the rightful owners of the funds,” he said.
As Sagay said, most of the financial assets pillaged from state coffers deprive Nigeria of the capacity to realise the sustainable development goals of no poverty, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, quality education, clean water and sanitation and affordable clean energy. “None of these goals is affordable in a developing economy whose wealth is hemorrhaging and flowing to already developed societies,” he said.
The annual flow of proceeds of crime is estimated at $1.6 trillion, half of which Sagay said come from developing economies. According to him, Africa must improve its capacity to stem illicit financial flows if it must realise its development goals.
The fight against corruption and illicit financial flows, according to Onyeama, is a shared responsibility that must be tackled by the global community. “We urge the international community to strive to eliminate safe havens that create incentives for foreign transfer of stolen assets and illicit financial flows. We urge destination countries to remove bottlenecks and conditionalities hindering the recovery of illicitly acquired funds and assets,” he said.
Malami said Nigeria must join the international community in stemming illicit financial flows, improving asset return and ensuring sanctions for perpetrators of acts of corruption.
According to him, the passage of the Mutual Legal Assistance Bill by the Senate shows a political will to fight corruption and trace, freeze and recover stolen assets. Just like Falana said no developed country would willingly return stolen assets, as they use such funds to develop their countries.
“Once we locate the illegal funds, they should go after the banks warehousing the funds and file actions in court on behalf of our government,” said Falana.