Premium Times reports that the U.S.
government said this in an assessment which was contained in March 2017
edition of the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)
authored by the US Department of State’s Bureau for International
Narcotic and Law Enforcement Affairs.
“There
are concerns about the Department of State Services’ capacity to
investigate money laundering and that it does not share case information
with other agencies that also conduct financial investigations,” the report states.
The report noted that the EFCC’s reliance
on formal mutual legal assistance with the U.S. to collect admissible
evidence in money laundering cases is a major challenge in its effort to
curb financial crimes.
However it
praised the EFCC for its “aggressive” probe of high-profile corruption
but also insisted that the conviction rate was regrettable.
“However,
the EFCC’s conviction rates continue to be low due in part to gaps in
the judicial system that cause cases to languish in the system for long
periods of time without resolution,” the report said.
The
report which praised Nigerian banks for their willingness to submit
currency transactions reports however describe the country as “a major drug transshipment point and a significant center for financial crime.”
It also slams Nigerian financial institutions for engaging in “currency transactions related to international narcotics trafficking that include significant amounts of US currency.”
According to Premium Times, the report
argued that criminal organisations, corrupt officials, businessmen,
terrorist group and internet fraudsters take advantage of Nigeria’s weak
law, poor enforcement, geographical location, porous borders and
socioeconomic conditions to launder proceeds of crime.
The report read in part: “Criminal
proceeds laundered in Nigeria derive partly from foreign drug
trafficking and criminal activity including illegal oil bunkering,
bribery and embezzlement, contraband smuggling, theft, and financial
crimes. Public corruption is also a significant source of laundered
criminal proceeds.
“International
advance fee fraud, also known as “419 fraud” in reference to the fraud
section in Nigeria’s criminal code, remains a lucrative financial
crime,” it states.
On the other hand, the report praised Nigeria over the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), insisting that it improves transparency and streamlines revenue collection and expenditure.
“In 2016 President Buhari implemented several transparency measures, such as requiring all government entities, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, to remit nearly all revenues to a Treasury Single Account (TSA). The recent implementation and enforcement of the TSA as well as the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System are intended to make Government government revenue collection and expenditures more streamlined and transparent.”
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