By Precious Orokotan
During a public lecture organized by the University of Abuja in collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, prominent voices including lawyers, anti-money laundering advocates, and academics highlighted money laundering and terrorism as two major impediments to the economic growth of developing nations, with Nigeria being a prime example.
The event was held on Wednesday in Abuja and was titled Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in Developing Economies. At the event, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, made a statement emphasizing that money laundering and terrorism financing were transnational crimes affecting nations worldwide.
Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, representing the EFCC chair as the Director of Legal Services, further added that these offenses negatively impacted countries in various ways. Mr. Tahir emphasized the criticality of cross-border cooperation in fighting these crimes, given that perpetrators may reside in one country while carrying out their illegal activities in another.
“By inviting experts from abroad, we can learn from their experiences and better combat money laundering and terrorism financing,” he added. Mr. Tahir also affirmed that the EFCC had successfully prosecuted and convicted numerous individuals for money laundering, explaining that not all cases were high-profile ones involving politicians, leading many people to miss these developments.