…Seek assent to Act to check illicit financial flows
Ahead of the much awaited ministerial appointment, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against appointing people of questionable character into his cabinet.
The CSOs also urged him to, as a matter of urgency, signed into law the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) transmitted to him by the 8th National Assembly.
The Convener of the CSOs and Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mr Auwal Rafsanjani, who gave the advice on Monday at a press briefing in Abuja, said appointing persons whose character is in doubt as ministers would create a setback to the anti-graft war.
”It is important we remind Mr President that while he is planning to constitute another cabinet ministers in his second term, he should be careful not to put anybody whose character is in doubt in his team,” he said.
Rafsanjani said that the 15.7 billion dollars annual loss to illicit financial flows was revealed by the Global Financial Integrity Report.
“If signed into law by President Buhari, the act will lead to the establishment of the electronic web-based open beneficial ownership register in Nigeria.
“The ultimate goal is the establishment of comprehensive database of the real owners behind the management of private companies operating within Nigeria’s jurisdiction,” he said.I
According to CISLAC boss, if CAMA bill is not signed by President Buhari this week, a decade of work will be lost and irreparable diplomatic, economic and reputational damage would be inflicted on Nigeria.
Rafsanjani said that Buhari made commitment to strengthen anti-corruption reforms and had joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in May 2016, during the Anti-corruption Summit in London, in a bid to deepen institutional and policy reforms.
According to him, one of those commitments is that Nigeria will establish a public central register of companies to know who owns what in Nigeria.
He said that three years after the bold commitment and two years of implementation of OGP, there was still no beneficial ownership register and a legal law to that effect.
He said that the beneficial ownership register would address issues of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) aimed at promoting policies that insulate global financial systems from acts of money laundering.
Rafsanjani said it would also curb financing of terrorism, while also profiting all Nigerians because stolen public wealth would be exposed.
He said that the damning implications of not signing the law included Nigeria risking suspension from the Global Extractive Industry Initiative (EITI) among other sanctions.
He added that Nigeria’s failure to enact the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) had jeopardised assets recovery efforts as hundreds of U.S. dollars were waiting to be returned to Nigeria by the international community.
“Let us be crystal clear, concealing of beneficial owners cost lives of our fellow countrymen as terrorists use international financial systems to sustain their operations.
“Without transparent ownership of local and international companies operating in Nigeria, we will not be able to stop the bleeding from illicit financial outflows.’’
Rafsanjani said as long as wrong incentives and dysfunctional supervision dominated Nigeria’s national financial systems, there would be consequences such as terrorism financing, trans-national organised crime, tax evasion and illegal enrichment of politically exposed persons.
He said that CAMA and beneficial ownership register were one of the indispensable mechanisms that had a potential to make a real difference in the anti-corruption war.
Other members of the coalition include Zero Corruption Coalition, CITAD, RAPA, Centre LSD, Open Alliance, BudgIT, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), SOTU-Nigeria, National Procurement Watch Platform and African Centre for Media and Information Literacy.
*Photo: Buhari