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| President Halciam Niger Repu Issoufour Boureima 6 |
The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, has expressed his readiness to upgrade the
facilities at the Commission’s Academy to make it a training centre for
investigators of anti-graft agencies in the West Africa
sub-region in furtherance of efforts to effectively curb economic and financial
crimes in the region.
Lamorde gave the assurance on Monday, March 9,
2015 when he played host to Mr. Issoufou Boureima, President, High Authority
for the Fight Against Corruption and Similar Crimes, HALCIA, Republic of Niger
who was at the Commission in furtherance of the Memorandum of
Understanding, MoU, signed by both agencies in 2012.
The visit was to strengthen the existing ties
between the two agencies in the fight against economic and financial crimes.
The EFCC boss, in response to a request by HALCIA
President, said the Commission had planned a regional training programme that
would have taken place mid 2014, but was shelved following the outbreak of the
Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in a few countries in the region.
“We assure you that we are already making
efforts towards offering such training; so, we will accept the request. At the moment, we are planning to
upgrade the facilities at the Academy in realisation of this plan. In
particular, we are interested in ensuring that there are no language issues. We
have an interpreter already and are even in the process of acquiring
translation equipment. So, the issue of training by the EFCC for the region is
certain”, Lamorde assured.
Apart from the proposed regional training, Lamorde
stated that, the EFCC would not hesitate to provide assistance in any area of need
as might be requested of the Commission. “Apart from the proposed regional
training, don’t hesitate to call on us if you have any specific need,” he said.
“We should share intelligence and information
about money laundering and terrorism financing”, Lamorde added.
According to him, “ Of all the MoUs signed with
other anti-graft agencies, only the one with HALCIA has been most effective. It
is also important for us to review past achievements, while also setting new
targets for each other. Both Nigeria
and Niger share a lot of
things in common, particularly the cultures and tradition of people in Northern Nigeria .”
Lamorde, who also described the visit as a new
landmark, said the MoU signed by both agencies resulted in the successes so far
recorded by both Nigeria and
Niger
in the war against corruption.
He urged the leadership of
HALCIA to work hand-in-hand with the EFCC in view of the current challenges
such as the Boko Haram insurgency which, according to him, had become a threat
to both countries.
Earlier in his remark, Boureima described the
efforts of EFCC in the fight against graft as commendable, adding that “we
would like to thank you for your support since the signing of the MoU. In fact, all the cases
you have intervened in have been successfully concluded and the offenders given
different jail terms.”
Boureima was accompanied on the visit by Sidibe
Abdoulkari, Abarchi Fati and Alio Daouda, all commissioners of HALCIA.
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