The South East Zonal Head of the Economic and
Financial Crimes, EFCC, Johnson Ayodeji Babalola has charged financial
institutions especially Nigerian banks to refrain form of unethical practices
that impinge on the image and status of Nigeria and its economy.
Babalola made the appeal while
addressing senior officials from banks across the south eastern states of
Enugu, Anambra,Ebonyi, Abia and Imo at a special stakeholders meeting at the
Commission’s office in Enugu.
He further admonished the
bankers to to trun themselves into pawns in the hands unscrupulous persons.
“ You should be careful that all these so called big men do not use you to effect
their selfish agenda and, after everything, they will dump you to face
the repercussion .”
Describing the relationship between
financial institutions and the Commission as that of partners, Babalola asked
for the cooperation of the bankers, adding that the EFCC cannot effectively
fulfill its mandate without the cooperation of banks.
“Because our investigations often involve
information on lodgement and movement of cash, your cooperation is needed to
improve on intelligence required for progress in any case.”
Later during the interactive session,
some of the staff of the Commission and the bankers expressed concerns on
issues they felt were militating against the smooth working relationship
between the two stakeholders such as Know Your Customer (KYC) regime, quality
of reports from banks and document verification among others.
The Head of Legal and Prosecution,
Enugu zone, Joshua Saidi urged the bankers to acquaint themselves with laws
relating to their job especially the preparation and production of statement of
account as they may be required during trials as court evidence.
The occasion had in attendance
regional, and area managers, auditors, control and compliance officers
alongside heads of sections and units in the EFCC zonal office.
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