The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing.
The Minister of Interior, Ra’uf Aregbesola, made this known yesterday, in Abuja, at the inauguration of a 10-member Inter-Ministerial Committee set up to implement the adoption and implementation of the assigned roles to the ministry. This, he said, was based on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) implementation roadmap adopted by the Federal Government.
According to an issued statement yesterday, by the Ministry of Interior’s Director of Press, Afonja Ajibola, Aregbesola said a great deal of the security challenges facing the county in recent times could be attributed to the activities of economic saboteurs, who indulged in illegal financial dealings to the detriment of the country. He added that insecurity would drastically reduce when the sources of finances for criminals are blocked.
The Minister promised that Nigeria would work with the International Community to overcome the challenge, adding that “money laundering undermines the legitimate private sector and the integrity of financial markets, loss of control of economic policy, causes economic distortion and instability, as well as loss of revenue, among other untoward consequences”.
The 10-member committee which is headed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Shu’aib Belgore, has other members drawn from agencies under the supervision of the ministry. The agencies involved are the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Correctional Service (NCOs), as well as the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The committee is expected to report to the minister every two weeks on progress assessment.
