As a fresh move to bolster security and anti- corruption situations in the West- African sub- region, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has called for stronger and more effective modalities aimed at stemming the spate of illicit financial flows and other corrupt tendencies in the region.
This call was made on Monday, March 21, 2020 by the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, while addressing the 5th Annual General Assembly Meeting of the Network of National Anti- Corruption Institutions in West Africa, NACIWA, holding at Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja, Nigeria. Bawa, who is the newly elected President of the 16-nation member organisation, noted that the ECOWAS sub- region is smarting from the throes of security challenges and stressed that efforts must be made to block leakages arising from illicit financial dealings.
“The ECOWAS sub- region is threatened by existential security challenges which may not be unrelated directly or indirectly to corruption. We must therefore intensify efforts to stem the spate of illicit financial flows within the sub- region including illicit flows by Politically Exposed Persons( PEPs)”, he said. The EFCC Chairman also stressed that “we must also continue to amplify effective collaboration and intelligence sharing in our quest to rid the sub- region of financial crimes while collectively addressing the security challenges prevalent in the sub- region”.