Obinna Chima
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN) have agreed to strengthen collaborations in the fight against bank fraud.
Speaking during the association’s visit to EFCC Lagos office recently, ACAEBIN Chairman Abiodun Aderoju said the fight against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari led-government will not be successful without the involvement and cooperation of the banks.
The ACAEBIN delegation was received by the Head of Economic Governance Crime, Mohammed Rabo, on behalf of the Head of Operations of the Lagos Unit of the Commission.
Aderoju said there was need for the association to constantly compare notes with the anti-graft agency so as to improve information sharing mechanisms between both parties.
“The association appreciates the effort of the EFCC in the renewed fight against corruption but believes that the needed result will not be fully achieved without the involvement and cooperation of the banks especially in the area of information and knowledge sharing. It is on this note that we as an Association and the third line of defence in the banking industry have come to familiarise ourselves with the new head of the Lagos Unit of the Commission and pledge our commitment to collaborate with him,†Aderoju said.
Responding, Rabo promised that the Commission would strive to address the issues raised by the auditors in spite of the manpower and other logistics challenges facing the commission.
He tasked the auditors on the need to build trust with the commission by responding timely to request for information to enable it effectively discharge its duties while also urging them to ensure proper profiling and documentation of bank customers (KYC), as that is very key to all EFCC investigations.
The association noted with concern that EFCC’s current focus on sanitising the public sector has made unscrupulous bank customers who obtained loans under false pretence to operate unhindered.
The association, therefore appealed to the federal government to allocate more resources to the commission to enable it conclude investigation and prosecute defaulting bank customers in line with Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement.
