Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has called on banks in the country to verify potential clients’ income sources before opening an account for them.
Bawa gave the suggestion during a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja by the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), led by its Chairman, Yinka Tiamiyu on Tuesday.
The EFCC urged bank auditors to take transparency in banking operations seriously, adding that beginning September 1, 2021, it will no longer be business as usual because the commission will hold banks liable where there is established institutional complicity in fraud in the sector.
Bawa expressed the commission’s willingness to collaborate with the association in combating financial crime and other issues in the banking sector.
In his remarks, Tiamiyu stated that they were in the Commission to seek improved collaboration between banks and the EFCC in combating economic and financial crimes.
He reaffirmed banks’ commitment to sanitizing the nation’s financial system as main actors, stressing that it was not in the institutions’ best interests to foster or repress financial misconduct.
Amplifying this point, Uduak Udoh, Vice Chairman of the Association said, “Some customers are conniving with bank staff to loot funds. We want you to look into that area, not only the banks as we are ready to give you all the cooperation you need; we want you to trust bank auditors with information sharing because we cannot support fraudulent staff as they are a threat to the organization.”
They took advantage of the visit to highlight issues of concern to them and their organizations, such as the EFCC’s expedited consideration of bank petitions.
