The National Assembly on Wednesday passed the bill seeking to make the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit autonomous.
The senate passed the bill after considering a conference committee report presented by chairman of the anti-corruption committee, Chukwuka Utazi.
The conference committee report was passed in the lower legislative chamber on Tuesday and the harmonised version of the bill will be forwarded to the president for assent.
Senate President Bukola Saraki urged the executive to quickly assent to the bill and ensure the independence of the unit.
“I will like to thank the members of this senate for taking here again in the fight against corruption because our suspension from the Egmont Group has a lot of ramifications.
“I hope that by this conference report, they (Egmont) will have a second view and readmit us. I hope that the executive will quickly assent and ensure the independence of the unit,” Saraki said.
In the event of an expulsion, Nigeria would no longer benefit from financial intelligence shared by the 153 member countries, while the country’s ability to recover stolen funds abroad will be hampered.
