The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills (Jr.), has reaffirmed that the robust working relationship between the United States government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would continue in order to achieve significant success in the fight against economic and financial crimes and other acts of corruption.
He stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he led a delegation of the US mission in Nigeria on a familiarisation visit to the executive chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, at the commission’s corporate headquarters.
“I’m grateful for the relationship we have both through our legal attache and with these other offices here. The US government was strongly supportive of the creation of EFCC when it was established and our relationship has continued since then. I’m here today to learn a little bit about what the chairman’s priorities are for the EFCC moving forward; what you see as the key trends in financial crimes that you’re addressing and how the U.S. government and U.S. mission can assist you, either with information sharing or sharing of expertise, closer cooperation in specific cases,” he said.
Explaining further, Mills pointed out that “part of the reason we’re so interested in these issues is because they affect both our countries and they affect what we’re both trying to do, which is to create a secure, prosperous Nigeria and build our economies, both the US and the Nigerians,” he said.
Olukoyede, who was delighted with the visit, took the delegation on a brief tour of the mandate of the EFCC. “In the EFCC, our mandate is to fight economic and financial crimes not only to prevent them. We have a mandate to prevent, to investigate and where one has occurred to also prosecute and by extension, we also recover assets in the course of our work, which are one way or the other, subject to the directive of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), led by the president to manage them.
While recognising that Nigeria, over the years, has had a beneficial relationship with the US government and its agencies in EFCC’s efforts to sanitise the country’s financial space, Olukoyede looked forward to amplified relationship with the US government and the US mission in Nigeria for improved outcomes in the fight against corruption and financial crimes.
“The relationship between the United States and Nigeria in relation to the fight against financial crimes dates way back and has been one of very strong synergy and mutually beneficial collaboration. Nigeria and America have been having mutual cooperation, particularly in the area of the fight against financial crimes. And this we hope to build on, to strengthen and to take to the next level,” he said.
He sued for enhanced support and collaboration stressing that “the support is needed, especially in the areas of technology, intelligence gathering and sharing and human capital development. We recognise the fact that most of the work we do is intelligence-driven. And when we talk of intelligence, we are talking of technology. So, we need your support in that area. And also need it in capacity building, collaboration, information and intelligence sharing which is very important. And we are requesting that America needs to reciprocate by attending to our requests on time because we notice that maybe you consider your laws and all of that. We will just wish you could fast-track your response to some of our requests. We would really appreciate if you can improve on that during your tenure,” he said.
Speaking further, the EFCC boss disclosed some of his recent efforts at curbing visa fraud that pose an endless challenge to foreign missions in the country. “Just last year, I established the Visa Application and Immigration Fraud Section in EFCC and we have its desk all across our zonal offices to deal with issues that have to do with visa racketeering and immigration fraud. It is a dedicated desk that works 48 hours. And we’ll be having good results. So we also need your support in that area in the exchange of information and intelligence with us and in technology and gadgets you can support us with. The Nigerian government is willing to collaborate more with the government of the United States to work more for the mutual interests of both countries,” he said.
