The Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions (EFCC) AbdulRasheed Bawa, on Monday, lamented series of fraudulent activities in banks in Nigeria.
He said fraudulent activities are now the order of the day in Nigeria’s financial institutions, particularly in the banking sector.
Bawa spoke on Monday during the official opening of a three-day capacity building workshop for law enforcement agencies, organised by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The EFCC chair was represented by the Zonal Commandant, Lagos, Ahmed Muhammad Ghali, and said the commission is now in a closer engagement with banks for sanitation to avoid crisis in the sector.
“We are aware of the different shades of fraudulent activities going on in our financial institutions, particularly in the banking industry sector.
“In carrying out our mandate of ridding Nigeria of corruption, as mandated by the EFCC Establishment Act, we have realized that there is a slew of corrupt practices going on in the banking sector.”
The EFCC boss also clarified asset declaration ordered in the financial sector was not to witch-hunt, but as a way to sanitize the sector.
He further said,” I recall that upon assumption of office, one of the major pronouncements I made was giving a directive to bankers to declare their assets before June 1, 2021.
“I had given the directive genuinely out of sincerity of purpose, knowing the rots that permeate the nation’s banking sector.
“In other words, the directive was born out of efforts to sanitize the banking sector. But it was received with mixed feelings.
“It is obvious that those who kicked or are still kicking against the directive are ignorant of the unmistakable details of the Bank Employees Declaration of Assets Act.”
“Unlike the claims in some quarters, it is not a witch-hunt; rather, it is part of measures to sanitize the country’s financial institutions.”
Earlier, the Managing Director of the NDIC, Bello Hassan, attributed the failure of banks to the act of entrusted officials saddled to look after those liquidated banks.