We shouldn’t negotiate with “fraudulent” P&ID, Magu says

Thu, Sep 26, 2019
By publisher
4 MIN READ

Crime

BARELY 24 hours after President Muhammadu Buhari told Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), the Irish engineering firm that recently won a $9.6 billion judgement against Nigeria in a UK court, that it will not “scam” the country of that money, the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has described the firm as “fraudulent” and should not be negotiated with.

The latest development comes just as a British court on Thursday said Nigeria can appeal against the enforcement of the judgement granting Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) the fiat to seize $9.6 billion worth of Nigerian assets.

Magu made the statement at the High-Level National Side-Event on the “Promotion of International Cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return to foster sustainable development”, organised by the African Union Development Agency and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the margins of the 74th United Nations General Assembly.

According to Magu: “The source of illicit financial flow (IFF) is hydra-headed with dirty tentacles such as illegal mining, kidnapping, terrorism, militancy, smuggling, crude oil theft and other forms of organised crime, with attendant effects on non-sustainable development in the country.

“In fact, the recent one is international conspiracy to defraud Nigeria of over $9.6 billion which is about one third of our budget and that constitutes about one fourth of our national reserves by people who are completely fraudulent. Complete. There is no legality whatsoever; so we should not even negotiate with them,” the Ag. EFCC Chairman said.

Speaking on the dangers of illicit financial flows to natiinal development, the EFCC boss said it has caused instability in various countries of the world, stressing that for any country to develop or be respected, it must deal with illicit financial flows.

Magu called on UN member-states to ensure stolen assets are returned without conditions.

“I want to restate a few things. One: In the task to develop continents, countries, regions, few things are amiss. But the major one is that illicit financial flows are a fundamental drag on peace, development and security.

“It’s been long known that illicit financial flows have caused instability in various countries of the world. Therefore, any effort to develop any country or for any country to be respected, it must deal with illicit financial flows.

“In particular, illicit financial flows are more injurious to countries that are small or have resources that are exploited and the benefits of that exploitation are not seen in those countries.

“Everyone knows that what is given as aid to affected countries is not up to a quarter of what is stolen as illicit financial flows. Therefore, the fight for legislation to halt illicit financial flows is a very serious one. The danger of blocking confirmed stolen assets to be returned to affected countries is a serious one. The first victim is the rule law. The UN takes the rule of law extremely seriously, so therefore all efforts to ensure stolen assets are returned without conditions must be well followed,” Magu stated.

The EFCC boss made a connection between corruption, crime and the wanton destruction of natural resources.

According to him, “We all know that in most countries laws are not enacted because of corruption to protect very, very rich private corporations that have no desire for peace, security and development of countries.

“The ills these cause are mostly felt in countries that are weak, but this corruption affects all countries because other criminal activities are also springing up in countries where such funds are taken.

“Let me therefore state that at the level of the General Assembly resolutions taken to strengthen illicit financial flows should be tightened, member-states should be encouraged to see that they lend their voices in this direction.

“Nigeria led this with the support of Norway, Sweden and other countries. The implication is that this is no longer an issue for Africa. Many countries have seen the necessity to lend their voices to what is right.

“Let me reassure that the EFCC is committed to work alongside other organisations that seek to bring justice and development through the return of illicitly stolen assets,” he stated.

Sunonline

-Sep 26, 2019 @ 19:38 GMT |

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