The Senate has passed the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency Bill, becoming the fastest bill to be passed in the Eighth Senate.
Recall that the proposal scaled through First Reading on Thursday July 20, 2017. It passed Second Reading on Tuesday July 25, as Senate President Bukola Saraki referred it to the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, to report back within 24 hours.
On Wednesday, Chairman of the committee, Chukwuka Utazi presented his panel’s report, even as the document was considered on Thursday.
The upper legislative chamber adopted all the recommendations of the committee.
The bill will have to be passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law by the President before it becomes law.
The development comes at a time the Executive/Legislature face-off over confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC boss, has deepened.
Analysts say this could hamper signing of the bill into law.
Also, the bill seeks to make the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), currently domiciled in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an autonomous and independent Financial and Intelligence Agency in accordance with global best practices.
It proposed that the agency will now be domiciled within the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), even as the newly-created establishment will report to the National Assembly in rendering accounts.
To ensure operational independence, the bill provides that the “budgetary allocations to the agency shall be a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue charge of the Federal Government”.
Also, the proposal amends the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act by deleting Sections 1 (2) (c) and 6(l) of the Act and Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 13 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
The bill slams a fine of not less than N50million to any financial institution that makes a disclosure likely to be detrimental to a financial intelligence inquiry or falsifies, conceals, destroys documents relevant to an investigation.
In the case of an individual, he/she gets a fine of not less than N10 million or imprisonment for a term of not less than two years or both.
Sources of funding the agency include: take off grants and annual subventions received from the Government of the Federation; budgetary allocations approved by the National Assembly and grants, gifts or donations from international organisations and donor agencies.
Presidency sources say if the bill is passed by the House of Representatives, it will whittle down the powers of the anti-graft agency, as the Unit is the backbone of the Commission.
When signed into law, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Agency (NFIA) will become the central body in Nigeria responsible for receiving, requesting, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence reports and other information to law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies.
Consequently, agencies that require intelligence reports on money laundering, terrorism financing and other relevant information will have to go through the NFIA.
These include: Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Drug Law Enforcement Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Police, Nigeria Customs Service, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Nigeria Immigration Service and National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons.
According to Section 3 (1) of the bill, the Agency is made up of a part-time Governing Board which shall consist of a Chairman, Director-General who shall serve as Secretary of the Board. Both appointees will be appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation. It also provides that each appointee will hold office for four years and be eligible for re-appointment for another term of four years and no more.
Section 8 (5) gives the President power to remove the DG of the agency, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The Board also consists of representatives not below the Directorate cadre from the following federal ministries and institutions: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Security Adviser, EFCC, ICPC, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and National Insurance Commission.
Others are: Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria Police Force, National Intelligence Agency, State Security Service, Nigeria Customs Service, National Assembly, Nigeria Immigration Service and Code of Conduct Bureau.
All appointments are to be made by the President, subject to Senate confirmation.
The Board is mandated to present a statement of estimated income and expenditure for the following financial year to the National Assembly, not later than 30th September annually as well as its annual report to the parliament not later than six months after the end of each year.
In the same token, the bill gives the Board powers to approve rules and regulations relating to the appointment, promotion and disciplinary measures for the employees of the Agency, subject to the approval of the National Assembly.
Similarly, the bill proposes that grants, gifts or donations from international organisations and donor agencies must be disclosed to the National Assembly.
Section 7 spells out functions and powers of the Board to include: formulating and providing general policy guidelines for the discharge of the functions of the Agency; advise the Agency on measures to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorist financing and achieve improved financial intelligence gathering; monitor and ensure the implementation of the policies and programmes of the Agency among others.
This is the second time in four years the bill is receiving legislative attention. In 2013, former President Goodluck had sent a proposal to the National Assembly to make NFIU autonomous. While both legislative chambers approved the bill seperately, the proposal was neither harmonised nor passed due to power play from federal agencies who wanted control over the body. The EFCC, CBN and Attorney General of the Federation wanted the agency to be domiciled under them.
Nigeria became a full member of the group in 2007 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
However, at its July 7, 2017 meeting in China, the country was suspended due to failure of the Federal Government to provide a legal framework to make the Unit independent. NFIU is Nigeria’s representative at the Group.
The country was recently suspended by the EGMONT Group, citing inability of the Federal Government to make the NFIU autonomous from the EFCC, interference of the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency, Ibrahim Magu in the affairs of the Unit and divulging confidential information concerning the Group to the media.
The Group is a network of national financial intelligence units and the highest inter-govermental association of intelligence agencies in the world, with 154 member countries.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
