The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the Body of Banks CEOs and the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have agreed to work together to tackle the issue of financial crimes in the country.
Talks of the collaboration surfaced during a courtesy call by members of the Body of Banks CEOs and the President/Chairman of Council of CIBN, Ken Opara.
A statement from the Institute on Wednesday revealed that Opara had mooted the idea during the meeting, saying that the Institute working with the Body of Banks’ CEOs would like to institutionalise a collaborative capacity-building programme for the staff of EFCC to deepen their knowledge and competence in the area of Banking and financial operations.
“The platform will also allow EFCC to share with bankers, insights on how to curb financial crimes. Opara opined that such symbiotic relationships will help the anti-graft agency in achieving its objectives whilst promoting the growth of the economy. The collaboration of CIBN and the Body of Banks’ CEOs with EFCC underscores the commitment towards promoting ethics, professionalism, and transparency within the banking sector.”
He added that as part of efforts to entrench ethics and professionalism in the banking industry, all staff of banks now go through a mandatory Annual Ethics Certification Programme which is conducted by the Institute.
During the meeting, the representative of the Chairman Body of Banks’ CEOs Mr LaminManjang, congratulated the Executive Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede on his appointment. He also commended his leadership for the efforts to re-brand the image of the EFCC, as an institution that embraces professionalism whilst prioritising humaneness in the conduct of its operations.
Manjang also noted the Commission’s outstanding achievement in securing a total of 3,785 convictions in 2022, which stands as the highest number attained by any law enforcement agency in the world within a single year. He also acknowledged the Commission for its continued dedication, as evidenced by the record of 1,688 convictions recorded between January and September 2023.
In his response, Olukoyede expressed appreciation to the CIBN and the Body of Banks’ CEOs for the visit and for the proposal to collaborate with the Commission in combatting financial crimes.
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
