EFCC Boss, Ibrahim Magu |
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set up a Joint Task to implement the 2013 Audit Report recently released by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by NEITI’s Director of Communication, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji.
The statement said the Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, announced this on June 17 after receiving copies of the reports from the NEITI Executive Secretary, Waziri Adio, in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the membership of the Task Force is drawn from NEITI and the EFCC.
The Task Force is to study the reports and identify areas where financial crimes have been committed against the nation.
The statement quoted Magu as explaining
that it is no longer acceptable for NEITI to publish reports and
agencies, companies and individuals that have clearly committed
financial crimes as disclosed by the reports are left to go without
sanctions.
“I have heard people say that NEITI has
no teeth to bite, but today I assure you that by our renewed joint
collaboration, the EFCC will provide NEITI with the required teeth to
bite,” Magu said.
The EFCC chairman urged members of the
Task Force to carry out the assignment with utmost diligence by
developing an action plan and make recommendations for immediate action
by the commission.
Presenting the report earlier, Adio said NEITI had been churning out series of reports since 2004.
According to Adio, it is regrettable that no one has either been tried or convicted for infractions on the NEITI Act.
According to Adio, it is regrettable that no one has either been tried or convicted for infractions on the NEITI Act.
He called on the EFCC to step in and help NEITI enforce required sanctions.
He said that the information and data
contained in the reports were based on facts voluntarily provided and
signed up by the covered entities during the audit process.
Adio added that the recent report on
oil, gas and solid minerals for the period 2013 highlighted several
issues that require full scale investigations by the EFCC.
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