EFCC records 2,700 convictions in 2022, highest since inception — Bawa

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday disclosed that it has recorded over 2,701 financial crimes convictions as of October 7, 2022.

According to the anti-graft agency, this is the highest number of convictions it has recorded in the past years.

The Executive Chairman of EFCC, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, said the commission is committed to fighting all forms of economic crimes in the country.

“Without sounding immodest, our record over the years distinguishes the EFCC as perhaps the most effective law enforcement agency in Nigeria. We have strived to up the ante since my appointment over one year ago.

“In my time in charge, we have engineered a number of reforms and restructuring whose impact is already being seen in the terms of the number of stolen assets recovery and convictions for financial crimes.

“In 2021, the Commission secured 2,220 convictions. This has jumped to 2,701 by October 7, 2022. Assets running into several billions of Naira have also been recovered by the Commission.

“In spite of these, we are not resting on our laurels because there is more ground to be covered. We believe that more needs to be done to deter citizens from getting involved in financial crimes and discourage the theft of public resources.

“It is for this reason we are intensifying our public enlightenment engagements which, in a few weeks time will witness the formal launch of the EFCC Radio,” Bawa said in a statement obtained by Persecondnews.

He also stated that the nation’s legislative reforms that recently birthed the Money Laundering Act of 2022 will further aid the war against financial crimes.

“There are certain provisions of this new law that I believe will affect you directly or indirectly. One is the secrecy of financial transactions.

“The new law criminalizes the operation of numbered accounts and also mandates financial institutions to ascertain the beneficial owners of accounts before opening such accounts.

“There is a more robust requirement for due diligence and reporting obligation by financial institutions and non-financial business and professions to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML),” he added.

Persecondnews reports that in 2021 the  Commission had secured 2,220.

The 2021 report showed that the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Command recorded the highest number of convictions followed by the Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Makurdi Zonal Commands.