The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022 and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, were recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The newly passed anti-money laundering law and anti-terrorism laws will significantly aid Nigeria's fight against terrorism and corruption, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) said on Thursday.
The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022 and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, were recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The laws replaced the old Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act, 2011, and the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.
Speaking at an event in Abuja organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, experts agreed that the new laws, as opposed to previous laws, clearly defined terrorism and corruption as well as the various roles of anti-graft agencies in tackling them.
Itse Sagay, chairman of PACAC, said the new anti-money laundering law went beyond what was previously known to be money laundering to cover institutions and measures not included in the previous 2011 Act.
According to him, the law establishes a division within the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) called the Special Control Unit to implement the law against the possibility of designated non-financial businesses and professions being used for money laundering.
Mr Sagay, a professor of law and Senior of Nigeria, said the law is a comprehensive piece of legislation that covers every form of unauthorised financial transaction, including those between people, non-financial organizations, and banks.
"This emphasis on the inclusion of non-financial institutions within the operations of the Act is an acknowledgement of the significant financial activities of Lawyers, and Accountants particularly, who engage in the movement of money on behalf of their Clients. Thus the scope of this Act is very comprehensive and greatly exceeds what we normally consider money laundering.
"Its provisions are meant to guarantee that no unlawful financial transaction can go outside the ambit of the EFCC. This is most welcome in our present situation in which financial crimes proliferate so much that it is almost choking this Country's economy," the PACAC chairman explained.
The don also expressed concerns that terrorism was rampant throughout Nigeria, including attacks by Boko Haram in the North-east and bandits and kidnappers in the North-west and North Central, terrorist herdsmen in the North-central, South-west, and South-south, and lethal unidentified gunmen in the South East.
He did, however, express hope that the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act will provide Nigeria with an efficient, unified, and comprehensive legal, regulatory, and institutional framework for the detection, prevention, prohibition, prosecution, and punishment of terrorist acts, terrorism financing, the proliferation of terrorism, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
"This Act gives Nigeria the power to proclaim a person or any entity as terrorist or terrorist financier. It also gives Nigerian Court extra/territorial jurisdiction in relation to terrorism financing.
"It also contains provisions for freezing, search and seizure, confiscation and forfeiture of terrorist property. Unlike the Money Laundering Act, the Terrorism Act defines terrorism comprehensively in Section 2 in extremely wide terms.
"There are altogether about 20 different situations constituting terrorism in the Act. Given the scourge of universal violence, nationwide, the Act can be described as containing provisions and punishments that are not only contemporary but also fit the gravity of the crime of terrorism," he explained.
Money laundering and corruption
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
In his remarks, Sadiq Radda, the executive secretary of PACAC, stressed the importance of raising awareness of legal requirements among both domestic residents and diaspora residents, especially foreigners.
Mr Radda said Nigeria must pay closer attention to money laundering, particularly the havens where the crime is taking place. If the safe heavens are still in existence, he maintained, Nigeria cannot defeat corruption.
Additionally, Mr Radda emphasised how crucial it is to include municipal and state governments in the battle against corruption. "If you want to fight this corruption, you have to do it at all levels of government, especially since 48 per cent of the monthly appropriation from the federal government goes to the states and local. We should pay even more serious attention to the state and local government," he said.
The event had in attendance representatives from the EFCC, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), civil society organisations and the media.
