Global support crucial to combating illicit financial flows – Malami

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has stressed the imperative of international support and cross-border collaboration in implementing measures to combat illicit financial flows. 

A statement from Dr Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, noted that Malami made the statement on Friday at the high-level side event of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA on Friday.

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The side event, titled, “Food security response: Combating illicit financial flows and securing assets returns for sustainable development,” was organised by the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of the New Partnership for Agricultural Development (NEPAD) and Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). 

The minister stated, “Transformative solutions to the thorny issues of International Financial Follows (IFFs), looting, internet-related crimes and other threats to global economic growth and development, necessarily require international collaboration and cross-border cooperation of all stakeholders.”

Malami recalls that in response to the threat posed by IFFs, the United Nations General Assembly, since its 72nd Session, placed the “promotion of international cooperation to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen good practices on assets return to foster sustainable development” on its agenda item 16 (d). 

 He noted that the African continent bears the major consequences of IFFs, which has continued to derail its journey toward the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which envisions “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena.”

Malami stated that the vision could only be realised when ‘nourishment’ is guaranteed and secured, maintaining that “tackling illicit financial flows, in terms of blocking the leakages and recovery of looted assets, will open the door to releasing the much-needed investment in productive sectors, inclusive of food security.”