President signs bills on money laundering, terrorism, financial crimes

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday signed three bills aimed at improving the anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing/proliferation financing framework in Nigeria.

The bills are: the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill, 2022, and the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill, 2022.

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Buhari described the bills as being in tandem with his administration’s commitment to fighting corruption and illicit financing activities.

“The new laws have provided enough punitive measures and containment strategies against abuses and compromises,” he said.

Buhari said the inadequacy of all the repealed Acts had impacted legal actions against offender.

“We’ll not rest until we rid the nation of the menace of money laundering, terrorism, and other financial crimes.

“The signing of these Bills into law today not only strengthens the Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework in the Country, but addresses the deficiencies identified in Nigeria’s 2nd round of Mutual Evaluation as assessed by Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa on compliance with the Financial Action Task Force global standards.

“Accordingly, the repeal of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended and enactment of Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 provides comprehensive legal and Institutional Framework for the prevention and prohibition of money laundering in Nigeria and confers on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the legal status of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering.”

He said the executive “carefully avoided creating another asset recovery and management agency with its cost implications in deference to government’s sensitivity to the rising cost of governance.”

He said the new law mandates the creation of dedicated accounts for the proceeds of crime and other confiscated assets in order to enhance the accountability of the process: