Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has stressed the need for collaboration among anti-corruption institutions in West Africa in the fight against terrorism financial, illicit financial flows and other crimes affecting development in the subregion.
The EFCC chairman gave the charge on Tuesday in Abuja, at the maiden edition of the Leadership Conference of the Network of National Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA).
The leadership conference, according to Olukoyede, was pursuant to the resolution taken during the annual general assembly of NACIWA, held last year in Abuja.
Olukoyede predicated the charge on the grounds that since the corruption environment has changed significantly and criminal networks increasingly operated across borders, such cross border crimes could only be checkmated through effective collaboration among anti-corruption institutions within the African sub region.
“When the founders of NACIWA established the Network, they recognised that corruption does not respect national borders, institutional boundaries or differences in language and legal tradition. They understood that no country, however committed or capable, could confront the problem in isolation.
“Their vision was therefore to create a regional platform that would strengthen cooperation among national anti-corruption institutions, reinforce their capacity and independence, promote strategic reflection, facilitate the exchange of experiences and good practices, and mobilise the political will and resources necessary for an enduring anti-corruption culture in West Africa.
“They envisaged a Network built upon the autonomy of its member institutions, but sustained by their interdependence. They envisaged institutions that would not only investigate and prosecute corruption, but would also learn from one another, establish professional standards, develop common approaches and provide collective leadership for our region,” he said.
Olukoyede disclosed that the maiden NACIWA Leadership Conference was held at the headquarters of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) to underscore an important truth that, the fight against corruption was not peripheral but central to the integration and development of the subregion.
While stating that the corruption environment has changed significantly, with criminal networks operating largely across borders, Olukoyede stressed that, “Our institutions cannot confront twenty-first-century corruption with twentieth-century structures, processes and assumptions.”
According to him, Illicit financial flows move through multiple jurisdictions within seconds, adding that, while digital platforms and emerging technologies create new opportunities for development, they also produce new forms of fraud, concealment, manipulation and financial crime.
“Artificial intelligence is transforming the way information is generated, analysed and deployed. It offers enormous potential for detection, intelligence development, risk assessment and institutional efficiency, but it also raises questions of governance, ethics, accountability, data integrity and organisational readiness,” he said.
He, however, commended NACIWA for putting in place a protocol that allows for exchange of information, cross-border investigation and cross-border support.
Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Mr Francis Ben Kaifala, stressed the need for coordination in the fight against corruption in West Africa.
According to him, the subregion needed to put in more efforts and work more together to tackle the scourge of corruption, which is a major problem in West Africa.
“I think one of the things that such conferences does is to bring us together. We share. There is basically a learning and sharing of experiences, so we can bring ours, which includes what we do with naming and shaming, asset recovery, borderless investigation, and things that can help improve the fight against corruption in West Africa, taking the best practices from country to country.
“So, we can take the best from Nigeria, and we also bring our best from Sierra Leone, and everybody benefits at the end of the day”, he said.
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