Bill on Financial Crime Coming

President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that there is a bill before the National Assembly for a law that will establish a Financial Intelligence Agency that will deal comprehensively and ruthlessly with economic crime perpetrators.

President Obasanjo while declaring open the Second National Seminar on Economic Crime reminded all that his administration, since inception in May, 1999, has demonstrated candidly, its determination to fight economic crimes and corrupt practices hence the establishment of the National Committee on Financial Crime and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission.

He noted that economic crimes have far-reaching damaging effects on he economy such as exerting inflationary pressure, disproportionate distribution of wealth, marginalisation of the tax base and creation of a parallel economy and vowed that government is determined to fight economic crime "in all its facets".

Bolaji Adebiyi
Nigeria Information Service Centre
July 25, 2002.