EFCC, bank auditors unite against fraud

Oyetunji Abioye

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria have agreed to strengthen collaborations in the fight against bank fraud.

The ACAEBIN Chairman, Mr. Abiodun Aderoju, said that the fight against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government would not be successful without the involvement and cooperation of the banks.

He said this during a visit by the association to the EFCC office in Lagos, ACAEBIN indicated in a statement on Monday.

The association’s delegation was received by the Head, Economic Governance Crime, Mohammed Rabo, on behalf of the Head of Operations of the Lagos unit of the commission.

According to Aderoju, there is the need for the association to constantly compare notes with the anti-graft agency so as to improve information-sharing mechanisms between both parties.

He was quoted to have said, “The association appreciates the effort of the EFCC in the renewed fight against corruption but believes that the needed result will not be fully achieved without the involvement and cooperation of the banks especially in the area of information and knowledge sharing.

“It is on this note that we, as an association and the third line of defence in the banking industry, have come to familiarise ourselves with the new head of the Lagos unit of the commission and pledge our commitment to collaborate with him.”

In his response, Rabo promised that the commission would strive to address the issues raised by the bank auditors in spite of the manpower and other logistics challenges facing the commission.

He tasked the auditors on the need to build trust with the commission by responding timely to request for information to enable it effectively discharge her duties while also urging them to ensure proper profiling and documentation of bank customers.

These, he stressed, were vital to all the EFCC investigations.

The association noted with concern that the EFCC’s current focus on sanitising the public sector had made unscrupulous bank customers, who obtained loans under false pretence, to operate unhindered.

ACAEBIN, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to allocate more resources to the commission to enable the agency to conclude investigation and prosecute defaulting bank customers in line with the Know-Your-Customer requirements.

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