Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, New York
President Muhammadu Buhari has sounded a note of warning to embezzlers that his administration will ensure that corrupt state officials, whom he described as “enemies of the people”, have no place hide.
The President made the remark Wednesday night in New York, disclosing that Nigeria lost an estimated US$157.5 billion to illicit financial flows in the eight years between 2003 and 2012.
According to him, illicit financial flows deplete Africa’s internally generated revenues, foreign exchange earnings, reduce tax revenues, drain natural resources, facilitate corruption and stunt private sector development.
Buhari said this at the High-Level National Side-Event “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Asset Recovery and Return to Foster Sustainable Development”, organised by the African Union Development Agency and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the margins of the 74th United Nations General Assembly.
At the three-hour event, which had in attendance President of Ethiopia, Sahlework Zewede and President of Zambia, Edgar Lungu, as well as state governors, ministers and members of international community, Buhari, quoting from the 2014 Global Financial Integrity Report, noted that such massive loss of assets, resulted in a dearth of resources “to fund public services or to alleviate poverty,” in the country.
“This is why, as Africans, we have no choice but to break the back of corruption,” he added.
Acknowledging a lack of sufficient capital and corruption as impediments to the socio-economic development of the continent, the President emphatically restated his administration’s anti-corruption bona fides, stating: “That is why our government has made it a war we intend to win. We will give all it takes to ensure there is no hiding place for purveyors of corrupt practices who are truly enemies of the people.”
President Buhari who harped on the need to strengthen good practices on asset recovery and return, stressed that, “In the last five years, our government has made significant progress to curb corruption. We have recovered millions of dollars stolen from our country.”
He noted, however, that “there are still a lot of other funds that are stuck in foreign bank accounts due to international laws, different jurisdictions and justice systems that make it difficult for repatriation.”
Describing Illicit Financial Flows as “illegal movement of funds from one country to another,” Buhari lamented that, “These flows deplete Africa’s internally generated revenues, foreign exchange earnings, reduce tax revenues, drain natural resources, facilitate corruption and stunt private sector development.”
Citing tax avoidance as another form of illicit financial flow, he quoted the Tax Justice Network and the International Monetary Fund to have estimated over US$200 billion per year as “being lost by developing countries when multinational enterprises do not pay taxes in the countries where they made the profit.”
“This amount is significantly higher than the annual development aid received by these countries which are estimated to be about US$143 billion,” he added.
Commending the organisers of the meeting, the President additionally lauded their “shared commitment to root out corruption from our continent.”
According to the Nigerian President, “I am motivated by the belief that, if we join hands, we can bequeath to our children an Africa that is not defined by corruption.”
Emphasising the imperative of international cooperation towards stemming the incidence of illegal financial flows, President Buhari said: “Any lasting solution to the above challenges will require international cooperation and coordination,” of African countries and their international counterparts.
“This is one reason why the Nigerian Government supports this initiative of AUDA/NEPAD and remains committed until we ensure that there are no safe-havens for stolen assets from Africa,” he declared.
On his expectations of the outcome of the meeting, the Nigerian leader said: “I have high expectations for this meeting. At the end of the deliberations, I expect other African leaders, to see the pragmatic ideas on how to strengthen our anti-corruption institutions to reduce or effectively eliminate Illicit Financial Flows.
“We need ideas on how to return the stolen assets to their countries of origin. We also need strategies on how to plug the loopholes that enable companies to avoid paying commensurate taxes in their countries of operations.
“You should deliberate on practical ideas to enhance global acceptable assets tracing and freezing, and boost the recovery governance framework.”
Earlier in her welcome address, the National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer at New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Nigeria, Princess Gloria Akobundu, affirmed that Africa resources are being siphoned illegally.
She said going by the 2017 report, the continent has lost about $86 billion to illicit financial flows which is about 6.1 percent of its gross domestic product.
She warned that: “illicit financial flow distorts development in Africa. illicit movement of funds in and out of Africa affects the delivery of public good, financing of poverty reducing programmes and infrastructural development.
“The illegal exploitation of Africa’s natural resources leads to deprivation and impoverish local communities.
“The activities of anti-development must stop at this point.”
Akobundu observed that the African Union (AU) has a critical role to play in providing leadership in addressing the issue, saying: “Any solution to ending illicit financial flow requires international cooperation and coordination which includes public and private sector and civil society organisations.
“The AU is leveraging on AUDA mandate to bring together Africa and international communities in finding a lasting solution to IFA towards economic growth and sustainable development.
“A natural progress from the discussions around illicit financial flows is the need to sort for an enhanced, globalized strategies in combating the cankerworm and strengthen good practices in assets recovery and repatriation of the illicit proceeds to the country of origin to enable sustainable economic development.”
She also affirmed that the Nigerian government has made significant progress in tracking down illicit funds movement, noting, however that these assets were stuck in foreign accounts and safe haven.
She explained that the event was organised to share ideas on how to trace and recover the illicit assets.
President of Ethiopia, on her part, stressed the need for countries to partner to end illicit flow of funds and promote assets recovery.
According to her the excessive losses result in poor roads, hospitals and schools and other critical infrastructural development.
Zewede called on all countries to recommit to halt the losses.
President of Zambia Edgar Lungu, on his part, stressed that illicit financial flow has a negative impact on the economy. “We have to find a way to stop this bleeding of our resources if we are to develop our economy,” he noted.
President of the 74th United Nations General Assembly, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, described illicit financial flows as the drug for instability, stressing that any effort to deal with it is should be take seriously, adding that “Illicit flows are more injurious to countries that are poor or are being exploited.”
While stressing the importance of the rule of law in dealing with the problem, Muhammad-Bande regretted that in some countries laws are not enacted on illicit flows to protect corporations deeply involved.
He concluded that “Illicit flows is no longer an issue for Africa but all over the world. We must seek to return justice and development through the returning of illicit financial flows.”