Senate Passes Financial Intelligence Agency Bill

The  Senate  has passed the Nigerian Fmanclal lntelligence Agency Bill as a central body in Nigeria responsible for receiving, requesting, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence reports and other information to law enforcement agencies.
This followed the consideration of the report of the Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes presented to the Senate by its chairman, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi during plenary.
The BIll, which was only read for the first time on Thursday July 20, passed second readmg on Tuesday and was approved by the upper legislative chamber on Thursday, exactly one week after.
With the passage of the Bill, the risk of Nigeria being expelled from the Egmont Group has been reduced by half as the bill is just waiting for presidential assent to become law.
The Egmont Group is a network of national financial intelligence units and the highest inter­governmental association of intelligence agencies in the world, with 154 member countries including Britain and the U.S.
Nigeria is currently serving a suspension from the group arising from the non-establishment of the NFIA as a unit standing autonomously.
The group accused the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, of interfering with the affairs of the unit and sharing information that should be confidential to the unit with others including the media.
The group had also threatened to expel Nigeria permanently by January 2018 if the Nigerian government failed to grant the unit the autonomy it required to be a member of the EGMONT group.
It is in a bid to save Nigeria from being expelled that the Senate gave accelerated passage to the Bill without conducting a Public Hearing.
The Tide source reports that the NFIA if given the Presidential assent would act as the central body in Nigeria responsible for requesting, receiving, analysing and disseminating financial information to law enforcement agencies.
Speaking further on the Bill, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi, said the proposal sought to make the unit, which is currently domiciled under the EFCC an autonomous and independent body.
He said that the unit was the backbone of the EFCC but had to be made autonomous as pre­requisite of being a full member of the Egmont Group.
Under the passed Bill, the NFIA would now be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and also report to the National Assembly.
The unit, which represents Nigeria at the global body, is charged with tackling money laundering and monitoring financial flows, a task made easy by its membership of the EGMONT Group.