Panic As EFCC Swoops On Bank MDs

By Bayo Bernard, Business Editor 

Abdulrashees Bawa, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has set September 1 for the commencement of investigations into the activities of commercial banks in the country. By the time the investigation kicks off next month, the managing directors and chief executive officers of the banks will be top priority, a source in the commission told the magazine.

The EFCC boss stated this on Thursday during a meeting with bank chief executives in Lagos. He solicited the support of the CEOs in combating corruption in the banking and financial sector, warning that any CEO caught to have soiled his/her hands will be prosecuted.

The revelations that the commission will swoop on bank MDs next month, has however, rattled the sector as fear looms that top bank executives who have been involved in one fraudulent practices or the other will be exposed during the process. Some of them, sources in the sector said are already trying to cover up their tracks.

“We are already preparing our books in case the EFCC ask for them. Our bank has nothing to fear because we have maintained the best practices so far. The EFCC is welcome,” an executive director of one of the commercial banks said on Friday.

But speaking on the issue, Fred Akinyemi, a forensic analyst in Lagos said huge scam will be uncovered “by the time the Commission commences investigations. I have a reservation with the manner the EFCC announced that it will investigate the banks. This should have been done without informing them first, because this has given the some fraudulent banks the opportunity to cover up.”

He, however, stated that not all the banks in the country “have something to hide as some commercial banks have operated with the best practices and therefore have nothing to be afraid of.”

Bawa had appealed to the bank managing directors, including Kennedy Uzoka of the United Bank for Africa, UBA and Ebenezer Onyeagwu of Zenith Bank Plc and others to cooperate with the commission in its fight against graft and asset recovery quest. Bawa said the commission will focus more on prevention in line with United Nations’ policy against corruption.

He said “We want to lay less emphasis on enforcement, which is investigation and prosecution and put our energy more on prevention and asset recovery. In addition, some of the issues we have identified include foreign exchange malpractices and fraudulent election financing.

“As you all know, in 16 to 18 months, Nigeria will be preparing for another round of elections, and the government will not want what happened in the past to repeat itself.

He said the EFCC under his watch will not tolerate any lapse on the part of the managing directors, warning that “You need to ensure full compliance with regard to knowing your customers and ensuring that you do not give opportunities for foreign exchange malpractices”.

According to him “come September 1, anything that we see that is happening or has happened within your industry, we are going to deal with it by the books. The Commission will ensure that any banker complicit in any such financial fraud will face the full wrath of the law. It is better to have fewer banks complying with the laws of the land than to have multiple banks not complying with the laws, he said”.