Nigeria’s President Bola TINUBU has said he will make every Naira of Nigeria’s revenue count for the badly needed massive infrastructure development of the country.
The President stated this at a one-day workshop by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related Commission, ICPC aimed at creating awareness about its published guidelines for private sector in response to the menace of Illicit Financial Flows, IFF in Nigeria.
TINUBU who spoke through his Special Adviser on Revenue, Adelabu Zacch Adedeji lamented that Nigeria’s revenue is lower than those of its peers in West Africa as a result of illicit financial flows out of the country, promising to block the loopholes and allow the money work for the people.
He said,”Africa loses an estimated $50 billion annually to Illicit Financial Flows, IFF-monies or capital illegally moved from one country to another, and Nigeria according to Financial Expert, Lola Adekoya who joined the conversation virtually from her base in the United Kingdom accounts for roughly 20% of this figure.
“The practice has come in form of profit shifting by Private companies , money laundering, illegal mining, bet companies and human trafficking- all in a bid to evade taxes.
“The practice has also been linked with insecurity in Nigeria with 70% of about 10 million legal weapons in West Africa traced to Illicit Financial Flows.”
Worried about this trend believed to be also prevalent in the Drug and Pharmaceutical, agriculture as well as the entertainment industries, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offenses Commission, ICPC has come up with guidelines for the private sector in Nigeria to identify the pattern of IFFs and how to avoid falling for it.
ICPC Chairman, Professor BOLAJI Owasanoye said the challenge of IFFs is a battle that required concerted efforts from all-especially other sister security agencies like the Customs, EFCC, Police who were all in attendance to be able to tackle.
Providing feedbacks on the guidelines on behalf of the private sector, Compliance Officer and Company Secretary, Oando PLC, Ayetola Jagun pushed strongly for an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive-without which she said many will continue to work under the radar.
She also called for a reward mechanism-that includes tax reduction, subsidy, grants some kind of certification and endorsement as incentives for companies willing to comply with the guidelines.
In his keynote address that officially declared the event opened, Special Adviser to President Bola TINUBU on Revenue, Adelabu Zacch Adedeji lamented the level of cutbacks on revenue as a result of Illicit Financial Flows in Nigeria which he said has made it extremely difficult for governments to attend to the needs of the people.
While he acknowledged some level of success in tackling the problem, he said the ICPC guidelines will be a game changer even as he promised that the Tinubu led administration will make judicious use of every single revenue for the people.
“But to change the narrative that has left Nigeria perpetually broke, a major consensus at the sensitization workshop is the need for all hands to be on deck to stem the tides of Illicit Financial Flows in Nigeria,”he said.
