Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Abdulrasheed Bawa says it is better for Nigeria to have fewer banks than having many lawless financial institutions.

The EFCC boss also warned financial institutions against fraudulent election financing, foreign exchange malpractice, and money laundering ahead of the 2023 general elections.

“The commission will ensure that any banker complicit in any such financial fraud will face the full wrath of the law,” said Mr Bawa. “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 stated this on Thursday during an interactive session with managing directors of banks in Nigeria at the EFCC’s Lagos zonal command.

This is contained in a statement by EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujiaren.

“At the EFCC, we want to place more emphasis on prevention. We want to lay less emphasis on enforcement, which is investigation and prosecution, and put our energy more on prevention and asset recovery,” the anti-graft agency’s chairman added. “In addition, some of the issues we have identified include foreign exchange malpractices and fraudulent election financing.”

He pointed out that the anti-corruption agency was more concerned about illicit funds used for electioneering.

“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,” Mr Bawa said.

The EFCC boss said it had become necessary to put bankers on their toes ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He charged the bank MDs to comply with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the issuance of personal travel allowance (PTA) and business travel allowance (BTA) to their customers.

“You need to ensure full compliance with regard to knowing your customers and ensuring that you do not give opportunities for foreign exchange malpractices,” said Mr Bawa.

(NAN)