The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit has said it already has
access to all bank accounts in Nigeria.
The NFIU said this in response to a story on Saturday that it had
requested for the details of the accounts of some prominent Nigerians
for the purpose of probing them.
Among those listed as undergoing probe are the Chief Justice of
Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed; the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan;
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila;
and other Principal Officers of the National Assembly.
But a statement on Sunday by the NFIU described the story as inaccurate.
Rather, it said it already has access to all such details.
The statement, signed by the Chief Media Analyst of the Unit, Ahmed
Dikko, reads in full: “The attention of the Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Unit (NFIU), has been drawn to media reports stating that
the unit has requested banks to furnish it with the account details of
principal officers of the National Assembly and the Judiciary.
“Such reports are not true.
“In line with its powers as enacted in the NFIU Act, the Unit already
has access to details of all bank accounts in the country and does not
therefore, need to write to commercial banks asking for the same
information.
“As a matter of fact, relevant reporting entities such as
investigative and other Law Enforcement Agencies always rely on the
NFIU for information on bank details of individuals and body corporate
under investigation as they go about carrying out their functions.
Such is a mandatory reporting process.
“The Unit does not also make blanket requests to all banks as is being
speculated in the reports
“The media and indeed the general public are therefore, requested to
disregard such reports.”
