Stakeholders from various sectors and agencies have emphasized the need for a collaborative approach to combat illicit financial flows (IFFs) in Nigeria.
The experts spoke at a two-day national conference on IFFs organized by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Abuja.
The FIRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, described IFFs as a critical challenge facing the country’s economy, depriving it of resources needed for inclusive development.
He noted that each unaccounted dollar undermines governance, erodes trust, and translates into lost infrastructure, inadequate public services, and deepening inequality.
Adedeji highlighted the recent assent to four tax reform bills as a demonstration of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to fiscal reforms.
He emphasized the need for collective action to combat IFFs, citing the establishment of the Proceeds of Crime Management and Illicit Financial Flows Coordination Directorate by FIRS.
A Ugandan lawyer and member of the Thabo Mbeki High Level Panel on IFFs from Africa, Irene Ovonji-Odida, noted that estimates of IFFs from Africa have grown cumulatively to about $1 trillion over 50 years.
She stated that West Africa and North Africa lost about $407 billion from trade mis-invoicing in 10 years.
Ovonji-Odida called for global cooperation to address IFFs, accusing Western powers of complicity in IFFs from Africa through shaping the rules of key sectors.
She emphasized the need for Africa to develop a common negotiating position on global tax reform and build a global south position in the United Nations negotiation process.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, highlighted the agency’s role in monitoring illegal cross-border movements of finance.
He noted that the agency has a protocol requiring declaration of cash above a certain threshold and emphasized the need for collaboration between agencies to combat IFFs.
The conference concluded with a call for urgent concerted effort to tackle the menace of IFFs in Nigeria.
Stakeholders emphasized the need for collective action, policy alignment, and enforcement across agencies to protect and retain wealth generated within the country’s borders.
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