National Telescope national telescope newspaper
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has warned Nigerians against the use of the dollar or any foreign currency for services in the country.
According to the Chairman, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, as disclosed in the edition of the agency’s publication called EFCC Alert, made available on Monday,.
Olukoyede stated that anyone caught collecting charges for services or goods would be regarded as a criminal according to Nigerian laws.
The chairman of the EFCC said, “We have also started securing convictions. Also on the dollarization of our economy, invoicing in dollars, schools that charge Nigerians in dollars, supermarkets that trade in dollars, estate developers that sell their properties in dollars, and hotels that are invoicing in dollars, we are coming after you, and we have made arrests in that area.
“Yes, if foreigners are coming in and the only means of transacting is their credit card and dollar, why not? You will get that, but document it properly as against selling things within the system and local economy, and you will be using the dollar as the medium of exchange; it is illegal. Our law does not allow for that. And we have also made some arrests. This is making an impact as the rate at which some people advertise goods and services in dollars has really gone down.
“We are not going to relent. We are going to continue until we eradicate the mutilation of currency and illegal dealing in forex. Another area is the area of illegal forex trading. Coupled with the activities of the CBN, we are trying to ensure that those who are involved in currency trading are properly licensed, regulated, and do their documentation properly,” the chairman stated.
Olukoyede explained how the agency under him is also driving the anti-graft war, flaying Nigerians who continue to celebrate criminals in the country to disregard such practices as they are anti-societal to the nation.
He urged Nigerians to be watchful against any atrocities perpetrated in the country by those found guilty who try to push the blame on the innocent citizens who try to do their job, urging them to be alert to any atrocities being committed against the nation by those being investigated for financial crimes.
The chairman noted, “The moment EFCC starts investigating someone, those who have benefited from him one way or another will close their eyes to what they have been deprived of by reason of that financial crime. They then concentrate on attacking the agency. They use media propaganda and even sometimes physical attack, yet we are working for Nigerians. We are working to preserve integrity in the way we do things, and so we need the support of Nigerians.
“People are given money to procure arms, but they won’t do it, and so they expose those at the warfront to all kinds of danger and peril. It is important for us to come together as a people. Outsiders are not going to clean up Nigeria for us. We are here. Someone like me only has one passport, the green passport.
Corruption is so damaging, and that is why we are where we are today. Go to other African countries or small countries across the globe; you will see development, you’ll see good roads, and you’ll see quality health facilities.
“Even the issue of insecurity that we are talking about, one way or another, can be linked to corruption. I keep telling people that there is nothing wrong with us fundamentally as Nigerians, but the system we run and the processes that we follow are the things that are causing problems for us.
“There are bad guys all over the world, but over there, their system is strong enough to checkmate them and to ensure that there are consequences for wrongdoing. So we need to come together and say wrong is wrong, irrespective of whether we are related to the person or not. That is when I’ll believe that we are ready to fight corruption.”.
On the need for special courts to try corruption, the chairman said there was a need to do so given the negative effects of corruption and development in the country.
“If we agree that corruption has contributed greatly to underdevelopment, then we must adopt extraordinary means to fight it. And one of the things we can do is set up special courts to deal with the issue of corruption so that corruption cases will be adjudicated expeditiously and timely. Of course, when we do this, the speed of getting justice will increase. Even for those that we prosecute, it is good for them to also get justice on time. Like they say, justice delayed is justice denied.
“I have always been an advocate for the creation of special courts, and I will continue to be. I believe that the time has come for this, and I also appeal to the members of the National Assembly to help us facilitate this. This will be a great boost to the corruption fight in Nigeria. We have laws and regulations guiding our investigations,” Olukoyede said.
On the suspension of the minister of humanitarian affairs, Dr. Betta Edu, the EFCC chairman, said the matter was still under investigation by the agency and asked Nigerians to give the agency more time to do its work accordingly.
“Moreover, with respect to this particular case, we have recovered over N30 billion, which is already in the coffers of the Federal Government. It takes time to conclude investigations; we started this matter less than six weeks ago. There are cases that take years to investigate. There are so many angles to it. And we need to follow through on some of the discoveries that we have made.
“Nigerians should give us time on this matter; we have professionals on this case, and they need to do things right. There are so many leads here and there. As it is now, we are investigating over 50 bank accounts that we have traced money into. That is no child’s play. That’s a big deal,” the chairman stated.
