The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned banks in Nigeria against making themselves available as instruments of fraud.
According to a post from the EFCC’s X handle on Friday, this warning was given by the EFCC’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede on Friday, during a courtesy visit by the management team of Moniepoint, a fintech and microfinance company.
Olukoyede, speaking through his Chief of Staff, Commander of the EFCC, CE Michael Nzekwe, emphasized that Nigerian banks have become notorious as conduits of financial crimes and advised them to turn a new leaf for the sake of the country’s growth.
“There’s hardly any financial crime that would not go through the financial institutions. Money laundering is a major issue and you find out also that the perpetrators go through the banks. Nigeria will be the greatest beneficiary when we do the right thing,” he said.
The EFCC chairman also addressed the Moniepoint delegation, advising them to avoid any form of connivance and not be a channel for money laundering.
“Try as much as possible on your own to avoid any form of connivance and don’t be a channel for money laundering. Don’t be a tool, don’t make your system porous. You are a major stakeholder when it comes to the fight against corruption. We are open and would assist, however we can. No one is above the law,” Olukoyede stressed
“There’s quite a whole lot of fraud that goes around that particular level, so the issue of KYC is very important, especially because of the issue of how fintechs open tier-one accounts, sometimes without attention to KYC. And people take advantage of this and are quick to commit fraud through this negligence.” Olukoyede added, emphasizing the importance of Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols, especially in the fintech space.
Tosin Eniolorunda, founder and Group CEO of Moniepoint, noted that the expansion in the operations and services of the fintech and microfinance company have come with challenges which have made the need for a strategic collaboration with the EFCC compelling.
“Moniepoint has over the years grown to become one of Nigeria’s largest payment service providers and the bank for mostly mid-class businesses and the under-served. Today, Moniepoint processes roughly 70% of Nigeria’s payments on Point-of-Sale (PoS) and transfers,” he said.
