The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said that it expects all operators in the Nigerian financial system especially bankers to declare their assets latest June 1, 2021. The Commission’s Executive Chairman, Abdulrashed Bawa, dropped this hint today March 16, while speaking with journalists at the State House, Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The EFCC boss said the move which is pursuant to the Bank Employees, ETC. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, is part of measures to sanitize the nation’s financial system and block some of the loopholes currently being exploited by unscrupulous players in the sector to undermine Nigerian economy through money laundering and illicit financial flows.
Section 1 of the Bank Employees, ETC. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986 makes it mandatory for every employee of a Bank to make full disclosure of assets upon employment, and annually in subsequent years.
The law under Section 7 (1) stipulates that “It shall be an offence for an employee of a bank to own assets in excess of his legitimate known and provable income”.
The penalty for violation of the Act, as spelt out in section 7(2) includes imprisonment for a term of ten years; “Any employee guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this Section shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for ten years and shall, in addition, forfeit the excess assets or its equivalent in money to the Federal Government”
Bawa who also expressed worry about youth involvement in cybercrime, however appealed to parents to take special interest in the activities of their children. According to him, parents have a responsibility to ensure that they nurture their children with the right set of values to ensure that they are not easily swayed by the allure of easy money through fraud and cybercrimes. He added that youths must learn that there is no shortcut to enduring wealth.
The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday maintained that vaccinations against COVID-19 should not be stopped in Nigeria despite fears over the side effects of the jabs.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of the agency who said this, believes that with the number of lives lost to the pandemic, halting the vaccination campaign in the country is not advisable.
“People are dying of COVID-19,” the NAFDAC boss said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “The vaccines should not be stopped unless it is a statistically massive occurrence[side effects].”
Although many countries have halted the use of the AstraneZeneca vaccines over fears about possible side effects like blood clotting, Professor Adeyeye believes that the benefits of taking the jabs far outweigh such fear.
mojisola Adeyeye
The NAFDAC boss believes there is no need to stop the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“It is knowing that these are serious but the benefits outweigh the risk,” she insisted, admitting, however, that there is a need for more engagement to know people’s reactions to drugs.
She said the AstraZeneca vaccine is not the first to be used under emergency authorization, explaining that other COVID-19 vaccines have been reported to have had adverse effects on people who took the shots.