The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has cautioned compliance officers in banks nationwide against unauthorized disclosure of the commission’s investigative activities and requests made to banks’ customers.
The directive was issued during a gathering with compliance officers of banks in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
Olukoyede, speaking through the Acting Zonal Director of the Ibadan Zonal Command of EFCC, ACE I Hauwa Garba Ringim, expressed concern over reports of compliance officers divulging information to customers, highlighting the detrimental impact such actions have on the commission’s efforts to combat financial crimes.
He underscored the challenges and complications arising from this unauthorized disclosure, particularly how it hampers investigations into financial crimes and leads to delays in bringing corruption cases to court.
Moreover, Olukoyede lamented the support fraudsters receive from certain quarters within the Nigerian banking sector, emphasizing the significant hurdles this presents to the EFCC’s mission.
In addition to admonishing compliance officers against divulging information, Olukoyede urged them to promptly respond to EFCC’s correspondence with certified true copies, including relevant transaction records, to facilitate smoother and more efficient investigations.
Furthermore, he addressed the issue of illegal currency dealings with Point-of-sale (POS) operators, urging an immediate halt to such practices.
“What we notice and see around lately is that Nigerians can only withdraw a small amount of their money with the banks in Automated Teller Machine (ATMs) but POS operators evidently go around with huge amounts of money gotten from the banks.
“This is not fair to Nigerians and we must fight it head-on.”
