The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday indicted the banks in relation to about 70 percent of Nigeria’s banking offences.
This was disclosed by Ola Olukayode, Chairman EFCC, while speaking in at the 2023 Annual Retreat and General Meeting of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria, in Abuja, according to The Punch.
He said that the Commission was increasingly concerned about the rising incidence of fraud in the banking sector, which is becoming a source of considerable concern.
Olukayode, who was represented by the Director of Internal Audit, EFCC, Idowu Apejoye, said that in order to avoid and combat cases of fraud within the banking sector, there is a need for collective efforts on the part of competent authorities and professionals, especially audit managers.
He noted “Broadly speaking, banking fraud in Nigeria is both inside and outside related. The inside related fraud comprises outright selling of customers’ deposits, authorizing loan facilities, forgery and several other kinds of unhealthy and criminal practices.
“The outsider related ones include hacking, ATM fraud, conspiracy, among others. And then the absurd one is when both collaborate, that is collaboration among the bankers and the outsider.
“That one is the one that is really absurd because when you do that, that means you are selling out the system. It is estimated that about 70 per cent of financial crimes in Nigeria are traceable to the banking sector, this scenario is disturbing and unacceptable.”
According to Olukayode, ACAEBIN should ensure a proper reconciliation of accounts every month in line with accounting requirements in order to mitigate the anomalies.
He asked the Association to monitor the financial activities of the banks, to compare actual and budgeted revenue with expenses, to carry out periodic reviews, to carry out checks, to name a few.
The President of ACAEBIN, Prince Akamadu, announced that the Association would work towards achieving some of the recommendations made by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In addition, he said that the Association was committed to finding solutions for foreign exchange problems in Nigeria which had been one of the objectives of this retreat.
He said “That is part of the reason why we are having this retreat, to ask ourselves, to do an introspection and ask ourselves, given our position in the banking industry, or the executives of banks in Nigeria, are we doing enough?
“Have we done enough? What more can we do to help in sanitising the system? Are there things the banks could do to help in sanitising the FX in this country?”
“By the end of this retreat, we are expected to come up with a communique and we hope to address some of the issues, one way or the other, that will address the role of banks in FX challenges in this industry,” he added.
Akamadu further emphasized that banks were not resting on their oars to curtail fraudulent activities, as they were putting efforts in the Know Your Customer mechanism.
He pointed out “I will tell you something, I’m not aware of any institution, any sector that has done more in the area of KYC than the banking industry. But it truly goes beyond the banks.
“And I can tell you truly again that even at the bankers committee level, and even at the typical details of banks in Nigeria, these are areas we are actually looking at to see where there are leakages and to begin to block them.”
He said that the association was working tirelessly to address these concerns and assured the EFCC boss that there would be more positive results going forward.
