At the instance of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC has indicated interest in conducting due diligence on any entity that shows interest in the purchase of government assets going forward.
This is to prevent corrupt elements from using the privatisation process as a means of laundering illegally acquired funds, according to Ibrahim Magu, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who indicated the new plan.
“We will be willing to support you against any threat that will discourage investors from coming into the country and in order to achieve this; I think we need to establish a common desk for a
seamless synergy. Once again I seize this opportunity to thank the BPE and I am happy to tell you that the baby you nurtured has now outgrown its parents as the EFCC today can boost of a befitting Head Office complex which was made possible by our determination and support from the current administration,” the EFCC boss noted.
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Magu who was speaking in Abuja when Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Alex Okoh visited his Abuja office expressed the Commission’s readiness to partner with the BPE in all its transactions.
Okoh had expressed the willingness of the Bureau to partner with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) to ensure transparency in all the processes of the reform and privatisation programme of the Federal Government.
The BPE boss said the activities of the Bureau reflect the principles of transparency that the EFCC is known to propagate.
He said that the EFCC’s achievements over the years especially in sanitizing the nation’s economy which has raised investors’ confidence.
Okoh who was decorated during the visit as Anti-Corruption Ambassador by the EFCC acting Chairman, said that he was at the Commission to solicit the EFCC’s support in ensuring that the activities of the BPE are better monitored.
His words, “the EFCC has provided a platform and atmosphere that has enhanced comfort and confidence in the investors who we directly deal with on a regular basis, the kind of comfort to engage and invest in this economy.
The BPE is an agency of government that is mandated to provide sector and enterprise reforms as they relate to government and state owned enterprises,” he added.
He informed his host that the Bureau over the years had conducted transactions in the various sectors of the Nigerian economy which have brought huge revenue to the Federal Government and improved service delivery.
