Bill On Forensic Institute 'II Combat Illicit Financial Flows- SFAFP

Bill On Forensic Institute 'II Combat Illicit Financial Flows- SFAFP

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja

                                                     Emefiele 

The Society for Forensic Accounting and Fraud Prevention (SFAFP) has disclosed that the Bill for the establishment of the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners currently before the House of Representatives would combat Illicit financial flows when passed into law.

President/chairman of SFAFP, Mr liyasu Gashinbaki, who disclosed this in Abuja recently, noted that the bill would reduce fraud, embezzlement, economic and crimes, and corruption in both public and private sectors of the economy.

The proposed chartered institute is made up of multi-disciplinary professionals with diverse expertise in the use of various forensics tool kits for intelligence gathering and investigation of wide-ranging cases.  

Gashibaki listed other benefits of the bill to include: “Creation of jobs in the 774 local governments areas, boosting the fight against corruption in Nigeria, recovery of stolen and lost assets, attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), reduction of domestic and global challenges posed by organised crime, promoting transparency in public and private sector operations and among others. 

He stated that the joint African Union Commission/United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (AUC/ECA) high level panel report on illicit financial flows from Africa, estimated that Africa is losing over $50 billion annually to illicit flows and $10billion from Nigeria alone. 

The president quoted the report as saying that over the past years, Africa has lost more than $1 trillion, equivalent to all the official development assistance received during the same period. 

SFAFP is the brainchild of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), which was established to provide machinery for training, supervision and regulation of the practice of forensics, fraud examination and fraud prevention in Nigeria.

Earlier in the month, the bill to establish the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Examiners of Nigeria (establishment) Bill 2021 passed 1st reading in the House Representative. It was sponsored by the chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub.