One year after the National Assembly detached it from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and President Muhammadu Buhari named its head, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, is still an appendage of the EFCC, VANGUARD learned Wednesday.
The NFIU was separated from the EFCC by an Act of the National Assembly in December 2018, with the act granting it full financial and administrative autonomy. The President signed the bill into law the same year, cementing its powers to act independently of the EFCC.
On January 8, 2019, President Muhammadu named its head to affirm its independence.
The NFIU kicked off, freezing accounts of local government councils in the country, in an apparent effort to enforce the constitutionally guaranteed fiscal autonomy for that tier of government.
But a copy of the 2020 Budget report by the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, quoted the Managing Director of the unit, Mr. Modibbo Tukur, pleading with the lawmakers, to officially separate it from the grip of EFCC and provide N8.2 billion for it, to officially kick off its operations in 2020.
“The Director Mr. Modibbo, gave a brief overview of the workings of NFIU and history of where they were coming from. He appealed to the Committee to help them to completely detach the unit from the EFCC they were formerly part of, and see to the increase of their personnel in line with their salary adjustment to avert lack of cash to pay salaries,” the report signed by the Chairman of the House Committee, Abdullahi Dutse (APC-Jigawa) and Secretary of the Committee, Mr. Ovoh Benson Onyeme, states.
The budget sessions with the EFCC and NFIU were held behind closed doors last year, by the House Committee.
A breakdown of the funds the NFIU boss says it needs for its operations this year, is according to the report, as follows:
Personnel: N2,852,655,715.00, Overhead: N1,139,050,000.00, Capital: N4,234,455,715.00, totalling N8,224,455,715.00.
