The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Nigeria to declare funds meant for internally displaced persons (IDPs) to the commission.
The Maiduguri Zonal Commander of the anti-graft agency, Onwukwe Obiora, made the call during a meeting with a delegation from the United Nations cash working group and an international NGO forum in his office.
He asked both international and local NGOs in the states of Yobe and Borno to present ‘Cash Notification Forms’ to the Maiduguri office for vetting and approval before disbursing funds to IDPs.
Development Diaries understands that the cash notification form is a document that reflects the monetary activities and indication of areas where aid flows provided by INGOs and NGOs will be distributed.
The EFCC, in 2013, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with international funding organisations and the Global Fund to monitor how grants provided by groups will be deployed for humanitarian support in the country.
According to the EFCC official, the measure is to reduce the risk of sabotage and use of NGOs by money launderers and financiers of terrorism in the northeast.
‘I want to thank you for your services to the IDPs who are needy and vulnerable, but we must be mindful of the fact all cash movements by INGOs and NGOs must be declared to the Maiduguri command of the EFCC for verification and monitoring, and we must collaborate so that the funds will not get into the hands of wrong persons during disbursement’, he said.
He further noted the need for NGOs and the EFCC to work together in combating money laundering, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes across the country.
In his response, the deputy coordinator of the forum, Yasmine Chawaf, commended the EFCC for its support and cooperation.
‘The EFCC has been of great assistance and we are happy working with the commission’, she said.
‘The Maiduguri zonal commander has ensured strict monitoring of cash meant for IDPs through the SCUML and the committee inaugurated, even to the point of distribution in the deep field areas that are hotbeds of insurgency activities, so that the monies get to the right persons.
‘These measures taken by the EFCC have given the forum absolute confidence to increase our aid flows in the northeast’.
INGOs present at the meeting were the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ZOA Foundation, and Mercy Corps.
Source: EFCC
Photo source: EFCC
