How Buhari intends to implement Executive Order 6—Presidency source

How Buhari intends to implement Executive Order 6—Presidency source

How Buhari intends to implement Executive Order 6—Presidency source

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari is not deterred by huge criticism against his new Executive Order Number 6, 2018 which targets public officials in Nigeria between 1999 to 2015.

The opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ruled Nigeria for 16 years, from 1999 to 2015.  

The new law seeks to prevent owners of assets under investigation for corruption from conducting any transaction on these assets. The executive order will focus on Nigeria’s public officials who served between 1999 and 2015, and are under investigation for corruption by the country’s various anti-corruption bodies.

A top opposition politician told our reporter on Wednesday that Buhari’s Executive Order 6 is specifically fashioned against the PDP elements and perceived political opponents.

“Did corruption start and ended between 1999 and 2015. If he is truthful about fighting corruption, he should expand the dragnet as wide as possible.”, he said.

The president hoped the new law would help the country’s anti-corruption agencies to carry out their duties better.

Already, the wealthy class in Nigeria is against this particular law for fear that Buhari might unilaterally use the powers to witch-hunt them.

On Wednesday, Buhari signed into law, the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Act aimed at consolidating the fight against corruption in the country.

A Presidency source confirmed to Discover Africa News that President Buhari “does not want to be restricted by existing loopholes” in the law enforcement agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in his bid to bring perceived “corrupt individuals to book.  

Although the EFCC already has a Financial Intelligence Unit, our source disclosed that Buhari removed the NFIU from EFCC and domiciled it with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in order to give the unit a personal strict control that the president wishes.

The NFUI will be autonomous and independent.

Establishment of the NFIU has the backing of Recommendation 29 of the Financial Action Task Force Standards and Article 14 of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

Signing the Order, Buhari said: “I have decided to issue the Executive Order No. 6 of 2018 to inter alia restrict dealings in suspicious assets subject to investigation or inquiry bordering on corruption in order to preserve such assets from dissipation, and to deprive alleged criminals of the proceeds of their illicit activities which can otherwise be employed to allure, pervert and/or intimidate the investigative and judicial processes or for acts of terrorism, financing of terrorism, kidnapping, sponsorship of ethnic or religious violence, economic sabotage and cases of economic and financial crimes, including acts contributing to the economic adversity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and against the overall interest of justice and the welfare of the Nigerian State,” he said.

The Egmont group, an informal network of 156 financial intelligence units (FIUs), had suspended Nigeria due to the alleged inability of the country to grant autonomy to the NFIU.