On December 19, 2022, a federal high court convicted the director general of the Labour Party鈥檚 Presidential Campaign Council, Doyin Okupe, for breaching Nigeria鈥檚 Money Laundering Act.
Okupe was brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The sentence was either a two-year prison term, or an option of a fine totalling 鈧︹13 million. Naturally, Okupe chose to pay the fine and won鈥檛 be seeing a day in jail. However, he鈥檚 resigned from his position in the LP campaign.
His resignation brought praise from different quarters, even from critics. As you well know, a Nigerian politician resigning from office is as common as a flying pig.
Okupe鈥檚 brush with the law is a good opportunity to explore why money laundering is such a big issue in Nigeria.
What鈥檚 money laundering?
Think about how you take your clothes to the dry cleaner for laundry. Why do you do it? Because your clothes are dirty and you want them clean. That鈥檚 the same thing with money laundering.
is the illegal process of making large amounts of money generated through criminal activity 鈥 like drug trafficking 鈥 appear to have come from a legitimate source.
Why鈥檚 money laundering frowned upon?
If the reason above isn鈥檛 enough, let鈥檚 provide more. If business earnings were legitimate, hiding the source of one鈥檚 wealth wouldn鈥檛 be necessary. The nature of people involved in this act means any association with money laundering brings great reputational stain. Think Pablo Escobar here.
These shady characters explore many creative ways to use businesses and even respectable institutions like churches to launder money.
Money laundering can also have because criminals bypass financial institutions and this can .听
And if that鈥檚 not enough, think of the second order effects. The proceeds of laundered money fund even more criminal activities. Drug dealers use it to buy more weapons, politicians use it for vote-buying and the vicious cycle of crime keeps spinning.
How鈥檚 Nigeria fighting money laundering?
President Olusegun Obasanjo inaugurated the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) in 2000 to deal with corruption in the public sector. There鈥檚 also the EFCC, established in 2003, whose responsibilities include combating money laundering. In 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan signed a new Money Laundering Act which made KYC requirements mandatory. This means banks must identify and verify the identity of customers, especially politically exposed individuals.
Also, transactions exceeding 鈧5 million for individuals and 鈧10 million for corporate bodies are to be made through a banking system. The bank must report anything higher to the .
The NFIU is an autonomous unit, domiciled within the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the central coordinating body for the country鈥檚 Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) framework. It鈥檚 responsible for the receipt and analysis of disclosures from reporting organisations.
What鈥檚 the punishment for money laundering?
If Okupe鈥檚 conviction is anything to go by, the EFCC is more than happy to go after you if you launder money.
Section 18(3) of : 鈥淎ny person guilty of the offence of money laundering shall be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than four years but not more than fourteen years or a fine not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both.鈥
While debate rages on about whether the punishment is fitting enough, it should, hopefully, act as a deterrence to anyone who doesn鈥檛 want to follow the straight and narrow path.
