Osinbajo in France Wants Corruption Named Crime against Humanity

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo thursday in Paris, France, called for the declaration of corruption and flow of illicit financial flow as a crime against humanity.

He also called for global collaboration in the fight against corruption, describing international co-operation as the smartest and most effective way to combat the menace and also recover stolen funds.

Osinbajo made this remark while addressing an anti-corruption forum under the aegis of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

He lamented the difficulty faced by African countries in their efforts to trace and recover stolen assets from international bodies and financial institutions as he cited the case of Nigeria which it said had confronted obstacles in its bid to recover stolen funds.

He also highlighted the connivance of international financial institutions in money laundering, remarking that such laundering would have been averted if such institutions queried the source of such funds before accepting them.

“The tracing, freezing and return of stolen assets has proved in many cases to be exceptionally difficult  for most African countries. We in Nigeria have seen just how difficult it is to get back stolen assets from the international financial system, banks, that ought not have received those funds in the first place if the most routine question were asked,” he said.

The vice-president described corruption as the greatest obstacle to societal development, pointing out that the insurgency in the North-eastern part of Nigeria had its root in corruption.

He therefore canvassed the need to label corruption as crime against humanity, noting that in countries where corruption is endemic, weak institutions are the bane of corrupt-free living.

“There is now hardly any credible opposition to the notion that corruption and Illicit financial flows constitute perhaps the gravest challenge to development. And this is especially true of developing countries.

“Besides, we have seen how in Nigeria, in recent years, how corruption directly fueled the terrorist insurgency in the North-east, Nigeria. And I how in turn this has led to one of gravest humanitarian disasters in the world; 20,000 fatalities and two million people displaced. Also the adverse implications  for education, healthcare, social services, infrastructure and indeed quality of life no longer require making a case .

“Indeed there is a sense in which corruption, grand corruption should be regarded as a crime against humanity. Corruption and illicit financial flows are different. But they really must be twinned. This is because for practical purposes it is an eminently more sensible approach to treat most of the sources of illicit financial  flows as corrupt activity,  within a broader use of the term.

“It is also clear that most economies ravaged by corruption, usually-both as a cause and consequence-do have  institutions that are too weak to fight corruption and illicit financial flows.  International collaboration is therefore the smartest and most effective approach to apprehend and deter perpetrators, and ensure restitution of stolen assets,” Osinbajo said.

Credit: This Day