Osinbajo Wants Banks Punished for Illicit Funds

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said banks and other financial institutions involved in facilitating illicit funds transfer should be made to face the consequences.

He said this at the “Conference on Promoting International Co-operation in Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Enhancing Asset Recovery to Foster Sustainable Development’’ in Abuja where he noted that “There is no way it will happen without some form of connivance between international banking institutions and those who transfer these funds.

“So we must work at somehow de-legitimising those kinds of transactions and criminalising them, just as Mr Akere Muna said.

“So that banks and financial institutions that are engaged in this are actually called out and are made to face the consequences of engaging in criminal conduct. If that isn’t done, we are not likely to get very far.

“Financial institutions are key to all of this and whatever we do we must hold financial institutions accountable.

“If we don’t ensure that people are as outraged as we are, we are not going to get very far no matter what we say.

“Every country will protect its financial institutions as best as it can as long as it is not necessarily suffering any major damage; they probably will not cooperate,’’ he added