ABUJA: CHAIRMAN of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, Kayode Oladele, said Nigeria required the support of the international community to facilitate the recovery looted funds. Such funds said to be stashed offshore was key for national development. Oladele said that effective collaboration between the Nigerian anti-graft agencies and their foreign counterparts would aid other laudable actions of the government in the fight against corruption.

Speaking during the maiden meeting of International Corruption Hunters’ Network in Abuja, he lauded the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for taking advantage of the networking and knowledge transfer opportunities provided by the group to further strengthen its institutional processes.

Oladele urged the group to continually avail its members of emerging top-notch strategies and methods in the fight against corruption. “I have no doubt in my mind that this (recent) meeting will further enhance peer learning, fruitful exchange and adaptation of best practices among members of the network in areas such as investigative techniques, preventive advice, monitoring of the compliance standards of bad entities as well as the law enforcement agencies.”

The timelines of the recent meeting cannot be over-emphasized for a number of reasons. “First, it came at a time when the Nigerian government has launched a historic offensive against corruption. At the Vanguard of their integrity crusade is President Muhammed Buhari and other senior government officials who, through their commitment to the virtues of integrity, rekindled the confidence of Nigerians in the institution of government,” said Oladele.

SOURCE: CAJ NEWS AGENCY