Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, made several claims about corruption and the economy while speaking at the interactive session with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.
In response to a specific question about how he intends to deal with corruption and the international perception of Nigeria as a corrupt country, Atiku mentioned meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who informed him that London is the world’s capital for money laundering.
he did, however, inform the Bishop that he is willing to negotiate with Nigerians who have their money laundered overseas in order to bring it home to invest in, and that he will offer them any indemnity they require.
Additionally, he mentioned that he traveled to Brazil when he was Nigeria’s vice president, to obtain a copy of the country’s anti-corruption law, which he said was then used to draft the current Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act.
In his words “Last week I was in England, I want to be very very specific; I met with the Archbishop of Canterbury, he said Mr vice-president do you know that London is the money laundering capital in the world, we have over 300 Billion of money being laundered in this city…
“Corruption issue, I need to tell you guys how it came about. I went to Brazil and by the time I went to brazil on state-visit, I saw that they have a very very effective anti-corruption law. I received a copy of it, and after sitting down to draft a strict anti-corruption law, we sent it to the National Assembly, from which the current EFCC law emerged, naturally without much watering down.”
Claim I: London is the world’s money-laundering capital.
verification
London is typically thought of as the hiding place of the world’s dirty money, the “laundromat” of global dirty money.
According to a Financial Times investigation, the money to be laundered is easily moved to a UK firm from International bank accounts.
Although the law requires the details of the corporation to be documented with the government, these restrictions are not strictly enforced. The funds are transferred to shell firms in the United Kingdom and then distributed across other bank accounts in order to “clean” them.
verdict
The claim that London is regarded as the money laundering capital of the world is true.
Claim II: He obtained the Brazilian anti-corruption legislation, which was then used to draft the EFCC Act.
Verification
Brazil established Law No. 9.613, often known as the Money Laundering Act, on March 3, 1998 to prevent the concealing of money from illegal sources. In 2012, it was revised and became Law No. 12.683.
Brazil, however, passed its anti-corruption law in June 2013, a legislation totally different from the Money Laundering Act of 1998. The Act was enacted in response to Brazil’s international commitments, notably with regard to the international anti-corruption system and practices. The Act went into effect in January 2014.
The EFCC Establishment Act, on the other hand, was enacted in 2003 and amended in 2004, ten years before the Brazillian Anti-corruption Law was passed.
Verdict:
The claim that Atiku obtained the Brazilian anti-corruption law is false, as the law had not yet been enacted when the Obasanjo-Atiku administration was in charge of Nigeria. It is, however, possible that Atiku could have gotten their Money Laundering Act from 1998.