Buhari angry over illicit flow of funds, calls for action

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on all governors of central banks in Africa to bring to an end all forms of illicit flow of funds out of the continent.

Buhari said this while speaking at the opening session of the 2016 annual meeting of the Association of African Central Banks.

Buhari, who said the banking system across the continent had an important role to play in the fight against corruption, however, regretted that the African financial system had become a veritable platform for the transfer of most stolen funds.

The event held at the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria and had as its theme, ‘Unwinding unconventional monetary policies: Implications for monetary policy and financial stability in Africa’.

Mr President said as the regulator of the financial system, governors of central banks had another role to play in reversing the trend of illicit flow of funds out of Africa.

In doing so, he urged them to put in place measures to ensure that the proceeds of the illicit flows were repatriated to their countries of origin.

He said, “This association, with the cooperation of all member countries could be an important machinery for fighting money laundering and illicit flow of funds. One of the cardinal objectives of the association should be the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit flow of funds out the continent.”