Nigeria’s foreign reserves and revenue being depleted by illicit financial flows, according to Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
This was revealed by Prof. Owasanoye on Thursday during his remarks at a workshop to raise awareness of the business sector’s IFF vulnerability in Nigeria.
According to him, IFFs have a detrimental effect on the economy of the nation since they cause the currency rate to depreciate, which in turn fuels inflation and raises the cost of repaying foreign debt.
He claims that the business sector contributes 70% of the IFFS route.
He emphasized the significance of the business sector becoming involved in the initiatives to stop the impact of IFFs on the Nigerian economy.
“To the extent that IFFs is a drain on Nigeria’s potential revenue accretion, it is also a drain on her forex reserves, as it contributes to exchange rate depreciation, which feeds inflation and increases the cost of servicing external debts. More importantly, it negatively impacts the cost of imported goods like petroleum with its attendant radical consequences on the daily livelihood experience of ordinary citizens.
“To get out of this trap, diverse measures are required to tackle IFFs in all their forms and to improve Nigeria’s quest for domestic revenue to increase relative to the size of her economy and despite the volatile global economic and financial system” he stated.
Adedeji said: “The Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) , unless checked, will continue to significantly erode domestic revenues, enable corruption, threaten economic stability and sustainable development, divert money from public priorities as well as hamper Government’s efforts to mobilize domestic resources and recover better”.