The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to “be less dramatic” and let Nigerians know the owners of monies discovered in some parts of the country.
This, he noted, would save the country from its current state of embarrassment.
He said there was the need for the agency to let Nigerians know how they work, rather than creating bad image for the country.
Punch reports that the cleric said he felt humiliated as a Nigerian over the billions of Naira being discovered by the EFCC, noting that such monies were the budget size of some African countries.
Kukah spoke at the national anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism sensitization seminar by the Inter-governmental Action group against Money laundering in West Africa (GIABA) which held in Kaduna, Wednesday.
He said, “I feel more demoralized and very humiliated as a Nigerian but the confusion is that we are dealing with monies that are of the sizeable of budget of some African states.
“I think it’s unthinkable that we are having such money running into billions of naira and we don’t know who owned such monies.
“Frankly, like I said, if I were a foreigner, my respect for Nigeria will dwindle seriously.
“Even me as a Nigerian, I feel quite violated and I don’t really know if all this theatre is the best way to go.
“I think that the agencies concerned should have less dramatic but effective ways of telling us the work they are doing, rather than this endless washing of linen whose owners we don’t know. It’s not helping the fight.”
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