The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has begun moves to ensure sanity and globally accepted standards in the operations of Bureau De Change (BDC) in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
This is coming on the heels of growing concerns expressed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the general public over BDC’s purported involvement in financial crimes such as money laundering, economic sabotage and terrorism financing, among others.
Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Ikharo Attah, made this disclosure over the weekend in a meeting with the BDC operators, following an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) letter, requesting the FCTA to bring sanity and global best practices to the activities of BDC operators in order to tackle criminal activities arising from their operations.
Attah revealed that the EFCC requests that adequate arrangements be made for BDC to operate with a registered office address in line with provisions of law and international best practices to curtail economic sabotage, money laundering and possibly terrorism financing.
He said: “The Minister gave us the order to sanitise activities of BDC currency operators within the FCT, particularly with a focus on Wuse Zone 4, so that we do everything to curtail economic sabotage and tackle the issue of money laundering and possible illegal financing.”
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Attah who stated that the CBD operators were a critical and important stakeholder in the forex market, however, warned that the FCTA would not allow them to continue hawking currency by the roadside, pointing out that section 8.5 of the revised operational guidelines for Bureau De Change in Nigeria aligns with anti-hawking policy of the FCT.
He, therefore, thanked the operators for believing in Abuja and for supporting the FCTA in her quests to keep the city clean and sustaining the fight against drug peddling when he said; “The FCT Police Commissioner, NDLEA, NSCDC have all commended you for the role in tackling drug cartel around Zone 4”.
In his response, Secretary, Secretary, Zone 4 Bureau De Change Association, Yahaya Jidda Kida appreciated the democratic and manner civilised the FCTA approached them and assured: “We are ready to cooperate with the government.”
Yahaya stated that they were also “Very concerned about the issues the EFCC raised” including the drug peddling problem, which he revealed his association had fought, risking their lives and businesses.
Recalling efforts at sanitising and standardising BDC operations in Abuja, Yahaya disclosed that the FCTA under Nasir el-Rufai asked them to collapse their rights and come under one umbrella, and he allocated a piece of land to them to build standard a centre.
Yahaya explained: “Initially, he (el-Rufai) gave us a letter of intent, but with the seriousness with which we carried on, he decided to give us Right of Occupancy to facilitate our discussion with financiers
“We cross-fertilized ideas within and outside Africa and came out with the best building plan that if allowed to be built, will be the largest and most sophisticated edifice in Abuja.
“The edifice is a 10-storey building, with a mosque and a church, and can accommodate all of us and clear the nuisance in Zone 4, making transactions neat, just like it is done in the developed countries”. However, there was a problem and some people went to court, leading to the revocation of the plot of land.
“Fortunately, during the time of Aliero, the land was reallocated to us, but these people didn’t allow us to start development. They went up to the Supreme Court and we don’t want to run prejudice. Those people are not even members of the Zone 4 association”, he said.
Yahaya, therefore, appealed to FCT Minister to bring all stakeholders together and resolve the issue out of court.
On the issue of drug peddling, Yahaya stated that they were even the real haters and genuine fighters of drugs, saying “We always fight them tooth and nail; day and night because we don’t want them to be part of us. We are the first call for Ambassadors and we don’t want anyone with criminal activities among us.”
On money laundering, he decried that they were in a “quagmire because we change money and don’t know some of those who come to change these currencies. We are always the first victims. It is the bankers and other people in government that are dealing. We will cooperate with the Minister to sanitize zone 4 and make it a standard place,” he assured.
An Assistant Director in the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) in charge of Monitoring and Enforcement, Kaka Bello, revealed that besides concerns raised by the EFCC, section 36 of the AEPB Act prohibits the sale of products in unauthorised places, be it money or any other items.
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