The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has said that the identities of terrorism financiers will be revealed at the right time.
While speaking on a television programme in Channels Television, he said the commission was working with foreign partners and other agencies to apprehend them.
According to him, the matter is sensitive and a national security issue and cannot be divulged on national TV.
Earlier this week, a media report by a local news platform, Emirates News Agency in United Arabs Emirate (UAE) listed six Nigerians as financiers of terrorism activities.
It said their names were found in an approved list of 38 individuals and 15 entities and that the resolution was issued by the UAE Cabinet under No 83 of 2021.
The country said the listed individuals and entities, including their affiliates, are being monitored.
The Nigerians named are Abdurrahaman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad.
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Addressing the interviewer, Bawa said, “If you are my adviser, will you advise me to come on national television to tell the whole world regarding matters of sensitive national security issues? Certainly, not. But what I want to assure is the fact that we are working tirelessly with other sister agencies to ensure that this country is free of terrorism.”
“Of course, transparency is one of the bedrock(s) of this administration, of course, I am not a spokesman for this administration, but I believe that at the right time Nigerians will get to know those that are financing terrorism in this country and beyond as well.
“These are issues that are beyond the borders of this country and of course, we are working tirelessly with our partners overseas as well as other sister agencies at home.
“We are working, it is not something we should come out to say that these are the modus operandi that we are adopting.”
Bawa, who collapsed during an official function at the Aso Rock Villa earlier on Thursday, also said he had seen his doctor and “everything about me is okay, except for the fact that I’m a bit dehydrated and I need to take a lot of water”.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had on February 16, 2021, named 41-year-old Bawa as the fourth chairman of EFCC following the corruption allegations levelled against embattled ex-acting EFCC chair, Ibrahim Magu, and his subsequent suspension.
The EFCC was established in the early 2000s during the administration of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to combat economic and financial crimes like advance fee fraud (419), money laundering, terrorism financing and miscellaneous offences.
On Monday, the United Arab Emirates named and prosecuted six Nigerians and 32 others for allegedly financing terrorism.
Nigerians on the UAE’s terrorism list include Abdurrahaman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad.
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