The Suspicious Transaction Report unit of the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has flagged over N150 trillion in suspicious transactions in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022.
In the Suspicious Transaction Report/Suspicious Activity Report released on Sunday, the financial intelligence watchdog disclosed that the amount represented a 23% increase when compared to the N108.5 trillion flagged in Q1, 2021, Investors King reports.
The report noted that a substantial amount of the flagged transactions were traced to political spending ahead of the 2023 general elections.
According to the report, the transactions were reported by banks, insurance firms, microfinance banks, assets management companies, brokers, and other financial institutions.
This is in line with the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2011 which mandated banks and all other financial institutions to report suspicious transactions to anti-graft agencies.
Commercial banks accounted for a significant number of suspicious transactions, followed by merchant banks, asset management companies, and then microfinance banks.
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has intensified efforts at tracking campaign spending by political parties and politicians ahead of the 2023 polls.
Multiple sources claimed that the anti-graft agency has deployed its operatives to track candidates’ campaign spending and monitor their bank accounts as part of actions to combat money laundering which is often prevalent during election periods.
In May 2022, operatives of the EFCC stormed the venue of the PDP convention to apprehend anyone engaging in suspicious currency transactions.
Similarly, in June, the anti-graft agency visited the APC convention venue for the same purpose.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) however reported that no arrest was made at both convention grounds despite several reports of foreign currencies exchanging hands at both events.
Investors King understands that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed the 2023 general election to February 25 and 11th March 2023 for both the Federal and States elections respectively.