Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chairman, Tunde Fowler; Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; and Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, will join other top officials from around the world at a global conference on how to contain Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) at the Trusteeship Council Chamber, UN Headquarters in New York.
Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the United Nations General Assembly, who invited the trio to the event scheduled to kick off tomorrow, said the high-level meeting will focus on International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Asset Return.
Fowler, who is also the first Vice Chairman of the United Nations Committee of Tax Experts, will also be sharing the African perspective on IFF, as he also the Chairman of the African Tax Administration’s Forum (ATAF).
Espinosa said the UN General Assembly, in its resolutions 72/202 and 73/222, entitled “Promotion of International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Financial Flows and Strengthen Good Practices on Asset Returns to Foster Sustainable Development”, mandated the UN General Assembly to hold the meeting.
The meeting will kick off with an opening segment, two interactive panel discussions and a plenary segment for general discussion. These will be followed by a closing segment.
The two interactive panels will discuss these two themes: Taking stock on achievements of contemporary efforts to combat Illicit and Financial Flows and moving on and a global architecture to combat illicit financial flows and strengthen recovery and return of illicit assets.
This meeting is being organized to take stock of progress made and ways to address subsisting challenges to reduce IFF and promote best practices in asset recovery and repatriation as an important means to support the timely implementation of the 2030 Agenda in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders.
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Former South African President Thabo Mbeki met with Fowler, ICPC Chair, acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Presidency officials, officials of the Ministry of Justice and other heads of Nigerian anti-corruption agencies last year in Abuja to review the African response to IFF and chart the way forward. Mbeki headed the African Union High Level Panel (AUHLP) IFF to review the African response and chart the way forward.
Fowler and other government officials made a presentation at the conference, while the West African Union of Tax Institutes as well as the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) had held conferences on how to combat the scourge of IFF.
On the continent, Nigeria has been prominent in the fight against the illegal repatriation of funds/profits by multinationals through involvement in several initiatives such as a high-level representation on ATAF’s Cross Border Taxation Committee, whose activities have impacted significantly on the discourse on IFFs globally.
The FIRS, in partnership with the Presidential Advisory Committee on Against Corruption (PACAC) and the EFCC have organised two high level events for the recovery of illegal proceeds of tax evasion.
Abiodun Aina, Coordinating Director, Domestic Taxes Group and Special Advisor the Executive Chairman is also attending the conference.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
