By Chimezie Godfrey
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, says the suspension of SCUML certificate is an administrative measure designed to bring the agency to full compliance with its statutory responsibilities and obligations.
This was made known in a statement by the Commission’s Head of Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren on Saturday in Abuja.
Uwujaren noted that the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, SCUML is aware of the difficulties currently being experienced by successful applicants for the SCUML Certificate.
According to him, this development was caused by the suspension of the issuance of certificates to successful applicants by the SCUML.
“The move is an administrative measure designed to bring the agency to full compliance with its statutory responsibilities and obligations under the new Money laundering Act, 2022.
“The law fundamentally altered the existing regulatory framework and substantially invalidates the certificates issued by SCUML, which did not reflect its new status as an agency fully domiciled in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
“It therefore became imperative to suspend the issuance of the old certificates until a new one that takes into account the new regulatory environment is printed. Being a security document, there are processes involved in printing the new document.
“However, SCUML is delighted to announce that the procurement process for the production of the new certificates have been concluded and, a very soon, successful applicants will begin to receive notification to collect their certificates as machinery have been set in motion to ensure that the backlog is cleared with dispatch,” he stated.
Uwujaren appealed that this clarification should guide the public understanding of the situation as it relates to SCUML certificates.
He stressed that the delay is purely administrative and has nothing to do with inefficiency as imputed in some quarters.
“SCUML empathises with genuine applicants for the difficulties of the past few days but assures that all arrangements have been made to ensure that the process is returned to the established order of prompt and excellent service delivery,” he stated.
