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SON partners NFIU to tackle fake products importation, illegal financial flows

Malam Farouk Salim, Director-General of SON

*Malam Farouk Salim, Director-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria, says the regulator’s partnership with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit will greatly checkmate the high incidence of financially-related crimes, especially the influx of counterfeit products into the country’s markets

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In a move to address the menace of counterfeit products in the West African country, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has activated a partnership with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

Malam Farouk Salim, Director-General of SON, who disclosed this development at a recent sensitisation programme in Lagos, warned defaulters that it would no longer be business as usual for purveyors of fake and sub-standard goods in Nigeria, report said.

The theme of the sensitisation programme was: “The Use Of Crime Record Information Management System As A Tool To Fight The Influx Of Fake/Sub-Standard Products And Other Related Crimes In Nigeria”.

Represented at the programme by Dr. Omolara Okunola, Director of Inspectorate and Compliance at SON, Malam Salim noted the partnership would greatly checkmate the high incidence of financially-related crimes, especially the influx of counterfeit products into the country’s economy.

The SON Director-General also commended the NFIU efforts at supporting the standards regulatory organisation towards the effective discharge of the SON statutory mandate in Nigeria.

The regulatory agency, Salim further said, would get its personnel properly trained on special applications to fight crime, and get rid of counterfeited, fake and sub-standard products coming into the country.

He also stated: “Our core mandate is to ensure that products and services locally made or imported into Nigeria meet standards and quality benchmarks in line with global best practices.

“You know, before you can do anything either in production or services, you need to gather the necessary data.

“And that is why this intervention by NFIU comes in handy for us to do documentation, intelligence reports to detect and track dubious importers and fraudsters.”

According to Salim, “the collaboration would go a long way to unmask the hidden hands backing importation of substandard goods into the country.

“This would in turn help check the menace of fake products across the country.”

In his remarks on the occasion, Modibbo HammahTukur, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NFIU, said the influx of fake and sub-standard products into Nigeria would be controlled via effective collaborative efforts and information sharing among the relevant government agencies.

HammahTukur, also represented by Dr. Bello Abdulhaziz, Senior Intelligence Analyst at the NFIU, disclosed the NFIU is the central body in the country responsible for receiving, requesting, analysing, and disseminating financial intelligence reports on money laundering, terrorist financing and other relevant information.

The collaboration with SON would help the regulatory organisation to flag suspicious products at the borders for further investigation, said the NFIU CEO.

HammahTukur further noted: “We are poised to collaborate with all stakeholders in analysing and providing credible and actionable information to put an end to the influx of substandard products.”

The sensitisation programme is expected to be conducted in other major cities such as Abuja, Kano and Port-Harcourt for relevant SON staff, report stated.

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