MEETING: OPEN WORKING GROUP ON FATF RECOMMENDATION 8
MEETING: Open Working Group on FATF Recommendation 8.
DATE: May 3, 2017.
TIME: 1:00PM; the meeting began at 1: 22PM.
LOCATION: Skype
CHAIRPERSON: Executive Director, NNNGO: Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi
MODERATOR: Okpara Chidinma Gloria.
IN ATTENDANCE:
Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi – Nigeria Network of NGOs
Mrs Uche – Solace for She and Child Care Initiative.
Ediki Tega – Center for Human Capital Enterprise Development
Omoyemen Lucia Odigie – Center for Human Rights and Private Change Research.
Irene Adoroh – Support for Humanity Foundation.
Habib S. Umar – Northern Nigeria Youth Organization.
Review of the Agenda
The executive director, Nigeria Network of NGOs, Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi who doubled as the chairperson of the meeting read out the agenda for adoption. He then requested that comments be made. No comments were made regarding the agenda and so the meeting proceeded with introductions by attendees.
Overview of Working Group
The chairperson briefly explained the functions and the purpose of setting up the working group while noting that rather than the usual formality with which working groups are created, the one for the project was a more loosely created one.
Overview of Concept Note
The Chairperson reported that the concept note had been sent to everyone via email and thus requested for comments of participants on the concept note.
Comments on Concept Note
Mrs Uche : Solace for She and Child Initiative – Reported that she did not receive the email and thus would like it resent to allow her peruse the document before the next meeting.
Update on Engagement with Regulators
Meetings with the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering (SCUML) and the National Financial and Intelligence Unit (NFIU) have been fixed for 16th and 17th May 2017 respectively. The meetings will be based on some of the concerns of the civil society in terms of registration and the fact that their website is not fully functional. The chairperson added that attention would also be paid to some of the overzealous and overly stringent laws of these regulators. He then noted the recent publication in the Punch Newspaper which focused on concerns of the civil society. He asked for contributions as regards issues the attendees may want to be presented for discussion during the engagement meeting to be held in Abuja.
- Mrs Uche noted that she has been encountering challenges registering with SCUML. She added that the challenges are further propounded by the fact that there are no offices where complaints could be made and so the process is very cumbersome.
- Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi, the chairperson replied that the complaint had been noted and would be brought before on board as quality feedback would then be brought members of the network.
Any Other Business
- Mrs Uche advised that the Network engage in more collaboration with International Organizations in order to provide more funding opportunities for members.
- The chairperson noted that a lot of work and planning has been going into such collaborations and favorable outcomes would be recorded soon.
- Mr Habib Umar asked for the Network’s position regarding the ongoing Too-Young-To-Run Bill currently at the National Assembly.
- The chairperson replied that the Network is not strongly working on this issue as its main focus is on ensuring the protection of the civil society environment in Nigeria. He assured participants that although the Network would prefer not to deviate from its core objectives for setting up the engagement meetings to held between 16th – 18th May 2017, it would be sure to do all in its power to ensure that all is well the sector.
Closing Remarks
The chairperson raised a proposal for the close of the meeting while noting that outcomes from the engagement meetings would be communicated to participants as soon as the Coalition team
The meeting was drawn to a close at 1:43PM.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on 26th May 2017 at 1:00PM via Skype.
