August 11, 2010 11:23AM

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Goodluck Jonathan has cautioned the Senate over alterations to the anti-money laundering bill and anti-terror bills currently before it.The president, in a letter dated August 6, 2010, and addressed to the Senate Presi-dent, David Mark, asked the him to note that every provi-sion in “the draft bill present-ed to the National Assembly consistent and in compliance with global instruments which Nigeria has signed and rati-fied.” The Senate had, in pre-vious legislations on the draft bill, amended some sections of the draft bill, saying it was either harsh or complex.“International standards require all member-states to model their domestic legisla-tion in consonance with global best practices,” Mr Jonathan said.

“It is, therefore, impor-tant that the two bills, when passed into law, should meet basic global standards, failing which Nigeria will continue to be adjudged as a non-cooperat-ing jurisdiction.” The president also expressed concern over the failure of the National Assembly to pass both the Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Money Laundering (Amend-ment) bills despite that the deadline for the domestication of the bills has since elapsed, in June.“I wish to draw your kind attention to the fact that the commitment to FATF that the two bills would be passed into law on or before June 30, 2010, was not met.“I understand the two bills are still being worked on by relevant committees in both9Houses, which have raised certain concerns for reduced provisions of the bills, these, perhaps, may have been respon-sible for reduced momentum in the process.Too much work The president, also in his letter, asked the Senate to use the opportunity of their recon-vention on Tuesday to expedite action on the bills. “Kindly consider the quick passage of the Anti-Terrorism and the Anti-Money Launder-ing (Prohibition) Amendment bills, which were presented to the Senate of the Federal Republic in 2009, to enable Nigeria fulfil its commitment to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the inter-national community,” the president said. “You may also wish to be informed that global financial watchdog is sched-uled to meet again with the Presidential inter ministerial/Agency committee in Septem-ber 2010 to review the progress made by Nigeria. It would be a huge plus for the country if the country has a positive report regarding the two pending bills,” he added.

However, the senators could not discuss the bills after endorsing the new minsters and supplementary budget for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday, Tuesday.Mr Jonathan had, earlier in a letter dated April 29, 2010, to David Mark, called for an immediate consideration and passage of the anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering bills considering threats by FATF to blacklist Nigeria.