Nigeria has called on all United Nations Member States to dismantle safe havens for proceeds of illicit assets.

The minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, urged them to demonstrate strong commitment towards the return of all illicit assets and finances to their countries of origin by considering the possibility of waiving or reducing the processes and costs of recovery.

He made the call at the high-level meeting on Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was held on the margins of the ongoing 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, according to a statement by the ministry’s spokeperson, Tope Elias-Fatile.

The minister urged the international community to compliment the efforts of Member States, particularly developing countries, by increasing public awareness on the need to curtail illicit financial flows.

Onyeama encouraged countries and relevant multilateral organizations to continue to provide technical assistance and capacity-building assistance to developing countries to improve their capacity to prevent, detect and combat illicit financial flows.

He also called on the international community to partner with Nigeria to end poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change in the country, noting that the implementation of the SDGs agenda requires a revitalized global partnership that thrives on a win-win principle.

However, he expressed concern that the world economy remains vulnerable to financial and economic volatility and that this occurrence affects progress in policy agenda across all the action areas of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“Consequently, it is necessary to address medium-term risks, including the potential effects of rising global interest rates as it leads to a reversal of capital flows and increased debt distress, to the disadvantage of developing countries,” he said.

•Sourced from a Daily Trust report