The Special Assistant to Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on Media and Public Relations, Dr. Umar Gwandu on Thursday, May 21, 2020, revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2018 Amended Executive Order 008 on Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme (VOARS). The Presidential Order was reviewed owing to the input of stakeholders and the need to strengthen implementation mechanisms and structures.
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Dr. Gwandu noted that the Executive Order 008 which was signed by the President on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, gives the Attorney-General of the Federation the mandate to set up and equally implement a Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularisation Scheme known as`VOARS’.
VOARS gives all relevant persons and their intermediaries who have defaulted in declaration of their offshore assets the opportunity to voluntarily declare and regularise their offshore assets, subject to fulfillment of the terms and conditions stipulated in the Order and other subsequent regulations
Dr. Umar Gwandu
In a bid to ensure free flow of information, Dr. Gwandu stated that VOARS will closely work with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) which possesses a global access to vital financial information, while the government hopes that the relevant Nigerians involved, their entities, and intermediaries, will pounce on the opportunity presented by VOARS to declare and regularise their offshore assets early before it becomes too late for them to do so. Issuance of compliance certificates by the government to Nigerians who willingly declare their offshore assets and pay the stipulated levy to the government, also forms part of the Presidential Order as the government plans towards developmental projects that will be beneficial to Nigerians with the recoveries accrued.
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The government hopes that relevant persons amongst Nigerians, their entities and intermediaries will seize the opportunity provided by VOARS to declare and regularise their offshore assets before it is too late. Relevant persons who voluntarily declare their offshore assets and pay the stipulated levy to the government will receive compliance certificates which allows them to use their residual assets freely without hindrance. The recoveries accruing to the government will be used for essential infrastructure development for the benefit of Nigerians
Dr. Gwandu
However, Dr. Gwandu warned that owners of offshore properties who might want to conceal their assets would be faced with a penalty that would result to the total loss of such offshore assets, in addition to other penalties under Nigerian law or laws of foreign countries which Nigeria can equally benefit from.
It stipulates that `any domestic or foreign bank, asset manager or intermediary that cooperates with defaulters, enabling them to conceal offshore assets and obligations pertaining to them shall, upon discovery, be liable to pay to the federal government a penalty on the total of such offshore assets, in addition to other penalties provided for under the Nigerian law or laws of foreign countries from which Nigeria can benefit
Source:
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