By Johnmark Ukoko
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has brokered a partnership with Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to tackle the menace of fake products in the country.
Director-General of SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, who stated this at a sensitisation programme in Lagos, yesterday, warned that it would no longer be business as usual for purveyors of fake and substandard products in the country.
The sensitisation programme with the theme: The Use of Crime Record Information Management System, was targeted at checkmating the influx of fake and substandard products into the country.
The SON chief, who was represented by the Director of Inspectorate and Compliance, Omolara Okunola, said the partnership would greatly checkmate the high incidence of financial-related crimes, especially the influx of counterfeit products into the country.
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He lauded the efforts of NFIU to support the standards body towards the effective discharge of the agency statutory mandate, adding that the agency would get its staff properly trained on special applications to fight crime and get rid of counterfeit, fake and substandard products coming into the country.
“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 practices. You know before you can do anything either in production or services, you need to gather the necessary data.
“That is why this intervention with by NFIU comes in handy for us to do documentation, intelligence, reports in order to detect and track dubious importers and fraudsters,” he stated.
Responding, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NFIU, Modibo Hannah Tukur, disclosed that the influx of fake and substandard products into the country would be controlled through effective collaborative efforts and information sharing amongst the relevant government’s agencies.
He said the agency was the central body in Nigeria responsible for receiving requests and analysing reports on money laundering, terrorist financing and other roles.
