Meet the newly appointed non-career Ambassador designate from Plateau

Meet the newly appointed non-career Ambassador designate from Plateau 

1. Abdullahi Y. SHEHU, Ph.D Professor

Shehu was educated at the Ahmadu Bello University and the University of Abuja, Nigeria, for his B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees in International Relations.

He obtained a Ph.D

in Criminology at the University of Hong Kong, specializing in anti-corruption and

anti-money laundering. Shehu is a member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI); Hong Kong Society of Criminology; and Nigerian Society of

International Affairs.

He retired as a Director in the EFCC in 2015

having been a substantive Director for 8 years and held a statutory appointment as Director Generalof GIABA.

2.Having distinguished himself in his chosen career not only as a brilliant researcher, but also as a quintessential technocrat, intelligence, security and law enforcement officer,

he was appointed: (a) Secretary of the Presidential Task Force

on Financial Crimes in Nigeria in 1991 (re-appointed on merit after the Task Force was reconstituted in 1992); (b)Assistant Director,

Financial Crimes; (c) Deputy Director/Head of Department of Financial Crimes in the Office of

the Special Adviser to the

President on Drugs and Financial Crimes from 1995 to 1998; and (d)

Special Assistant to the Special Adviser to the Head of State on Economic Affairs, Drugs and Financial Crimes, from 1998 to 2000.

3.In these capacities,

Professor Shehu represented Nigeri

a at many bilateral and

multilateral meetings and negotiations on Drugs and Financial Crimes Control, including the UN Ad-Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of the Transnational Organized Crime Convention. He

led the Nigerian delegation to the UNODC/GPML regional Workshop in Grand Bassam, Cote d'Ivoire, which initiated the establishment of an Inter-Governmental Action Group against

Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) as Specialized Institution of the ECOWAS which he

served as Director General for two terms from 2006 to 2014. He has worked as expert/consultant on anti-corruption/money laundering control for

many international

organizations and countries around the world, including the Commonwealth Secretariat, European Union Commission,

Interpol, UNODC,

the West African Institute for Financial and

Economic Management (WAIFEM),

Nigeria, and the International Development Law

Organization (IDLO), based in Rome, Italy.

4. An astute

believer and advocate

for rule of law, good governance and development expert,

he has translated his belief in good governance into guiding principles of his

administration since his appointment in 2006 as Administrative Secretary, and later Director

General of GIABA.

His personal attributes are integrity, teamwork, accountability, and leadership.

5.He has demonstrated expertise in anti-corruption and money laundering control during his tenure as Program Expert (Anti-Corruption) at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) from 2003 to 2005. Under the UN Global Program against Corruption, his main tasks included capacity building-on anti-corruption policies and mechanisms, promoting integrity in public and private sectors, governance/public sector reform and

anti-money laundering, as well as asset recovery.

6.Upon return to Nigeria and before his assumption of duty in GIABA, he was the

Director,

Economic & Financial Crimes Commission 

EFCC Training and Research Institute,

Abuja, Nigeria. Dr. Shehu has written and published extensively on anti-corruption/money

laundering, governance, rule of law and

development. His books include 

(i)“Economic and

Curriculum Vitae

2. Financial Crimes in Nigeria: Policy Issues and Options ”(2006); (ii)

‘Strategies and

Techniques of Prosecuting Economic and Financial Crimes’,

which was published

in three

languages–English, French and Portuguese

(2012); and

(iii) His ground breaking book is titled “NIGERIA: The Through Corruption to the Well-being of a People” (2015). Having

served in the Presidency for 27 years, Dr. Shehu contributed immensely in the development of

anti-corruption

and anti-money laundering policies, programs and the establishment of

institutions in Nigeria. He organized the first government sponsored international

conference on

corruption to discuss the modalities for the establishment of

the ICPC in 2000. As Head of the

Financial Crimes Department in the Presidency, he was instrumental to the establishment of the

EFCC.

7.Dr. Shehu speaks English and French and is a prolific speaker on institutional reform,

transparency,

accountability,

good governance

and developmen as

Director General/

Chief Executive of

GIABA, he Established a functional Secretariat for

GIABA in line with the FATF acceptable standards of a FSRB Secretariat To

Developed, reviewed

and updated Regional Strategic Frameworks and Action Plans

consistent with the FATF Recommendations and the ECOWAS Regional Integration

Framework, especially its Vision 2020.

Within the framework of the Strategic Plans, he led the regional fight against money

laundering and terrorist financing, by inter alia:

(i) Provided direct support to member States of ECOWAS to enact, review

and/or amend legislation against money laundering and terrorist financing;

(ii) Conducted the mutual evaluations of members to ascertain their level of

compliance with acceptable anti-money

laundering and counter financing of terrorism(AMLCFT) stanards;

(iii) Conducted numerous research and typologies studies on the methods, trends andtechniques of money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF);

(iv) Provided direct assistance for the establishment of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), which led to the establishment of fifteen FIUs in the region;

(v)Promoted strategic partnerships with the civil society for the prevention and

control of ML/TF;

(vi) Promoted regional and international cooperation in the context of ECOWAS. 

(vii) Established GIABA firmly as one of the most effective and efficient

ECOWAS Institutions with sound management and governance structures, processes and procedures.

(viii) Promoted GIABA to

be recognized as a FSRB in 2006 and as an Associate

Member of the FATF in 2010.

9 .Overall, he exudes a deeper understanding and skill in ECOWAS affairs, including high

political contacts with authorities in the region.

Throughout his career, he has proved himself as

a change agent! He has impacted on lives, communities and nations. His marks in the ECOWAS

member States remain indelible.

10.Upon retirement from the EFCC in 2015, he continued with teaching and research and

was pioneer Director of the Olusegun Obasanjo Good Governance and Development Research

Centre at the National Open University of Nigeria from 2016-2018. He is currently an

Independent Consultant/Adviser on anti-corruption, governance and development. He is the Curriculum Vitae

3 Grand Patron of the Compliance Institute of Nigeria (CIN) which is responsible for anti-money

laundering compliance and enforcement in Nigeria.

Professor Shehu is also Special Adviser

(Emeritus) to the Governor of Plateau State.

11. With over 30

years’ experience

in development cooperation, Prof. Shehu has served as

an independent consultant/team lead in several projects including:Senior Anticorruption Policy and Advocacy Advisor (UNODC);

Principal Investigator, DFID/Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence (GI-ACE)

Project on Beneficial Ownership (DFID);

Consultant for the Elaboration of a draft

ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Prevention of Drug Trafficking and other Transnational Organized Crimes in West Africa (EUUNODCECOWAS Project); Consultant, Review and Analysis of National and Regional Drug Control Legislation

(EU/ECOWAS); Review of the ECOWAS Political Declaration on Drug Trafficking and Other Organized Crimes and Development of Minimum Standards on Drug Trafficking and Abuse

(EU/UNODC/ECOWAS).

Consultancy to develop Evaluation Framework for the EcoLink Project

(EU/ECOWAS);

Consultancy to Review and Consolidate Report on Member States’ Legal and Institutional framework on Drug Trafficking, Drug Abuse and Related Organized Crime (EU/ECOWAS);

Consultancy to Review the Implementation of ECOWAS Action Plan to Address Drug Trafficking, Drug Abuse and Organized Crime (EU/UNODC/ECOWAS);

Consultancy on Anti-Corruption Research and Policy Support to the Technical Unit on

Governance (TUGAR), Nigeria (UNODC); EU/

EuroPlus Consultancy for Identification and Formulation of Projects–Support to the

West Africa Peace, Security and Stability Component under the 11th EDF; Provided Consultancy Services to several banks, other

financial institutions and

private sector organizations in Nigeria on AML/CFT, etc.;

Served as Consultant to the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), The

Commonwealth Secretariat, the West African Institute for Economic Management

(WAIFEM) and many other Ministries and Agencies within and outside Nigeria.

12. During all these consultancies and high level negotiations, Professor Shehu has been a promoter of gender equality, women and civil society empowerment. He demonstrated this by

mainstreaming gender in all programmes of GIABA and introduced new projects for engaging

and empowering CSOs to demand for accountability and promote human rights in the context of the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs).

13. A philanthropist and educator of no mean repute, Professor

Shehu is passionate in the delivery of humanitarian services to uplift indigent students, affording them education at all levels.

Since 2009, through the

Yibaikwal Foundation he has provided scholarships to over

150 indigent students to pursue higher education in Nigerian universities.

14. A disciplined and caring father, he is happily married and has contributed greatly to the

development of his community, the Nigerian society the ECOWAS region and Africa.

Professor Shehu can be contacted through: P.O Box 3905, Garki, Abuja; Tel: +234 806 566

0502/+234 807 333 4122. Email:

shehu2000@gmail.com

and skype:

ayshehu@hotmail.com