THE creation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo was a laudable idea, going by the successes made by successive Chairmen, with the last two Chairmen, ending their tenures in abyss ignominy.
The appointment of the current Chairman of the EFCC-Ola Olukoyede is a welcome development, as he appears to be the first outside insider to head the Agency , being a Lawyer, who was Chief of Staff to former Chairman Ibrahim Magu and later Secretary of the Commission.
He is not being among any of the syndicates of courses 1, 2 or 3 of the commission , who are the top echelons of the Commission, across the country.He however should beware of the proverbial banana peels .
The Agency as currently run has a very poor human rights record , which unfortunately has be condoned by some Courts .
Firstly , there is indiscriminate arrest of citizens without following the due process of law. Apartments and Hotels are broken into with reckless abandon and young people tagged “Yahoo Yahoo Boys “, are packed from apartments and detained indefinitely, with their properties, mostly cars , laptops and phones carted away .This is a kind of stereotyping and fractionation precluded by Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , 1999 (As Amended) ,as not all young boys who wear yuppy clothes or wear trendy hair styles are “Yahoo Yahoo Boys”.
When it is time to release the suspects, they would give the relatives of the suspects obnoxious Bail Conditions asking for level 14,15,17 and above Civil Servants or a House Owner with Certificate of Occupancy,a complete illegality as the Law on the Matter -the Administration of Criminal Justice Act,2015, provides that the first line of Sureties should be blood relatives of the suspects and the Law does not give the holding facilities powers to impose extraneous conditions ,not provided for by Law. Also the case of Dasuki v. Director General State Security & Ors (2019) LPELR-48113 (CA), states that a Civil Servant standing as a Surety anywhere is illegal as same contravenes the Public Service Rules (PSR).When the family Members produce the Sureties, some times paying huge sums to the Sureties to do so ,the EFCC Operatives will now spend another 2 to 7 days to “confirm” the Sureties, when the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) stipulates in Section 36 that suspects should not be detained for more than 24 Hours, after arrest. When you fight them with the Law , they will go and arraign you in a jurisdiction, that it will be difficult for you to get sureties in Court .These and more are malaise the EFCC Chairman should stop and give the Commission a new brand.
The EFCC should desist from investigating Matters pertaining to contracts as the EFCC is not a debt collector as has been stated in a Plethora of cases by the Supreme Court and other Superior Courts of Records.
The EFCC is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ,how come it investigates mainly Financial Crimes and it rarely investigates Economic Crimes? We rarely hear about the following crimes :Oil Bunkering , Oil Racketeering, Palliative Racketeering, Under payment of Import Duties ,Currency Trafficking, the Massive Exchange Rate Fraud , Forgery of Customs documents, Customs Officers collecting money at borders and on the high way like high way robbers, NIMC Officials collecting money from poor Nigerians before attending to them for their NIN and National ID Card, it is called Bribery and corruption, how come we hardly hear any thing about Bribery ,mostly, we hear about corruption.
The EFCC should follow the due process of Law in all its activities as it is a creation of Law. To this end, the EFCC should stop the practice of using a mere letter to a Bank to freeze the Accounts of Citizens,they could incur damages. They should also stop the practice of writing with red paint “EFCC Keep Off” on Citizens’ Properties ,except they have a Court Order. They should also stop the illegal practice of seizing the cars of Citizens without a Court Order.The EFCC Act provides for interim forfeiture of properties using Ex Parte Orders.Any cars seized without a Court Order must be released forthwith. There should also be an electronic tracking system in place to track all seized properties and a public auction sale of same,after due process, with an open bid, open to public participation and public scrutiny,to ensure accountability and probity. As an Anti -Graft Agency ,the EFCC like Caeser’s Wife must be above board.
The EFCC should also know that Lawyers are partners in progress and not enemies. When they see a Lawyer, they should accord him the requisite respect and co-operation. Lawyers make your work easier if you knew how to deal with them properly. They are Ministers in the Temple of Justice and EFCC Officials are Officers of the Law .Their functions are interwoven as the EFCC itself cannot prosecute without Lawyers. So, it is high time there was a synergy between the EFCC and Lawyers to preclude needless litigation and allow for a seamless operation of the Anti- Graft Agency. If you make working with you difficult for Lawyers, Lawyers will make it very difficult and some times impossible for you to work with others.
We do pray that the EFCC meets its mandate and reaches the objectives set by the Founding Fathers, who created the Organisation.
We congratulate the new Chairman, who is a colleague and we pray that things will get better in the Organisation
