From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been encouraged by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) to reinforced efficacious and efficient frameworks in light of the recent discussions sparked by the appointment of the new Chairman,
It said it is necessary to consider not only whether the agency’s leadership nomination satisfies legal requirements but also the degree to which the EFCC establishment Act’s provisions satisfy public and standard expectations for a nominated Chairman’s eligibility and the institution’s intended purpose.
In a statement issued by Executive Director Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and Head of Transparency International Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said: “Since its establishment, stakeholders have continued to insist that the law establishing the EFCC is not only restrictive and discriminatory, but that it unjustifiably shuts out Nigerians with equal or even greater competence and patriotism to head the anti-graft agency. There is an urgent need for reforms to enable anti-corruption institutions like the EFCC carry out their mandate effectively and independently, without undue influence and the new Chairman needs to lay a foundation for wide consultations on this process. “This would set the stage for a comprehensive interrogation of the conceptual, structural and operational frameworks of the commission with a view to identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats towards informing recommendations on specific ways its operations and administration can be more effective and efficient. It is instructive to note that such a process demands wide consultations with various state and non-state stakeholders to enrich and ensure the robustness of these reforms and to address cross-cutting issues.”
Secondly, the Center urged EFCC to strengthen measures to prevent corruption
Past administrations of the EFCC have secured a commendable number of convictions, and more recently, a total of 3,785 convictions recorded across all its Commands in 2022, recovering over $121 million (about N51 billion at the average exchange rate of N423/$ for 2022) and non-cash assets.
“With its 2022 budget at over N43 billion, the Commission’s operations have however come at great costs at the expense of taxpayers. As a cost-effective and proactive way of conducting its operations, the EFCC should explore opportunities for strengthening preventive mechanisms, including but not limited to strategic collaborations and integration with relevant agencies for real-time data and information-sharing. “Formulating strategies to prevent corruption will also entail enhancing the EFCC’s capabilities, which includes fostering integrity within the organization and establishing frameworks that guarantee transparency and foster accountability in public administration.”
CISLAC also urged the anti-corruption agency to improve the quality of convictions. “While the nominal convictions recorded by the Commission are impressive, the quality of convictions are not. Frequent media announcements of high-profile arrests have only led to a few convictions, even in seemingly open and shut cases, to the dismay of both local and international observers.
“Last year, despite the low number of convictions for politically exposed persons (PEP), the Council of State on the recommendation of the then President, pardoned and released two convicted former governors from prison – Jolly Nyame of Taraba and Joshua Dariye of Plateau, whose prison terms were upheld by the Supreme Court.
“The lack of significant political convictions however leaves a lot to be desired. There is a long list of individuals and politically exposed persons who have been on the EFCC wanted list for years without prosecution or convictions. The Commission needs to ensure that it conducts thorough investigations of all public officers and politically exposed persons (PEP) named in the Pandora papers, Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Genko scandal and FinCEN Files while those found guilty be made to face the full wrath of the law as a deterrent to others.
“Additionally, in a recent contract and procurement fraud survey, the new Chairman revealed that between 2018 and 2020, ₦2.9 trillion meant for some government projects was diverted into personal use by contractors. It is our hope that this revelation will inform investigations and prosecution of those complicit in this fraud.”
The CISLAC noted that on transparency and accountability, there’s an increased need for the demonstration of greater transparency and accountability to the Nigerian public, especially with regards to operations, budgets and expenditures. In promoting public confidence, both locally and internationally, we encourage the Commission to adopt a well-designed and operational system of asset declaration that can be an important element in the overall anti-corruption and integrity system through “asset declaration available for public scrutiny”.
On Professional conduct in investigation, arrest, prosecution, and public engagement, CISLAC noted that anti-corruption is a collective effort, hence its imperative that Commission staff discharge their duties and engage the public with the utmost professionalism to restore its confidence and support.
It said: “Nigeria has a terrible human rights profile and according to a June 2023 report by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI), has a below average performance when compared with other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Investigations- There have been countless accounts and a growing public angst against the unethical practices of anticorruption agencies across the country.
“The Commission has been accused of embarking on media trials rather than collecting hard evidence before effecting arrests and prosecutions. It cannot be overemphasized that thorough investigations must be conducted to a satisfactory level before prosecution and when accused persons are brought before the court, proper charges must be made against the person(s), facilities must be availed, such as legal representation and the charges against the person must be within the law.
“The new leadership has the opportunity to change the narrative by ensuring that the conduct of the Commission’s officials is professional during arrests and when addressing the public and the Chairman must enforce a zero tolerance for corruption, indiscipline and unprofessional conduct. The EFCC needs to also embrace a culture of adapting to evolving forms of corruption through digitization.
“Arrests- Recent arrests like that of the former Imo state Governor, Rochas Okorocha have led to accusations that the Commission deploys unsavory and unlawful tactics in its arrests. These processes are not in tandem with the rule of law and are a clear violation of the rights of any accused or suspected individual, and we urge the new chairman to make fairness and justice his watchwords while discharging his duties.
“Public engagement- There is a need to strengthen public engagements through effective communication and feedback channels.“
CISLAC on strengthening domestic and international collaborations for collective impact, noted that the fight against corruption is a monumental task that cannot be undertaken by the EFCC alone and fostering collaborations and harmonizing inter-agency operations is crucial to mitigating corruption.
“While we applaud the Commission for proactively establishing strategic collaborations with other national agencies to mitigate corruption, these collaborations are yet to yield significant reduction in corruption. The Commission should take better advantage of its collaborations with agencies like the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) through the Extractive Industries Fraud Section of the Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI). A lot needs to be done to improve on these strategic partnerships, including extending it to the media, religious bodies and the civil rights groups as the collaborative efforts will greatly reduce the scourge of graft and set Nigeria on the path to greatness.”
The Center, on complementing the reforming of the financial system, noted that despite the powers of and the checks that have been put in place by the CBN and other relevant institutions regulating the sector, the system appears to be manipulated as Nigeria loses between $15 – 18 billion annually to illicit financial flows (IFFs).
“The banking sector has been largely implicated in money laundering where they have been instrumental in the initial entry or placement phase that involves the initial movement of an amount of money earned from criminal activity into some legitimate financial network or institution.
“This illicit act embedded into a legal trade has pervaded both the national and international business and banking industry with unabated vigour.”
On Asset recovery: Constitution of legal team, CISLAC recalled that on May 12, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Proceed of Crime (Recovery and Management) Bill into law making it an Act in a bid to fight against corruption, money laundering and illicit movement of stolen funds.
“Recovered assets, however, still remain a small fraction of around $17bn, which Nigeria loses annually through money laundering, tax evasion, embezzlement, looting and other crimes in the form of illicit financial flows.
“Despite the limitations on the use of non-conviction provisions, the volume of domestically recovered assets has been considerably boosted since 2016 due to the greater use of non-conviction approach coupled with the implementation of key policies such as Whistleblowing policy, Voluntary Oshore Assets Regularization Scheme (VOARS), Treasury Single Account (TSA), Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), and others. The Whistleblowing policy recovered allegedly 7.8 billion Naira ($25 million), $378 million and £27.800 between November 2016 and 2018 according to the government figures.
“However, there remain issues with the absence of independent verification of the volume of recovered assets as well as the alleged conflicting, unconstitutional and cost-intensive approach to stolen asset recovery under the past administration.”
On on the independence of the Commission, CISLAC said, pending the opportunity for legislative reforms that guarantee the true autonomy of the Commission, free from political influence, the Commission must be seen to hold public interests at heart in the fulfilment of its statutory mandate, without pandering to the whims and caprices of political actors. It must also desist from public confrontations and its tendency to protect political interests.
“The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the national chapter of Transparency International (TI-Nigeria), believes that national growth and development requires collective effort, and we remain committed in our resolve to lend our voice and support to positive strides that have the potential to promote transparency and accountability and hold the interests of the citizens and the country at heart as it pertains to security, socio-economic development and national prosperity.”