The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has described a report by the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor on Nigeria’s anti-graft war as misleading.
The department’s country reports on human rights practices for 2018, among other things, stated: “There is a climate of impunity in the President Muhammadu Buhari government that allows officials to engage in corrupt practices with a sense of exemption from punishment.”
The report said Nigeria has made little progress in efforts to limit corruption in its public service.
In its reaction, the EFCC said the report was not only false but also misleading “on the grounds that Nigeria’s remarkable achievements in the last four years in the war against corruption is on course.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC has secured 943 convictions from 2015 till date. The breakdown shows that the agency recorded 103 convictions in 2015, secured 195 convictions in 2016 and 189 convictions in 2017. The EFCC secured 314 convictions in 2018, including that of two former state governors who were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment without option of fine,” the commission said.
The EFCC stated that another high-profile conviction worthy of recognition was the case of a ranking military officer who was recently convicted: “Air Vice Marshal Tony Omenyi (retd) was jailed by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, February 28, 2019. He was found guilty of the amended three-count charge brought against him by the EFCC and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine.”
The commission said it had recovered many assets as well secured forfeiture of others to the Federal Government.
It said, “Indeed, the EFCC has revolutionised the process of assets tracing and recovery. From the available records, the commission recovered assets worth several billions of naira and huge amounts in different foreign currencies between 2015 and 2017.”
The commission claimed to have recovered, in 2018 alone, various sums amounting to billions in naira and foreign currencies, including N171,131,700,541.17; $14,490,174.49; £873,278.09; €298,055 391,838 Riyals and 10,135 Dirham.
The EFCC said the US report was replete with inaccurate information and, therefore, worrisome “considering the close working relationship between the commission and some US entities.”
“From the foregoing, it is clear that the report authored by the American agency has done a great disservice to the work of the EFCC in particular and the fight against corruption under the leadership of President Buhari, an administration that is globally acknowledged for the enormous political will it has brought to the fight against corruption in Nigeria,” the EFCC said.