The harder they come, the harder they fall. They would enter with all the glamour, glister and sparkle. All full of life. But they end up crashing, biting the dust.
In the spate of 20 years, it has had eight chief executives, acting and substantive. The story of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has always been shrouded in high-tech controversies.
Its chairmen constantly swim in troubled waters. Their tale has remained that of grace to grass. Sadly, they hardly learn from the missteps of their predecessors.
Once they mount the saddle, they become a law unto themselves. They put on the toga of a tin god. And enjoy its allure while it lasts.
Unfortunately, it has never lasted the distance. It usually ends suddenly and in disaster too. Yet, the successor falls into the same pit. He is blind to the landmines.
So? They entered with fanfare, they exited virtually unsung. Yes, in utter disgrace and disrepute. Such has been the fate of previous EFCC helmsmen. Is EFCC jinxed?
The real message is usually lost on them. They are mere pawns in the hands of their benefactors. They are perceived as attack dogs. They are at the whims and caprices of their handlers.
Since EFCC came on board in 2003. The journey remained turbulent, full of twists and turns, ups and downs. The fall guy in all this is always the agency’s chairman. He is prey and victim.
The roll-call would shock you: Nuhu Ribadu, pioneer chairman, 2003 to December 2007; Mrs. Farida Waziri, May 2008 to November 2011; Ibrahim Lamorde, November 2011 to November 2015; Ibrahim Magu (acting chairman), November 2015 to July 2020; Umar Abba (acting), July 2020 to February 2021; Abdulrasheed Bawa, February 2021 to June 2023; and Abdulkarim Chukkol (acting), June 2023 to date.
The controversy denominator dogged their footsteps. It trailed their appointments and/or performances. Worst still, all were alleged to have abused their office. Some laced with doses of corrupt practices.
They became bullies as quickly as they got there. They did this with a terrible and frightening template. That’s the undoing of its chairmen. Once they picked their suspect, they declared him guilty. Even before trial. Made a media show of him. Detained him.
Then they scouted frantically for charges to nail him. Oftentimes, they failed. This method is lousy and inhuman. The reason most of its “celebrated cases” met a dead end.
They never went beyond public entertainment. Some of the arrests were effected to settle whatever scores. The suspect you parade today walks the street tomorrow. Free, unmolested. Sad. You still wonder why the anti-graft czars end the way they end?
But one woman chairman, Waziri, stood out from the pack. She refused to toe that path. She gave a clear hint to this. She made a sterling difference. It was crystal clear.
She evidently proved a point: What a man can do, a woman can do even better. Waziri lent credible credence to this. She knew what she wanted at EFCC. And how to go about it.
She gave a profound account of herself. Her unambiguous testimony in her biography, “Farida Waziri One Step Ahead; Life as a Spy, Detective and Anti-graft Czar,” said that much:
“I had set before me the priority of building the agency into a formidable anti-corruption institution. What I met on ground was an EFCC built on the cult of personality.”
She hit the ground running almost immediately: “From the first day, I had envisioned a long-term future where the agency would be autonomous like its counterparts in the developed world.”
She was faithful to her resolve. She never derailed nor deviated: “The EFCC I took over was an organisation with offices strewn all over Abuja. The headquarters was in Wuse II. The Economic Governance Unit, the department that deals with theft by politically-exposed persons, was in Asokoro.
“The Legal Department was domiciled in the Aso Rock, while the intelligence unit was somewhere in Garki. I thought that was not the ideal.” She promptly did the needful:
“We needed professionalism in every aspect of our process and operation. I tried to solve the office problem, to decongest the offices.”
She got all the departments into one location: “I was able to secure five and a half hectares of land for the permanent site along Airport Road.” Former President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated it seven years later: “I dreamt it. I laid the foundation. I was proud of it.” What a fulfilment!
Waziri did not operate in a vacuum. She had a focus: “I dreamt of the day the EFCC would become an independent, fully fledged agency, staffed with core EFCC operatives and some police officers that want to switch to the organisation. I had fully prepared the staff for that prospect.”
She was creative in her approach and operation. She drew deeply from her rich experience. She had been to Hong Kong, Switzerland and Israel. And she picked useful lessons from them. Her sojourns at SFU and Force CID also came into active play:
“I created two interrogation rooms fitted with the necessary electronic recording fixture. From my office, I could monitor proceedings through a closed-circuit system. I could chip in one or two things from my office during an active interrogation.”
With this: “We changed the interrogation culture from the hitherto friendly atmosphere to a gritty, business-like approach.” How?
This is how: “A suspect is sent into the room to wait some minutes ahead of his questioning. The time they spent waiting eased them into a sober mood and infused some gravitas into subsequent interaction.”
That’s how to get the best results and rehabilitate. And she did get some in abundance. By the time she left EFCC, it was a different story. A huge departure from the past. She was proud to flaunt it:
“The money recovered under my watch was over $9 billion in three years. We made decent recoveries, especially during the bank sanitation carried out in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under the leadership of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.”
She knew what to do to achieve results. And she did it with deftness and aptness. She would not shy away from reality. She made the right move at the right time:
“Inter-agency cooperation was top on my agenda. I had good working relationship with the State Security Service (SSS). Ditto the Nigeria Police, whose hierarchy I frequently approached each time I needed staff or when EFCC operatives needed reinforcements.”
She didn’t stop at that: “We had a very good working relationship with Code of Conduct Bureau. We had a healthy interface with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), a cordial working relationship.
“EFCC was never in rivalry with any of the various security and law enforcement agencies.” That is the way to go. Synergy is key in security network. That was not lost on her either.
Waziri sure had her bad times. She confessed there were tough times but believed such times never lasted. And she was damn right. This is how she handled one such time:
“At the time the Americans were giving out bad reviews of the EFCC under my leadership, I had very good relationship with the Metropolitan Police and other European agencies.”
Even more: “The United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC), brought me a bullet-proof car. We didn’t have patrol vehicles for surveillance. UNODC gave us a fleet of 12 buses.”
It was a boost: “That contradicted the falsehood making the rounds that traditional partner agencies had lost faith in the EFCC and had severed ties with the organisation.”
She strived hard to change the negative narratives about the anti-graft agency under her watch. And it paid off handsomely: “As an organisation, we also tried to divest ourselves from the culture of arbitrariness and impunity.
“The EFCC was not about me. We tried to position it as an institution. I was careful to follow the due process. I did not get carried away by power. I did not use my position to harass anyone or pandered to the wish of politicians.” What a radical departure from the sordid past!
She’s not yet done: “The EFCC handled VIP cases without undue media circus, without pressure or prejudice from the Presidency. The agency refrained from acting like an attack dog that took its cue from its handler.”
Then came another initiative: “I carried case files home. As bulky as they came, I read the case files back-to-back, paying attention to recommendations. I took my own notes. I wouldn’t want to rush to court only to have my case fall flat on its face.”
She beat her chest and boasted: “Yes, I would have gotten convictions for some of those cases. I was accused of being soft but they forgot I arrested and indicted more high-profile figures than any EFCC chair before or after me. The record is incontrovertible.”
Waziri was guided and guarded accordingly: “I remember (former) President (Umaru) Yar’Adua saying to me: ‘I don’t want Gestapo methods. I don’t want a trial by the media. I want you to follow due process.’
“I had abided by his orders. The EFCC I chaired cannot be accused of arbitrary disposal of suspects’ properties. The assets were kept until the cases were concluded.”
She made bold to say: “There was nothing personal between me and those persons arrested by the EFCC under my watch. I was just doing my work.”
Waziri was emphatic and down to earth: “The point is, the cases we handled were never personal nor personality-driven. No one individual influenced the case to take up, not even the Presidency made the call. The EFCC chair is a very powerful office. But I worked within the rules.”
Her ultimate objective: “We wanted to have a Nigerian society that questions its members who suddenly amass wealth overnight. A society that would shun rather than fawn over those known to be living off proceeds of fraud.
“That was the motives behind the Anti-Corruption Revolution (ANCOR). The fight against corruption is not won by handcuffs and cudgels alone.” Right and right!
Waziri is a pride to womanhood. She has thrown a challenge. Let others before and after her also straighten their records with EFCC if they dare. It’s only wise to tread Waziri’s shining path.
So, is EFCC actually jinxed?