Treading an Unfamiliar Path

If the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission feels it has the powers to invite officials of the Peoples Democratic Party for interrogation, what then are the functions of the Independent National Electoral Commission? Davidson Iriekpen asks

Acting on a petition to it by a former Edo State Commissioner for Information and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Kassim Afegbua, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, to release three party officials for interrogation.

Those to appear before the commission to answer questions bordering on criminal conspiracy andabuse of office are the National Auditor, National Organising Secretary and Director of Finance.

In an invitation dated May 17, 2021, and addressed to Secondus, the commission said the need to obtain clarifications from the party had become imperative. THISDAY gathered that the interview,which was to hold on May 19, 20 and 21, 2021 respectively, has now been rescheduled for this week.

Afegbua, in his petition, had alleged that money generated from the sale of forms and other sources totalling N10billion was unaccounted for. His petition was triggered by the contents of a leaked memo of an auditor’s query on financial transactions involving the PDP leadership.

The National Auditor of the party, Adamu Mustapha, had alleged that his office was oblivious of the party’s financial transactions since 2017.

He said, “The purpose of this alarm is to bring to the notice of this NWC the inability of the audit department to perform its functions as enshrined in the constitution and the extant laws, to illustrate as example, the audit department was incapacitated by lack of access to the necessary inputs that will enable it to discharge its duties.

“For whatever reasons, there is no access to all financial transactions (cash inflows and outflows) documents of the party like cashbooks, receipts. vouchers, registers cheques and bank statements all of which are necessary input or pre-audit for due process, internal control and reconciliation.”

Mustapha later addressed the media at the instance of the party leadership, where he denied accusing the national chairman of financial malfeasance.

But the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, and other party leadersdismissed the claim as untrue. Ologbodiyan explained that the audit query had been dealt with and issues raised therein adequately addressed by the parties NWC and the NEC.

In spite of the denial and repudiation, the EFCC still went ahead last week to act on the petition by inviting the party’s officers for interrogation. While the party is weighing all the options available to it to halt the anti-graft commission’s encroachment into its internal affairs, many observers are wondering if the agency has the powers to interrogate officials of a political party on how it spent its finances. They also wonder if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not the main supervisory organ of political parties in the country?

For instance, nowhere in the EFCC Act was it stated that the agency would investigate the finances of a political party. Section 6 of the EFCC Act which gives the agency general power to investigate crimes does not mention a political party. Analysts believe that even if it did, it would be inconsistent with the provisions of Sections 225 and 226 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which clearly, give INEC the powers to investigate and scrutinise the accounts of political parties.

Section 6 of the EFCC Act, which spells out the functions of the anti-graft commission does notinclude the investigation of the finances of political parties. Virtually every subsection of the Section 6 expressly states that the commission shall be responsible for – the investigation of all financial crimes including advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of negotiable instruments, computer credit card fraud, contract scam; the co-ordination and enforcement of all economic and financial crimes laws.

It extended it to include the enforcement functions conferred on any other person or authority; the adoption of measures to eradicate the commission of economic and financial crimes; the examination and investigation of all reported cases of economic and financial crimes with a view to identifying individuals, corporate bodies or groups involved; the determination of the extent of financial loss and such other losses by government, private individuals or organisations.

It is believed that the only agency responsible for the investigation of political parties and their finances in the country is INEC. This is why Section 225 of the 1999 Constitution states copiously under the finances of political parties that: (1) Every political party shall, at such times and in such manner as the Independent National Electoral Commission require, publish a statement of its assets and liabilities.

Two, every political party shall submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission a detailed annual statement and analysis of its sources of funds and other assets together with a similar statement of its expenditure in such form as the commission may require. (3) No political party shall – (a) hold or possess any funds or other assets outside Nigeria; or (b) be entitled to retain any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria.

Four, any funds or other assets remitted or sent to a political party from outside Nigeria shall be paid over or transferred to the commission within twenty-one days of its receipt with such information as the commission may require. (5) The commission shall have power to give directions to political parties regarding the books or records of financial transactions, which they shall keep and, to examine all such books and records.

It went further in Section 226 to state: (1) The Independent National Electoral Commission, shall in every year prepare and submit to the National Assembly a report on the accounts and balance sheet of every political party. (2) It shall be the duty of the commission, in preparing its report under this section, to carry out such investigations as will enable it to form an opinion as to whether proper books of accounts and proper records have been kept by any political party, and if the commission is of the opinion that proper books of accounts have not been kept by a political party, the commission shall so report.

Subsection 3 states that every member of the commission or its duly authorised agent shall have a right of access at all times to the books and accounts and vouchers of all political parties; and be entitled to require from the officers of the political party such information and explanation as he thinks necessary for the performance of his duties.

It concluded that if a member of the commission or its such agent fails or is unable to obtain all the information and explanation, which to the best of his knowledge and belief, are necessary for the purposes of the investigation, it shall state that fact in its report.

This is why many observers are at a loss, where the EFCC got the powers to invite the officials of the party over its finances. It is for this reason a group, the PDP National Youths Frontier, has slammed the anti-graft commission for inviting the party’s officials to explain how N10billion was allegedly diverted.

National Coordinator of the group, Austin Okai, said only INEC has the legal right to probe a political party’s finances.

The statement read in part, “It is only the INEC (the electoral umpire) and main supervisory organ of political parties in the country that can carry out any investigation into any party’s financial activities, not the EFCC.”

It accused the federal government of devising a plan to clamp down on PDP members, arguing that it was obvious that the EFCC had lost focus and that while it was against any form of corruption within the party, the only right channel to be used remains the INEC, as it is the main supervisory organ of political parties in the country.

The group faulted the points raised by the EFCC that it wanted to verify the proceeds from the sale of forms, saying it is not only unheard of but laughable that it sought to turn itself into the de facto auditor of the PDP. It said the jurisdiction of the EFCC did not extend to investigating internal party affair, adding that as far as it is concerned, is the party’s internal affair.

“This, as far as we are concerned, is the party’s internal affair. The jurisdiction of the EFCC does not extend to investigating internal party wrangling. The EFCC is therefore acting outside its powers by inviting the above named persons. One of the points raised by the EFCC is that they want to verify the proceeds from the sale of forms. It is unheard of and laughable that the EFCC seeks to turn itself into the de facto auditor of the PDP.

“It is obvious that the EFCC has lost its focus. It is chasing political parties, whose funds have nothing to do with government funds, while there are people who have outstanding cases in court concerning embezzlement of government funds from the ruling party,” it said.

The group noted that it was waiting for the reports of many cases of corruption on the table of the EFCC, which it said has either been swept under the carpet or forgotten.

Also, the PDP Caucus in the Senate has urged the commission to be wary of being used to stifle opposition in the country and declared that it was happy with the level of accountability and transparency in the conduct of the affairs of the PDP.

It therefore “passed an implicit vote of confidence on the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party,” according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the Senate Minority Leader, Uchenna Awom, in Abuja.

The lawmakers warned the EFCC against usurping the statutory functions of INEC which include the monitoring of finances of political parties. They viewed EFCC’s meddling in the affairs of the PDP as a clear usurpation of powers that it did not have and a deliberate ploy to stifle opposition in Nigeria.

“It is the exclusive legal preserve of the INEC to monitor the finances of the political parties and how they manage same. So, the law is clear, that it is the function of the INEC to do so and not the EFCC. It is therefore preposterous for the anti-graft agency to invite the NWC of PDP over a phantom petition by an individual without recourse to what the law says in the circumstance. It is a misnomer and an aberration,” the caucus said.