EFCC: A COMMISSION AT A CROSSROADS
The anti-graft agency has fallen far short of its potential
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, was recently suspended from office by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Bawa, who has since been in the custody of the Directorate for State Services (DSS), is being asked to answer to “weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.” His office is now temporarily occupied by the commission’s director of operations “pending the conclusion of the investigation.” While there is no timeline for that, it is not lost on Nigerians that the helmsman of an institution created to tackle graft is himself caught in allegations of unwholesome practices.
However, given insinuations that Bawa was arrested because of investigations concerning some individuals in the new administration, we hope that the federal government will conclude on these “weighty allegations” and make its report known to the public. It is also important that Bawa be availed his rights under the law. But the greater challenge is what the EFCC has become. Despite initial promise, we believe the anti-graft agency has fallen far short of its potential.
It is true that EFCC has over the years arraigned many high-profile political figures on corruption charges. The commission has also recovered billions of naira as proceeds of crime while securing some convictions. Notwithstanding, there are always questions surrounding recovered money and properties. Besides, many of the convicted politicians have also been pardoned, contested and won elections despite having abused public trust in previous offices. While we cannot blame the commission for those political decisions, they nonetheless impact on their work and effectiveness.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, we still believe a resilient and more independent EFCC epitomises the most hopeful possibility of making headway in the fight against corruption, especially in a complex country like Nigeria. Yet, the EFCC’s let-downs are not entirely of its own doing. There has been massive institutional steeple chase to all honest efforts in a country where the political system continues to recompense rather than reprimand corruption. The judiciary has also to a large extent been a stumbling block to the efforts in fighting graft. Several cases against prominent political figures have been held up in courts for years without the trials even taking off. The country’s feeble and overstrained judiciary offers infinite openings for experienced defence lawyers to secure never-ending and sometimes dizzy delays as well as dubious perpetual injunctions against criminal prosecutions.
Although President Tinubu has not made the usual song and dance about fighting corruption, Nigerians expect him to tackle the menace. But in doing so, he should publicly state his assurance to break away from the bad practices of past administrations. This includes interference by the executive with the operations of EFCC. He should initiate laws to improve the independence of the commission, begin the long-term process of reforming and strengthening the court system and take bold steps to advance the work of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB). In that regard, the law should be amended to make for open declaration of assets.
As we have said on this page several times, fighting corruption in an environment such as ours goes beyond making sensational claims that are not backed by any evidence to putting in place structures that will lead to trials and convictions of those that are guilty without tarnishing the reputation of innocent citizens. Therefore, the current practice of publicly naming and shaming suspects even before any case has been brought against them flies in the face of individual freedom and privacy. In some instances, people are publicly paraded as arrested only to be surreptitiously released and the case dies. If it wants to be taken seriously, EFCC must understand that fighting corruption is not about drama. It is serious business.
