Dismissal of Mrs Farida Waziri, Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission by president Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, November 23, is a welcomed development in the prosecution of the insidious cancer called corruption. Corruption in Nigeria is an ongoing nightmare as most Nigerians know. Mrs Waziri should not take this personally, it only means that the corruption have gotten to the point where she is no longer capable of making a dent on the cancer. A new blood or an old hand like Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde who was instrumental in the establishment of the of the agency will revitalize the agency with his wealth of experience and determination. I have said over and over that Nigeria cannot go very far with the current level of pervasive corruption. You have done your best Mrs Waziri, but your best is not good enough in this war.
What is constant in Nigeria is that corruption seems to be everywhere particularly in public sector. It has permeated private sector as well.
Nigerians have to learn not to idolize ill-gotten wealth since that will encourage more looting of the treasury. If you are in a position of responsibility in public service, set good example so your subordinates will emulate your conduct and pass it on to others. Some Nigerians are having problem making the connection between them and government. Some think that government is out there without realizing that they are the government and that Nigeria treasury belongs to them, that looted money is indirectly coming out of their pockets. When Nigerians internalize this concept, they will begin to muster the courage to individually and collectively do what is necessary to arrest this situation.
The result of pervasive corruption and misguided priorities is that Nigeria have made little economic progress since independence compared to her peers in other parts of the world.
Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) was established by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo with the approval of the national assembly in 2003 and 2000 respectively. EFCC was established as a law enforcement agency to investigate financial crime such as money laundering, advance fee fraud while ICPC is suppose to target corruption in the public sector, especially bribery, graft, and abuse of office. The EFCC act empowered the agency to investigate people in all sectors of the economy who appears to be living above their means and are empowered to thoroughly investigate the affected individuals and prosecute them including those involved in money laundering and other illegal financial activities. The banks are mandated to cooperate with EFCC in tracking stolen money. The two organizations often run into conflict and tension due to what appear to be function overlap.
Unfortunately, ICPC have been a disappointment due to their underwhelming performance. The agency have recorded minimal success in the fight against corruption unlike EFCC under its first chairman, Nuhu Ribadu. EFCC rocketed into prominence by addressing financial corruption through prosecution and conviction of high profile corrupt individuals ranging from Nigeria’s former chief law enforcement officer, Tafa Balogun, former governor of Bayelsa state , Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and several bank chiefs and advance fee fraud nicknamed 419. Nuhu Ribadu was so effective in prosecuting former untouchables that fear of EFCC became prevalent among politicians which lessened wholesale looting of Nigerian treasury with impunity. EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu and Ibrahim Lamorde arrested the following former governors who lost their immunity at the expiration of their terms: Orji Kalu, James Ibori, Joshua Dariye, Chimaroke Nnamani, Saminu Turaki, Bonny Haruna, Jolly Nyame, Abdullahi Adamu, Lucky Igbinedion and others.
Nuhu Ribadu’s gallant, patriotic and fearless leadership was rewarded with tactical and humiliating removal as chairman of EFCC by corrupt characters headed by former Nigerian attorney general, Mike Aondoakaa, who prevailed on late president Umaru Yar’dua to relief Nuhu Ribadu of his chairmanship position and appoint their preferred candidate, Mrs Farida Waziri as chair of EFCC against widespread opposition by many Nigerians and civil society groups.
War on corruption have basically slowed to a crawl since the appointment of Mrs Farida Waziri. It is a welcome development that the president took the drastic action of removing her from EFCC position for the good of the country. Her priority of wiping away fingerprints and memory of his predecessor from the EFCC by transferring trained personnels and anti-corruption expert out of the agency back to regular police force, including Ibrahim Lamorde, who was unceremoniously posted to irrelevant police post in the northern state in-order to frustrate him. The result is that cases inherited from Nuhu Ribadu have been mishandled in various courts around the country resulting in few convictions. Nigeria have regressed from score of 2.7 in 2009 to 2.4 in 2010 according to Transparency International corruption index. It is now up to Mr. Lemorde to pick up the pieces. I hope the courage and dedication is still there.
Nigeria cannot advance with the current level of corruption. It is imperative that major steps needs to be taken to right this sinking ship. Just having Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde at the helm without structural changes in the architecture of the EFCC operation will not work. The following steps will help revitalize the current comatose war on corruption.
- Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) offices with experienced and trained personnels should be established in all state capitals with branches in all local government Areas. The current situation where EFCC offices is located in few states is ineffective. Saturation of EFCC personnels all over the country will make would be criminal think twice before engaging in their nefarious act. More money should be budgeted for this noble effort.
- EFCC need to become an independent agency preferably under the control of Nigeria Judicial Commission (NJC) who will recommend chairman to the president and approved by the senate. NJC should oversee the agency’s activities and remove corrupt chairman and personnel of the agency just like the judges. It is on record that former presidents, especially former and current attorney general have meddled in EFCC operations. EFCC should not be left at the mercy of political operatives especially in a country like Nigeria where the rule of law have not taken root.
- EFCC equivalent for civilian law enforcement agencies such as the Police, customs, Immigration, Road Safety Commission and others need to be established. Their function will be to police those agencies and dismiss corrupt officers same way as Nigeria Judicial Commission police Judges. This will hasten and clean up Nigeria law enforcement agencies. Ordinary Nigerian will have difficulty obeying the law if law enforcement personnels are not doing the same.
- Removal of the immunity clause: The most important part of the constitution that need amendment is the part dealing with immunity clause. Immunity clause which shields governors from prosecution while in office should be removed from the constitution. The presidency can keep the immunity clause but there is no reason for the governors to have immunity. Removing the clause will make each governor think twice before engaging in illegalities. Immunity clause is a license to steal and governors are utilizing and exploiting it. Governor’s argument in favor of immunity clause is that they will be flooded with lawsuit which will prevent them from doing their job. That is a legitimate point but it should be crafted in such a way that governors can hire lawyers to defend them at government expense while in office so they will not be bankrupted by legal fees. I understand that constitutional amendment clause dealing with removal of immunity clause may not obtain required 2/3 approval from state legislatures where governors control levers of power. Unfortunately for Nigeria, most state legislatures have not asserted their independence from their state executive branch (governors) compared to the National Assembly that have done so to a large extent. If the constitutional amendment route is deemed improbable, the presidency or EFCC can go to the supreme court and seek clarification or interpretation of the clause by arguing that the intent of the Constituent Assembly who drafted the constitution and the immunity clause for governors intended for it to be for civil and not for criminal offense.
- Public officials need to be paid better. Part of the jumbo pay of legislatures should be diverted to everyday public servants. Law enforcement officials should be given hazard pay on-top of their regular salary. Paying everyday employee adequate salary especially law enforcement officers will go a long way in reducing corruption and attract more qualified and capable personnel.
- Comatose sister of EFCC, ICPC needs to be revitalized along with Code of Conduct Bureau (COB). The three agencies should cooperate and share information since some of their responsibilities overlap. The three agencies are basically pursuing the same objectives. The three agencies can be merged so they will be more effective and avoid duplication of functions. Other law enforcement agencies should cooperate and share information with each other.
- Extradition treaties should be negotiated between Nigeria, United States and European countries so criminals will not find save heaven anywhere. It is well known that the looted funds from Nigeria is ferried to United States and European countries where the money is stashed away in various banks and the rest used to buy real estate properties for residential and commercial purposes. These criminal love to own mansions in developed countries and travel back and forth with their family members. Negotiation should include declaring the corrupt officials persona-non-grata so they will be denied places to enjoy their loot. It will be more effective than a lot of people realize. United States declared former Nigeria attorney general Aoandoakaa persona-non-grata, Neither him nor his family members can enter United States.
- Establishment of special courts to try corrupt officials should be established by the judicial in other to conclude corruption cases faster since justice delayed is justice denied. If establishment of the special court is deemed a bad idea, the minimum will be to mandate judges to finish corruption cases within few months or mandated number of years.
- Constitution need to be amended to establish municipal government akin to city governments in United States with power to establish police force. Trained and honest police force will help in the fight against corruption.
All necessary steps must be brought to bear in-order to reduce or stamp out corruption. Thorough investigation and facts needs to be gathered before suspect is arrested so the evidence will stand up in the court of law. EFCC should be able to call in suspects for questioning as many times as possible, but that should not be interpreted as guilt. Creation of good business environment will attract investment by foreign and local population. Nigerians have to come to the realization that war on corruption is a collective effort which requires each person to do their part.