The new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, who assumed office on Thursday, has vowed to reposition and refocus the commission for optimal effectiveness.
A statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, quoted him as saying, “We are going to drive professionalism in discharging our duties in line with the rule of law. The rule of law is going to be our guiding light. We are going to drive EFCC to a place that when you see EFCC personnel, you will see a touch of professionalism. We are also going to be involved more in prevention, because it is better to save money for the government than to spend money in prosecution”.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Victor Okpara, said the country’s image had been dented, adding that just as the issue of yahoo yahoo had brought the country’s name into disrepute, there were some high-profiling individuals who were alleged to have committed economic and financial crimes. He charged the commission to be bold.
He added, “You can’t leave the real thieves that have run this country down and be pursuing pickpockets. I’m not saying those ones should be left alone but honestly you must deal with the real problem and not pursue shadow. Any person that has committed a financial crime or economic crime should be made to face the law no matter your status and that is what the law says.”
Supporting Okpara’s view, Mutalubi Adebayo (SAN) urged the EFCC to prosecute past governors including current ministers involved in alleged financial crimes.
He stated, “The people with immunity are not much, so those former governors who are ministers and the EFCC has a case against them, they should go after them because they have lost their immunity since May 29. If they are found guilty, the President will also know that he had made a wrong appointment.
“The new EFCC chairman should bring onboard his wealth of experience so that before you arrest, you have a case against the person.”
However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olatunde, expressed concern that the agency needed to do better in prosecuting high-profile cases, saying some politicians failed to appear before it when invited and nothing was done about them.
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof Samson Erugo, said the lack of political will to prosecute the former governors and other politicians made the immediate past leadership of the commission to concentrate more on the ‘Yahoo-yahoo’ boys.
Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afam Osigwe, urged the anti-graft agency to discharge its duties regardless of who was involved.
“They should be able to discharge their duties without the fear of favour,” he added.
Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Babatunde Ajibade, said the EFCC should go after every offender without discrimination. He added, “Whether Yahoo boys or ex-governors or others, they should go after all of them. I think they should go after everybody. Both the yahoo and ex-governors should be held responsible for their offences, they should not discriminate.”
