Opinion
Office Of Nigeria’s Attorney General And The EFCC
It is no longer news that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation has taken over the N5bn fraud case filed by the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against a former Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.
The Chief State Counsel, David Kaswe, disclosed this at the court during proceedings on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. He stated that a letter had been sent to the EFCC requesting the case file of the defendants. Mr. Kaswe informed the judge, justice Inyang Ekwo, about the development.
Is this development not an usurpation of the core responsibility of the EFCC and the Act that established it?
Mr. Ola Olukoyede, the new EFCC chairman, during his confirmation hearing at the Senate, had vowed to uphold the independence of the EFCC by ensuring that there shall be no sacred cows in the execution of its duties. Is this development not an indication that Mr. Olukoyede may have surrendered the core responsibility and independence of prosecuting suspects by the EFCC? If this will be the new order of handling cases of politically exposed persons, so what happens to the cases of past governors whose cases are yet to be concluded?
Despite the constant media hype attention given to the arrest of former governors, their trial are frequently poorly handled, convictions have been rare even in egregious cases.
Meanwhile, the graft cases of former governors are either ongoing or stalled with many of them accused, and are still holding or seeking election to public offices.
Stalled cases involve some former governors who are alleged to be involved in money laundering, misappropriation of funds, outright fund diversion and misuse of public funds while in office.
Amongst former governors whose cases are yet to be concluded include:
1. Abdulaziz Yari – Zamfara
2. Theodore Orji – Abia
3. Tanko Al-Makura – Nasarawa
4. Godswill Akpabio – Akwa Ibom
5. Abdulfatah Ahmed – Kwara
6. Aliyu Wamakko – Sokoto
7. Ali Modu Sheriff – Borno
8. Rabiu Kwankwaso – Kano
9. Willie Obiano – Anambra
10. Bukola Saraki – Kwara
Perhaps Mr. Olukoyede will kowtow to the Office of the Attorney General, AG, without being prompted, to hand over the prosecution of former governors to the AG.
If the chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Olukoyede, should allow the take over of the prosecution of Stella Oduah by the AG, he should immediately hand over his resignation letter as chairman of the EFCC to president Tinubu.
By the way, it does not make sense for the AG to take over the core duty of the EFCC, especially when the Act that establish her is very clear on its constitutional responsibility as stated in the 1999 constitution, as amended.
The AG, Lateef Fagbemi, should restrict himself to his duties as the official legal adviser to the Federal Government as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. If he is convinced that the EFCC is not discharging its duties, as enshrined in the Act that establish it, he should immediately raise the necessary memo to president Tinubu, to forward the necessary Bill to the national assembly for an amendment of the EFCC Act – the EFCC should either be scrapped, or allowed to perform her duties without interference.
If the AG insists on taking over the prosecution of Oduah, then it should as well take over the prosecution of past governors who had been investigated by the EFCC and whose trials have become open-ended and may end up like that of convicted, pardoned former governors Joshua Nyame of Taraba and Joshua Dariye of Plateau states.
The AG must respect the spirit of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and respect the independence of the EFCC as an institution deliberately created by an Act of the national assembly to fight corruption. As the former United States President, Barack Obama said during his state visit to Ghana, ‘Africa must build strong institutions, not strong men.”
Finally, the AG must ensure the independence of the EFCC by allowing the body to perform her official duties without Executive interference or encumbrances. Also, the EFCC must buckle up and accelerate the diligent prosecution of cases before her. Nigerians are tired of daily news reports of the conviction of Yahoo-Yahoo suspects. What Nigerians will consider as a win is when more high-ranking officials accused of graft are prosecuted, convicted and jailed without presidential pardon or amnesty. This is the way to go.