Defanging EFCC

The recent clamour to take away prosecutorial powers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could, at the end of the day, disempower the organisation and oxygenate the monster of corruption which is at the moment being choked by EFCC’s pillar-to-post commitment to ridding the nation of the monster. I’m sorry, much as I […]

The recent clamour to take away prosecutorial powers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could, at the end of the day, disempower the organisation and oxygenate the monster of corruption which is at the moment being choked by EFCC’s pillar-to-post commitment to ridding the nation of the monster.
I’m sorry, much as I respect the person and office of Mr. AB Mahmoud, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA (one of the more credible lawyers plying the trade), I don’t see merit in his suggestion to strip EFCC of powers of prosecution. The only gainers I see is the large tribe of eminent thieves under EFCC’s binoculars. In the last one year alone, EFCC has been able to secure more than 140 convictions and recovered billions of dollars in stolen funds from unscrupulous individuals.
Among politicians and crooked civil servants, the fear of EFCC is the beginning of wisdom. Those who have stolen enough money to establish private armies have now come to realise that there is really no hiding place for a thief no matter how eminent. The safe havens of yore in foreign lands are no longer safe as the world now frowns at stolen money. More than ever before, technology has enabled the world to monitor money laundering. No one expects EFCC therefore to be in the good books of crooks and their acolytes, the latter of which includes a good number of senior lawyers. 
Five years ago in the UK, Judge Christopher Hardy sentenced Bhadresh Gohil – James Ibori’s lawyer – to seven years imprisonment.  “You have brought shame on your family, your profession and your country”, said the judge as he sent the lawyer out of circulation. No one would be surprised to find that there are many Gohils practising law in Nigeria. But will they be brought to book in a system that is rigged in their favour? There are cases of Nigerian lawyers who would be hard put to explain how they came about their stupendous wealth. There have been cases in the past where lawyers tried to influence judges and other officials through bribes. Thanks to the National Judicial Council, a few of the lawyers and offending judges have been eased out of the system.
Laymen like us can’t claim to know the fine details of the law and the strange ways of some officers of the law. But we have good old common sense. One question that immediately comes to mind is this: How many cases of graft involving high public officials have the other agencies that have the power to prosecute successfully put to rest in the last one year? For emphasis, I am asking you to take the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Police, Customs, Immigration, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, NAFDAC, NDLEA…Lump them all together. Have they secured as many convictions of thieving barons as EFCC has done?
There are thousands of cases poorly prosecuted by the police partly because they are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and they are short-staffed. The police arrests, conducts investigation and prosecutes. Why are we not looking in that direction? The answer cannot be far from the fact that most police cases largely involve the masses, the wretched of the Nigerian earth. The most glamorous and ‘lucrative’ cases in the land are those involving billionaire thieves, corrupt public officials, crooked politicians and their accomplices, wigged and wig-less.
Who says that cases transferred to the Attorney-General will be prosecuted expeditiously? What guarantees are there when that office is not famous for such speed? Who says corrupt public officials would not have ‘technical partners’ in the AG’s office to evade prosecution and conviction. Those who are afraid of EFCC now will laugh the rest of us to scorn the moment EFCC is stripped of powers to prosecute because they have mastered of having the corrupt bureaucracy under their thumb.
In my humble view, we must ensure the recovery of as much ill-gotten billions as possible; otherwise we shall know no peace. The only way to understand what is happening is to put yourself in the position of the billionaire looter. If you have stolen billions of dollars, would you stand akimbo and allow EFCC to can you? In all likelihood you would reach out to government officials and lawyers on how to neutralise the anti-corruption agency so that you can enjoy your loot without distraction.
While Nigerians are groaning on account of the economic downturn, there is too much money in circulation in the underground economy controlled by crooked billionaires. Apparently only a tiny fraction of their loot is needed to mount an anti-EFCC campaign on various platforms as they have been doing. Logic 101 has taught me never to generalise, so I would never indict ALL lawyers. There are crooked lawyers just as we have crooked journalists. However, it is legitimate to say to the lawyer: Show me your client list and I will predict which side of the border you are likely to be found in the anti-corruption war.
Without EFCC, would many of those currently being prosecuted ever be arraigned before the courts? How many prominent criminals has the office of the Attorney-General successfully prosecuted since 1960?
All of us – NBA inclusive – need change. I buy Mr. Mahmoud’s argument on reform, but I would rather see the EFCC strengthened than weakened. Let’s tweak the areas where the agency is adjudged to be over-reaching itself. But let’s not defang it by removing its power to prosecute!
The main reason Nigerians have borne the current hard times with uncharacteristic stoicism is because they know in their hearts that President Buhari is not a thief. The story might have been different under a different leader. It would be the supreme irony if it is under Buhari’s watch that the gains of caging the fat cats who have looted us blind, are eroded.