NBA seeks panel on operations of anti-graft agencies

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has advocated the establishment of a fact-finding committee to examine the functions of the various anti-corruption agencies with a view to identifying the need for merger. The chairman of the NBA Anti-Corruption Commission, Dr Chike Osanakpo, made the assertion last week during this year’s Anti-Corruption Day commemoration in Abuja. There […]

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has advocated the establishment of a fact-finding committee to examine the functions of the various anti-corruption agencies with a view to identifying the need for merger.
The chairman of the NBA Anti-Corruption Commission, Dr Chike Osanakpo, made the assertion last week during this year’s Anti-Corruption Day commemoration in Abuja.
There have been calls for the merger of the Nigeria Police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to make them more effective.
Osankpo observed that though there are overlaps in the functions of the anti-graft agencies, a short term solution would be to encourage “proper synergy and cooperation among the agencies.”
On the establishment of special courts to try corruption cases, he said,  “there is no provision in the 1999 Constitution for special courts. This would warrant the amendment of the constitution.”
The General Secretary of the NBA, Mazi Afam Osigwe and the former Attorney General of Ekiti State, Dayo Akinlaja (SAN), called for strengthening of the Nigeria Police to carry out its responsibilities.