By Erasmus Ikhide
The scourge of corruption is one of the reasons why Nigeria is notliving up to its ‘Giant of Africa’ Shibboleth and has continued tocrawl on her knees in adult diapers to the chagrin of her countrymenboth at home and in the Diaspora. Since Independence, billions ofdollars has been lost to corruption according to the globalanti-corruption watch dog, Transparency International (TI).
On hindsight, it was commendable of former President Olusegun Obasanjoto have established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) in 2003 to effectively tackle graft and corruption. That nearlytwenty year old vision has yielded fruits as the agency is makingsturdy strides in the gargantuan war against the malaise.
Corruption is too huge to be fought alone by the EFCC and we commendthe EFCC for forging strategic partnerships with other agencies in thecountry to make corruption minimal. We recall during the heady days ofthe sinister apartheid regime in South Africa that the liberationfighters most notably Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Desmond Tutu,Winnie Mandela etc didn’t take the Boer regime headlong alone.
They sought collaboration among many nations like Nigeria, Ghana,Zimbabwe, Kenya etc for financial, technical and ideological support.Many South Africans in exile who were fighting the cause from abroadsuccessfully lobbied the then Margaret Thatcher led administration toimpose sanctions on the regime of the then Pieter Willem Botha ledgovernment. Mbeki, then based in London played a key role in thenegotiations that led to the release of Mandela from incarcerationafter 27 years behind bars. The American War of Independence fromBritain which led to the latter defeating the army of King George IIIhad the backing of France. Noble causes are never fought alone. Thispiece will critically examine how the EFCC has partnered with Nigerianagencies to wage war against the hydra headed monster of corruption.
The EFCC has gone into a partnership with the Nigerian ContentDevelopment and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in 2020 for speedyinvestigation of infractions committed by oil companies in Nigeria.This is a step in the right direction as the oil sector – the goosethat lays the golden egg for the Nigerian economy is bedeviled by manyirregularities allegedly committed by the big players in it especiallythe International Oil Companies (IOC’s). Popular businessman andpolitician, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim told the world that he made hisfortune as a tax consultant to the Federal Government by ensuring thegovernment got billions of dollars in taxes from the IOC’s. Nigeriansdeserve a better deal from the black gold and this partnership isdesigned to bring home the bacon to the doorsteps of Nigerians.
In 2021, the EFCC and the Nigeria Extractive Industries TransparencyInitiative (NEITI) have gone into a partnership to ensure that therevenues due to the government in the oil and gas sector is remittedto the government and to also fight corruption in the sector. TheVanguard Newspaper on April 23, reported that the EFCC Helmsman,Abdulrasheed Bawa was quoted to have said when he received the NEITIBoss at the EFCC’s Headquarters in Jabi Abuja where he said “We havedeveloped expertise in oil and gas investigation. We did oil subsidyinvestigation, we did oil swap investigation, we did OML and OPLinvestigations, which came with billions of naira recovered. We canwork together to ensure that what rightly belongs to Nigeria is ours”.
He urged the Agency to take advantage of the Extractive IndustriesFraud Section of the Commission, which was created exclusively totackle fraud in the extractive sector.
“In 2012, the EFCC set up a special team for petroleum subsidy which Iwas part of, and at the end of our assignment, it was changed into apermanent section in the EFCC. It was changed from special team forpetroleum subsidy to Extractive Industry Fraud Section, and the EFCCdid not stop at that. We ensured that every Zone of the Commissionhave that section.”
The Thisday Newspapers reported on December 16, 2020 that the EFCC andthe Department for State Services(DSS) have partnered to effectivelytackle graft in Nigeria. A statement issued by EFCC said the IlorinZonal Head of the EFCC, Oseni Oluwasina Kazeem, made the disclosureTuesday while playing host to the State Director, DSS, PatrickIkenweine, at the commission’s office in Ilorin.
Kazeem, who decried the rate at which corruption had permeated everysector of Nigeria system noted that the cankerworm could only be tamedthrough collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, including the DSS.He commended the DSS for being a good partner in the fight and calledfor more robust working relationship between the two agencies.Earlier, the Director DSS, Ikenweine stated the essence of his visitwhich he said was to familiarise with critical stakeholders in theState.
“I’m here to familiarise with you in a bid towards building on theexisting cordial relationship with your agency.
“The DSS and EFCC have a record of good working relationship, which Ihope should be sustained,” he said.
The EFCC and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) went into apartnership during the Chairmanship of Babatunde Fowler to fight taxevasion in the country. This collaboration, according to the FIRSExecutive Chairman, Tunde Fowler, will ensure Nigeria’s financialsecurity and independence, which he said are key to nationaldevelopment.
Fowler made this known in Abuja at the opening of InternationalConference and Capacity Building Workshop on the Use of BeneficialOwnership Information and The Recovery of Assets in Africa. Hebeckoned on Nigerians and the international community to collaboratein the fight against “any illegality”.
“Corruption is anything illegal. Whether it is money laundering, taxfraud, tax evasion or other illegalities. We must collaborate to fightthem. When you are fighting corruption, you are taking back from thecorrupt people, what they erroneously think belongs to them. That iswhy they resist the fight against corruption”, Fowler said.
The EFCC and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining DevelopmentInitiative (PAGMI) on August 3, 2021 reiterated the need forcontinuous education and enlightenment of artisanal gold miners andgold sellers in view of their vulnerability in being used toperpetrate sinister acts of money laundering.
A few days ago the EFCC encouraged the members of the National YouthService Corps (NYSC) to embrace financial crimes in the country. “Addyour voice to mine, because the fight against economic and financialcrimes involves you and I. I will play my part, you will play yours.”The EFCC chairman stated this in a sensitization lecture on the Roleof Youth in Curbing Cybercrimes presented on his behalf by officialsof the Commission at various Orientation camps of the Batch B stream 1set of corps members.
“Embrace hard work and shun crime, Yahoo-Yahoo is not a sustainableway of life. As dynamic young men and women, our desire is to harnessyour intelligence and energy for greater public good in your areas ofprimary assignments”, Mr. Bawa said.
The EFCC is extremely pragmatic in its strategic partnerships withother Nigerian agencies as they cannot win the anti-corruption waralone. We urge the EFCC to forge more partnerships especially with themedia, religious bodies and the Civil Rights groups as thecollaborative efforts will greatly reduce the scourge of graft and setNigeria on the path to greatness which may dwarf the achievements ofthe Asian Tigers.