Senate calls for EFCC reform, condemns media hype
The Nigerian Senate has called for a reformation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and re-strategizing for an effective fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes in the country.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Suleiman Kwari, stated this during the commencement of the 9th Senate Legislative Anti Corruption Strategy Implementation Session at the National Assembly Complex. Kwari said: “Ninety per cent of investigation should be done before arrest is effected. “Media hype must stop. If you want to be effective forget the media, do the work and let your work speak for you.”
Addressing the committee, the acting chairman of the EFCC, Mohammed Umar Abba said the agency is doing well, despite its numerous challenges. “The EFCC is doing remarkably well above all other law enforcement agencies in the country and that is why the UNODC and National Bureau of Statistics in the 2017 survey they conducted ranked EFCC as the most effective government agency in Nigeria.
“We are working on this challenge and I am sure the attorney general of the federation is coming out with a gazette so that this issue will be a thing of the past, not only vehicles, but landed properties.
“It is true that the whistle-blowing policy has gone down, unlike what it was at the beginning of the policy, where we received several reports from whistle-blowers. People started being mischievous with the policy. So we have to tread carefully as people turned it into a personal vendetta tool against individuals,” Abba said