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EFCC and The Rule of Law
Continued
During the infamous 2007 selections, EFCC took it upon itself to determine who
among the ex VP's men will be allowed to contest. The Presidency became the
umpire as to to makes the list and who gets dropped. INEC left it's neutral
position and started disqualifying opposition candidates, sometimes 24hour to
the election, creating the mess the judiciary is still battling to clear.
The EFCC brought itself to this sorry pass. It's army of admirers thinned by the
day, as Baba held sway and EFCC went haywire across the land. With the advent of
Yar'Adua, the EFCC does not seem to be so sure footed anymore.
Back to the present, the reality is the EFCC has done a lot for this country in
a short space of time, warts and all. The fear of EFCC is the beginning of
wisdom, for crooked officials. The EFCC to a large extent has helped launder the
image of Nigeria abroad, got Nigeria de-listed from the infamous FATF blacklist,
got Nigeria into compliance on international anti-money laundry conventions, and
help increase confidence in our payment systems, evidenced by the entry of Visa
and MasterCard into Nigeria. Nigeria is a few steps away from full integration
into the world financial payment systems. At home and abroad, the EFCC has made
giant strides.
Strict adherence to the rule of law may hold down the EFCC and allow corrupt
officials, especially ex governors to slip away. Courts should not be allowed to
restrain EFCC from carrying out its lawful duties. The EFCC act may require a
second look to shielded it from black market injunctions. Our court system is
not yet efficient enough to effect charging suspects to court in 72 hours,
unless a special court is set up for EFCC to fast track it's process. The EFCC
need to move with speed, and out court system is not yet set up to handle this
tempo. The current rule is stacked in favour of the suspects. The EFCC needs
more room to maneuver, to get powerful crooks to book, room to devise creative
methods of checkmating crooks without gross abuse of human rights.
Any law that does not serve the national interest has to be reviewed. Laws are
made my men, not the other way round. The eradication of corruption is in the
national interest. The EFCC cannot eradicate corruption in Nigeria, but they can
set the stage for Nigerians of all walks of life to rise up and say "Never
Again!". We need to send a strong signal to corrupt officials and aspiring ones,
that you will end up in jail for sure, and your loot will be recovered from you.
Crime flourishes where there is no punishment for offenders.
A recent Transparency International poll shows 64% of Nigerians are positive
about the government's fight against corruption. This is a giant leap from some
years back, when most moves were greeted with cynicism.
This tempo needs to be sustained. The EFCC need to be unshackled to go full
blast against the bad guys. The law needs to be reviewed to reflect our current
realities. Hopefully the EFCC has learned it's lessons in operating outside the
rule of law. It may be time to take a second look at the law.
By NigeriaGalleria Editorial Team
December 2007
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