A member of the National Assembly, Ladi Adebutu, has said that granting autonomy to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would strengthen the ongoing fight against corruption and graft in the country.
Adebutu said a stronger EFCC would further bolster the image of Nigeria in the comity of nations.
The lawmaker, currently representing Ikenne, Sagamu and Remo North Federal Constituency of Ogun State in the House of Representatives, stated this in a phone chat with our correspondent, against the background of his recent sponsorship of a bill to amend the laws establishing the EFCC.
Adebutu, who is also the Chairman of the House Committee on Rural Development, said that Nigerians and the country at large would benefit greatly from the new EFCC that his sponsored bill sought to create as the incidence of corruption would become drastically reduced.
He added that the passage of the bill into law by the National Assembly would give the commission the free hand to efficiently prosecute and convict corrupt persons and institutions.
The lawmaker said, “This bill, when passed into law, would free the EFCC from all forms of encumbrances now hindering it from performing optimally in prosecuting and convicting offenders. It would remove all the bureaucratic bottlenecks that normal hinder the smooth operations of the EFCC. A stronger EFCC will be a good thing for Nigerians and Nigeria’s image as a country. What I’m concerned about is Nigeria, the survival of the country for the sake of posterity and future generations. So, all hands must be on the deck to ensure the passage of this bill into law.”
Speaking on the highlights of the EFCC amendment bill, Adebutu said that the legislation would increase the commission’s autonomy in prosecuting and convicting offenders in addition to making it more independent by subjecting the removal of its the Board members and Director-General before the end of their tenure, to the Senate’s confirmation.
Currently, only their appointment is subject to the approval of the Senate.
“Another core area the Amendment Bill targets is to increase the level of EFCC’s operational efficiency, by separating the Board of the Commission from the Executive Management of the Commission. Presently, the Board is headed by an Executive Chairman of the Rank of Assistant Commissioner, while the Board has Heads of Security Agencies, like the Police, State Security Services, National Intelligence Agency and others, as members.
“In practice, this does not forebode well for the Commission, because the Executive Chairman is junior in rank and the Board would merely have its meetings attended by junior officers, representing the Heads of Security Agencies. The implication of this is that, it impacts on the quality of the board’s meetings and its effectiveness in reviewing management decisions,” he said.
The lawmaker said that his legislative intervention would also seek to ensure that a Nigerian from the private sector with relevant cognate experience, be appointed as the EFCC chairman, while its director- general would be in charge of the day-to-day administration of the Commission.
Adebutu also stated that the Amendment Bill would seek to make the commission’s pool of officers, the primary source for appointing heads of the EFCC.
“As it stands now, whenever the government wants to appoint an Executive Chairman or Director of Operations, it goes to the police to appoint an Assistant Commissioner of Police or Chief Superintendent, who are essentially Level 12 officers, over and above staff of the Commission who are in the ranks of Assistant, Deputy and Full Directors on Level 15 to 17. In other words, the Amendment seeks to redress standing institutional and administrative concerns and boost the morale of staff,” he said.
The lawmaker also noted that to improve EFCC’s powers of prosecution and conviction rate, the Amendment would seek to introduce clauses that would ensure that the commission retained the expertise and experience of its trained investigators, adding, “This is in light of the fact that most of the investigators are usually drawn from the police, and are sent on training courses to boost their levels of competence and skills. However, these officers usually transfer back to the police, leaving the Commission with a dearth of skilled investigators for its operations.
“This has negatively impacted on the quality of investigations by the commission and its capacity to achieve its goals towards national growth and development. Through the Amendment, the conversion of the police officers who so desire, to full and permanent staff of the Commission, will be provided for.
“The Amendment Bill would also enhance the status and cognate experience of members of the Board of EFCC by providing that a member of the Commission shall have not less than 20 years cognate experience and should not, if he’s a security officer, be below the rank of commissioner of police.
This, he argued, would ensure quality presence on the EFCC Board and enhance its productivity and efficiency.
