Initially, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established by an Act of the National Assembly on December 12, 2002 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo government, partly in response to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Money Laundering, also known by its French name, Grouped’actionfinancière (GAFI).
FATF had ranked Nigeria as one of the 23 countries that were non-cooperative in the combined efforts to fight money laundering globally. Due to the inadequacies in the 2002 Act, the National Assembly repealed it and re-enacted the 2004 Establishment Act, signed into law on June 4, 2004 by President Obasanjo.
Within the first few months of his assumption of office in 2003, the pioneer chairman of the commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, hit the ground running and put the agency on a firm footing that was quick to enhance public confidence and earned it global recognition.
Within few years, Nigeria was able to command the respect it deserved as a country that was determined to nip corruption in the bud and make the country an ideal place to do business for local and foreign investors.
Sadly, Ribadu was sent packing unceremoniously by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in December 2007, after the commission arrested a powerful politician, who was known to be a close ally to the late president, following his alleged involvement in corrupt activities.
In a jiffy, the commission lost its relevance and respect as many members of the public began to see it, under successive chairmen, as a witch-hunting political tool used to oppress and suppress people considered enemies of the ruling party. However with the emergence of AIG Ibrahim Mustafa Magu (rtd) as EFCC chairman, sanity returned to the commission, bringing the foremost anti-graft agency to local and global reckoning.
One of his achievements was his role in the celebrated P&ID case, which gave Nigeria a landmark victory at the Commercial Court of England and Wales. As Nigerians were heaving a sigh of relief that the commission had gotten its groove back, Magu was framed and removed after clashing with some political interests and heavyweights, who were close to power and saw the no-nonsense EFCC boss as a stumbling block.
Then came the immediate-past chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who was believed to have been brought in from the blues, against all odds by the former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN). Bawa, the first person without either military or police background to lead the commission, was accused of lack of discretion in running the anti-graft agency and tackling the elephant in the room.
Although he gave EFCC a Strategic Plan Policy Document and implemented Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents, his tenure witnessed mixed-feelings from the staff and the general public. President Bola Tinubu suspended Bawa and appointed Abdulkarim Chukkol as acting chairman to stabilise the commission. Chukkol also tried his best to restore sanity at the foremost anti-graft agency. He put in place measures to reassure staff and informed Nigerians that the commission would live up to expectations
Fast forward to October 12, 2023, when President Tinubu appointed Mr. Ola Olukoyede as EFCC executive chairman, which was subsequently confirmed by the Senate on October 18, 2023. The commission opened a new chapter and ready to fulfil the purpose for which it was established. In particular, the new Sheriff came with a clear-cut agenda of re-positioning and re-focusing the agency for optimal effectiveness.
Olukoyede, who had been a principal officer in the commission and served creditably under Magu, is tested and disciplined with an unblemished record of performance. He must have studied the mood of the public when he declared within a few days of his assumption of office that anti-corruption fights should be premised on initiatives and modalities capable of stimulating economic growth and development in the overall interests of Nigerians.
Addressing officers of the EFCC Lagos zonal command on November 7, 2023,, Olukoyede said, “There is need to redirect our focus towards what we were set up to do in Nigeria, which is to drive economic development. We will tilt our focus towards that area. We will work to drive economic development, create wealth and employment”. If Olukoyede walks the talk and puts an end to the era of winding down businesses by way of investigation, the country will enter the good books of foreign investors.
His declaration that the commission would look into the mix-fund rules that separate proceeds of crimes from legitimate money so as to allow businesses to grow will rewrite the name of the commission in gold. If these are done, it is a matter of time that EFCC would have helped, in line with its mandate, to redeem the image of the country in the global community. This is one measure that will tell the whole world that the anti-graft agency is ready to do the needful and put Nigeria among the comity of nations.
His promise that the agency would collaborate with other stakeholders to re-write the country’s history will go a long way in boosting Nigeria’s image and encourage foreign direct investments (FDI) to impact positively on our ailing economy. As Olukoyede marches on to be the change agent, he should not forget his promise to uphold the core values of the EFCC, namely, integrity, courage, professionalism and collaboration in the discharge of its duties in order to justify its engagement.
As promised by Olukoyede, the job will be half done if he can keep his promise on the three focal areas already identified and raises three posers as important thrusts of plying his new job. These are focus on the mandate of the EFCC, pursuit of transparency and accountability and building the image of Nigeria. To achieve these, he dwelt on the need for collective responsibility, greater emphasis on preventive frameworks against graft and premium attention on transactional credits.
Given the task ahead and the need for total commitment from all, Olukoyede appealed, “We must come together and believe that, with the way financial crimes have overwhelmed our structures and systems in Nigeria, we can’t move forward and if we move forward, it will be at a snail speed…The time has come for us to show commitment”
Seriki writes from Lagos
