As the 2015 general elections draw near, the House of Representatives has cautioned the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) not to allow the Commission to be used for political vendetta.
Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Adams Jagaba, gave the warning yesterday when the EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Lamrode, led other top management of the Commission to defend this year’s budget.
Jagaba said members of a particular political party should not be favoured at the expense of the other, stressing that “if it affects the PDP man, treat him the same way you will treat an APC man because the law is no respecter of anybody, including Adams Jagaba.”
He also advised Lamrode to make sure that staff were paid their entitlements as at when due to avoid industrial crisis that could cripple an institution like the EFCC.
Jagba observed that the contractors handling the building of EFCC headquarters, Julius Berger, had not shown proof that it actually committed the N3 billion paid to it last year into the building project.
He said: “We said there was no evidence that Julius Berger spent that money on that project. They said they have purchased some things. We asked for proof, but they did not bring it. We don’t want to have issue with them and you.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of EFCC has said that the Commission was able to secure 117 convictions, last year.
He said the increase of overhead sub-head of the Commission’s budget from N1.4 billion to N2 billion would boost the Commission’s operational activities.
“This obviously will boost the Commission’s operational activities in the form of investigations and prosecutions and eventually result in more convictions during the year.”
The Budget Office approved N10.2 billion for the commission instead of the sum of N21 billion it proposed for 2014.