Abuja Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday accused Ibrahim Magu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of frustrating the federal government’s fi ght against corruption. Malami also accused the anti graft agency of working to prevent the lifting of the country’s suspension by the global fi nancial intelligence gathering body, the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (Egmont Group) and ensure the country’s formal expulsion. In the statement issued AGF spokesman, Comrade Salihu Othman Isah, Malami frowned at Magu’s hard stance on the issue and noted that the uncooperative attitude of EFCC’s leadership could encourage the Egmont Group to carry out its threat to expel the country.
He also alleged that Magu and the EFCC leadership “have manipulated and misused intelligence to the detriment of the fi ght against corruption and fi nancial crimes in Nigeria.” Malami regretted that Magu appeared not to understand the implication of Nigeria’s expulsion from the group on government’s eff orts to combat corruption, terrorism, money laundering and other related vices.
Th e AGF, who insisted on ensuring the separation of NFIU from the EFCC, praised the Senate for passing the Bill for an independent NFIU and urged the House of Representatives to urgently pass similar Bill currently pending before it. Th e Egmont Group, currently made up of 156 Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from 156 countries and Nigeria is represented by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), but was suspended on June 1, 2007 because the NFIU lacks independence and was subject to the control of the EFCC via the provision of the Section 1(2)(c) of the EFCC Act.
Th e group demanded autonomy for NFIU as a condition for the country’s re-admission, failing which it would be expelled. Since the nation’s suspension, Malami and Magu have been unable to agree on how to meet the condition set by the Egmont Group for the country’s readmission. While the AGF wants the creation of an autonomous NFIU, detached from the EFCC and had sent a Bill to the National Assembly to that eff ect, Magu wants NFIU to remain part of EFCC, but with mere reorganisation of its operations. Th e statement reads: “Th e EFCC is now in a state of paranoia, as it dreads the eff ort of the government to have an independent NFIU, which it has stood against stoically since 2006. “As it presently stands, the NFIU staff are all deployed by the EFCC to serve in the interest of whoever is its current Chairman. Th is has to stop if it must conform to the new thinking and global best practice. Nigeria cannot be an island of its own. It cannot fi ght corruption in isolation”.
