ABUJA — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, boasted last night, that it prosecuted over 160 financial crimes-related cases within the first six months in office of its current chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde.
The commission said it also convicted no fewer than 30 crime suspects, among them those implicated in the mega scam that rocked the nation’s oil industry last year.
The EFCC made the declaration in a statement in Abuja by its Acting Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, while reacting to claims by a columnist with an online medium criticising Lamorde and his commission of not doing enough to fight rising graft in the country.
In the article entitled “EFCC: From Hope to Hogwash,” the author concluded that for not rendering its 2011 account to the National Assembly as demanded by the law setting up the agency, Lamorde and the system which he runs have failed to live up to the expectations of Nigerians.
But the commission spokesman disagreed with the submission, claiming that Lamorde had done his job transparently and reinvigorated a near comatose system, leading to the restoration of hope and confidence by its international partners, who had abandoned the commission in the past due to non-performance.
Uwujaren said: “Everything the EFCC Chairman has done since he took the reins of the commission’s leadership has been tailored towards restoring the commission’s moral and professional integrity.
“From recalling some of the crack investigators who were asked to leave the commission in its meltdown years, investigating and prosecuting officers with integrity issues, to running integrity checks on all serving officers. Lamorde has had one thing in mind: Restoring the professional health of the commission.
“The result of this initiative is evident even to cynics. Many of the international partners that abandoned the commission in its testy years are back. The commission now enjoys the confidence of law enforcement organisations around the globe, opening up fresh windows of cooperation and collaboration that have strengthened the fight against economic crimes and corruption in Nigeria.
“There is no promise Lamorde has made concerning his current job which he has abandoned. Of course, those who have been carried away by the theatrics and drama that the commission had come to be associated with in the recent past may find it difficult to appreciate the professionalism of the EFCC under Lamorde.”
“The era of high drama, the era of simply showing off and blowing hot air is gone. Real law enforcement the world over is serious business, and not one to be conducted on the pages of newspapers and television studios.”
EFCC submitted its 2011 Annual Report, right on schedule to the two chambers of the Nigerian National Assembly, Thursday, 27th September, 2012. No fanfare. No drama.
Section 37 of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004 states: “The Commission shall, not later than 30th September in each year, submit to the National Assembly, a report of its activities during the immediately preceding year and shall include in such report the audited account of the Commission”.
This, the commission said, was done quietly on the 27th of September, 2012 to the two chambers of the National Assembly.
