EFCC MUST WAKE UP TO TACKLE CORRUPTION – FALANA

L-R: Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), Representative of EFCC Chairman, Mr Latona Gbolahan; Host /Executive Chairman of Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) and representative of Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Engineer Adekunle Olayinka speaking at the inaugural CACOL’s Occasional Roundtable Discourse (CORD) at Ikeja, Lagos today. PHOTO BY: Bamigbala Adekola

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to wake up from its hibernation to tackle many corruption cases piled up across the country.

He made the call on Wednesday at the inaugural Occasional Roundtable Discourse organised by the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) in Ikeja, Lagos.

The senior advocate and human right activist said EFCC should treat all corruption petitions before it with all seriousness and fairness, adding that Nigeria doesn’t need to borrow any loan to finance its budget if all proceeds of corruption are legally and promptly pursued and recovered by the agency.

“For tax purposes, we must declare the exact quantity of oil brought into Nigeria. In Philadelphia port (USA) alone in two years, oil taken away from Nigeria and recorded there was 60.2million barrels, valued at 12.7 billion dollars. We sent a petition to EFCC almost a year ago; I think they are still studying it. Now if you add 12.7 billion dollars with 21.7 billion dollars, you’re talking of about over 31 billion dollars. So, will you need 29 billion dollars loan?,” Falana said.

Similarly, former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji tasked the EFCC to help rid the nation of corruption.

Reacting to his recent legal battles with the anti-graft agency, Ikuforiji said: “All the media in this country reported as if I have been charged for fraud, No! EFCC took me to court actually for administrative lapses. It’s not that I took money and spent on something else; they said that I collected cash from my (LSHA) account department for what I was supposed to collect it for and for what I was supposed to use it for, but that I didn’t go to the bank to go and collect the money. It’s not that the money I collected was too much but they said I should have gone to the bank to collect it.”