*Says agency’s lawyers promote graft
By Daniel Kanu
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency set up to eradicate the cankerworm of corruption in Nigeria, has been described as the most corrupt institution in Nigeria today, a classic case of the hunter becoming the hunted.
Making this assertion in an exclusive interview with The Niche is Professor Ben Nwabueze, Nigeria’s foremost constitutional lawyer and anti-corruption crusader who has called for a social and ethical revolution as the only way to eradicate the malaise.
Nwabueze said President Muhammadu Buhari’s belief that he will win the war against graft with all the probes undertaken by the EFCC will remain a mirage because according to him, “The EFCC is one of the most corrupt institutions in this country.”
The erudite lawyer said those who believe, like Buhari, that the EFCC is the solution to the problem of graft in Nigeria should first find out what happened to all the money recovered from looters or realized from sale of their assets forfeited to the Federal Government.
Told that many Nigerians may not agree with his assertion, Nwabueze countered: “What happened to all the money EFCC claimed to have recovered through plea bargain? You said many people won’t agree with me? Why has Buhari sacked Ibrahim Lamorde, the former EFCC chairman? Have you looked at the report on the sale of assets of former Inspector General of Police Tafa Balogun, and former Governor of Bayelsa State Diepreye Alamieyesegha, forfeited to the Nigerian state?
“Have you looked at the report? What happened to the buildings? What happened to the money realized from the sale of these assets? There is a committee set up to investigate the sale of these assets under the former chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu. The report is there and you say many people will not agree with me.
“Maybe, there is a new dispensation in the EFCC. Maybe! With the sack of the old people, Lamorde & co, you need a thorough overhaul of EFCC, thorough overhaul. The law setting it up – the 2004 Act re-enacting an earlier 2002 Act needs to be overhauled. The EFCC has become an instrument of terror which undermines our constitutional system.”
Reacting to a recent allegation by the acting EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu, that some lawyers and judges are frustrating the fight against corruption by profiteering from corruption proceeds, Nwabueze said the EFCC chairman should look inwards rather than disparage lawyers who are discharging their legal and constitutional duties and making legitimate earnings therefrom.
He accused lawyers hired by the EFCC as prosecutors of conniving with the accused persons to evade justice and sharing in the loot thereafter, insisting that the most lucrative legal practice in Nigeria today is to be lawyers of the EFCC.
“He (Magu) should tell us the relationship between the EFCC and lawyers it engages to prosecute corrupt persons. That is where the corruption is. Not lawyers defending alleged corrupt people. No! Those ones are briefed by accused persons and they charge their fees.
“Where the loot comes in is between EFCC and the lawyers it engages to prosecute accused persons. Go and investigate. So many EFCC lawyers are multi-millionaires. This is on record. There is evidence that those lawyers Magu is accusing share the so-called fees with officials of the EFCC.
“One of the most profitable areas of legal practice in Nigeria today is to be a lawyer of the EFCC for prosecuting those accused of corruption. That is one of the most profitable. They have amassed so much money. So many things go on unnoticed by the public. They should tell us. It is more or less an exclusive thing to become lawyer of the EFCC. They fight to get appointed as EFCC lawyer. If you get appointed as EFCC lawyer, then you are made.”
Nwabueze says he supports the war against corruption, however, adds it must be fought within the ambit of the law: “I am totally in support of the fight against corruption provided the war is waged in accordance with the Constitution. We must at all times apply and adhere to the constitutional limitations on power. You know, it is a question of do you want total war on corruption, disregarding constitutional limitations on power.
“That will be anarchy. I can tell you that the day you say to hell with the constitution and its limitations on power because of the war against corruption, then you are facing anarchy in this country because the constitution is the glue that holds all of us together whether you are Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa. That is what we have in common.
“And for anybody to come and say to hell with the constitution, because of the war against corruption, you are courting the end of this country as one. You are courting the dissolution of that glue. So, fight corruption by all means but please fight it within the framework of the constitutional limitations on power.”
He, however, is wary about how far the war as presently waged can go in eradicating corruption, insisting that the country is far too submerged in the cesspit of graft for an ordinary war to make any meaningful impact.
For him, nothing short of a revolution will do but he doubts President Muhammadu Buhari’s ability to undertake such.
“I believe that corruption is only but one of the ills bedeviling this country. This country is rotten, thoroughly rotten. And I believe that the only way to effectively cleanse this country of the rottenness is a revolution. But are we ready for a revolution? I will support a revolution, not a fighting revolution. People always think that a revolution only means carrying arms. By revolution I mean social and ethical revolution led by a president who understands what it means, who is prepared to mobilize everybody’s support.
“When you talk of a revolution, even social and ethical revolution, it means an end to the constitution, an end to constitutional democracy. Are we prepared for it? Is this country prepared for that? If you are not prepared for a revolution, then it means we have to stick to the constitution.
“Fight corruption within the constitutional framework if you cannot really mobilize this country for a social and ethical revolution, which is the only effective answer to our problems. Is this administration with the incumbent president prepared for that? Is it what he is doing?
“There is no point pretending that you are still a constitutional democracy and fighting corruption when you are doing the contrary. If you want a social revolution, come out openly and you will have my support. Come out openly and say this country is too rotten, let us keep the constitution by the side because we have to try to end all this rottenness of which corruption is only one.”
