The Federal Government has failed to nominate fresh names for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission board almost two years after the confirmation of the nominees ended in a fiasco in the eighth Senate.
The consideration of the nominees was stepped down in December 2018, following the exclusion of the South-East and South-South geo-political zones in the composition of the EFCC board.
Saturday PUNCH gathered on Friday that the Senate had not received any request from the Presidency to revive the aborted confirmation process since then.
This is coming against the backdrop of the non-confirmation of Ibrahim Magu, as the substantive chairman of the anti-graft agency. Magu, a Commissioner of Police, has been occupying the office in acting capacity since November 2015.
The Senate had stepped down the consideration and confirmation of four members of the EFCC in December 2018, following a row over the composition.
Then Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, had presented the report for the confirmation of Ndasule Moses, Lawan Mamman, Galadanci Najib and Adeleke Rafiu, as EFCC board members.
The committee recommended that they should be confirmed while observing that the South-East and South-South geo-political zones had no nominees.
But former Anambra Central Senator Victor Umeh had objected to the confirmation and insisted that the report should be stood down, noting that the nomination did not conform with the Federal Character principles.
Abia South Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, in the same vein, said the violation of the law should not be allowed in any form and prayed the Senate to step down the report.
But former Senate Leader and now Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, argued that the chamber should go by the recommendation of the committee, noting that the best way to address the situation may be to amend the EFCC law to ensure that it becomes mandatory for all zones to be represented in the commission.
Commenting on the failure of the government to address the anomaly, a lawyer, Victor Giwa, said the board was supposed to give guidance and advice to the anti-graft agency’s chairman and ensure transparency and best practices.
“So, when there is no board, the commission loses the benefit of having checks and the advantage of informed advice from experienced and seasoned persons who are drawn from top agencies of government,” the activist observed.
Executive Director, United Global Resolve for Peace, Shalom Olaseni, called on the government to stop playing politics with due process and set in motion the plans to properly constitute the EFCC board.
He added, “If the failure to constitute a board for the EFCC which reflects federal character is allowed to continue, then Mr President and the Senate are complicit in threatening the stability of the EFCC as an institution of the state.”
The Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigeria’s Democracy and Constitution, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, argued that the exclusion of the South-East and South-South regions in the EFCC board nominations and the failure of the FG to reconstitute it, “is part of an elaborate ploy to entrench the dominance of the core North over the South and to narrow and limit access to what other sections can have in his government.”
“The country is suffering on many fronts, but there is currently no competent leadership to pilot the wheel,” he stated.
