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Re-inventing The EFCC For Results
The recent suggestion by the Chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Farida Waziri that special courts be designated to hear cases of corrupt enrichment raised against public officers in Nigeria, provides another auspicious platform to critically appraise the anti-graft body, its operations, hopes and fears.
Ascending the saddle, following the exit of her controversial predecessor, Nuhu Ribadu, the new helms woman, has since her appointment, continued to lament the attitude of some Nigerian courts in dispensing with cases of graft, involving influential public figures.
While blaming the slow success of work of the commission on avoidable court injunctions, legal technicalities and time-consuming advocacies, Waziri suggested the establishment of special courts to help try EFCC related cases as one of the most potent steps towards fighting corruption in the land.
In fact, while, on a working visit to Lagos State, early this month, Waziri solicited the understanding and support of the Judiciary to dispensing justice speedily and checking corruption in Nigeria.
The Tide sympathises with the EFCC Boss, but whole-heartedly rejects the request for creation of special courts for the commission’s cases because what appears to be the major handicap of the anti-graft body is not the lack of the right kind of judges to interprete the laws but the impatience on the part of EFCC to carry out a thorough investigation and put up a water-tight prosecution.
Often times, suspects are scandalized on pages of newspapers before a legally admissible brief, in belief that the executive arm would help influence arrest and early detention of such citizens.
The commission under Nuhu Ribadu, no doubt, recorded modest gains and helped recover stolen public property, but the biggest criticism of that era was that such probes were perceived to be selective and ominously targeted at suspected political foes of then President Olusegun Obasanjo.
That scenario, indeed ignited calls for insulation of the EFCC from the control of the executive arm and be made independent in operations, investigations and prosecution of graft-related cases. Such independence, proper investigations and water-tight legal presentations in our view, are what the EFCC requires to prosecute the war against corruption, which has become an embarrassment to our national image.
In fact, corruption, like other societal vices, permeates various strata of the Nigerian society and has assumed the level of a cankerworm which has eaten so deep into the nation’s fabrics to the extent that successive administrations, military or civilian, have failed to devise ways and means of combating the menace.
That, without doubt, also forced the last civilian administration under Olusegun Obasanjo to establish the EFCC as a catalyst in the battle against corruption, especially, at the highest levels of governance .
However, since the inception of the anti-graft body, controversies have continued to trail its existence with some citizens advocating for more powers to the commission and others, its scrapping.
But whether for or against the EFCC, one thing, is certain: Nigerians need a re-orientation on the way we administer public funds.
We say so because the same sorry state of affairs has caused the categorisation of the country as one of the most corrupt nations on planet earth, hence, the inevitability of an anti-graft body an urgent imperative.
Even as that debate rages, some governmental agencies such as the Police, Customs, PHCN, politicians, Immigrations, among others, are still daily being derogatively ranked among the most corrupt in Nigeria. Thus, the only way out is to help strengthen an agency that is independent and capable of effectively policing the system and keeping in check, corrupt officers and their cohorts.
That expectation, The Tide believes, will remain a mirage, unless the EFCC undertakes a thorough self-search necessary to improve its operations, engage the best anti-criminal minds and fight internal corruption which often waters down good legal efforts.
But it must be said that the fight against corruption is not one that must be left for the EFCC alone, but one that must attract the support of all, the judiciary inclusive. It is only to that extent that The Tide views Waziri’s tour of Lagos State as a welcome development.
While that is on, we believe that the commission’s investigative machinery needs some surgical over-haul through vigorous training and retraining of its workforce to prepare them for the challenges we face as a nation.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.