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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.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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