The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it is constantly being harassed by Nigerians over the slow pace of high-profile corruption cases, especially that of the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
The Commission’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said this in Abuja while speaking at a joint press briefing of spokespersons of security agencies convened by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The briefing had in attendance spokespersons of the Police, EFCC, ICPC, Defence Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force, NAPTIP, NDLEA, DSS, Fire Service and others.
Oyewale was responding to a question on why some EFCC cases are concluded swiftly while others linger for years.
According to him, Nigerians need to understand that the EFCC investigates and prosecutes, but does not adjudicate.
“I think it is important at this forum for us to properly understand the processes and procedures that are involved in the prosecution of cases. The EFCC as an anti-corruption agency is not the judiciary.
“We cannot be the accuser and the judge in our own matter. Our mandate allows us to investigate, to prosecute, to prevent, but our mandate does not allow us to adjudicate,” he said.
He stressed that once a case is charged to court, the timing of its conclusion rests solely with the judiciary.
“You cannot take a matter to court and you come up with a decree and say that this matter should be resolved in two days, in three days. It is within the responsibility of the judiciary to decide when the matter is resolved.
“If for one reason or the other there are issues that are delaying the resolution of a matter, the EFCC should not be blamed. You are ascribing an almighty status to the EFCC. You arrest somebody, you take him to court and you decide when the case is resolved. No, we don’t have such power,” he said.
Oyewale cited the case of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, who was sentenced to 75 years imprisonment, as an example of a case that was quickly resolved because court processes allowed it, noting that other cases are more complex with many witnesses and technical issues.
He insisted the Commission is diligent and has one of the best legal teams.
“If you check our record, we have about 98% success rate in our prosecution. So you cannot say that maybe we are not diligent enough. No, we are diligent,” he said.
On the Yahaya Bello case, he said:
“What is the business of the court should not be blamed on the EFCC. And I want the media to please educate the public, because the issue of Yahaya Bello is always there. They continually harass us about Yahaya Bello.
“And we’ve charged the matter to court, the matter is in two different courts. And we are going to court, we wait for the judiciary to decide the matter.”
The EFCC added that it would not comment on electoral spending yet, as elections are not here, but would do so at the appropriate time.