22 February 2018
It has just been reported in the National Dailies & broadcast stations that the Federal Government has queried the Acting Chairman of the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) while he is to submit his reply to the Attorney General of the Federation(AGF) & Minister for Justice over the decision of the EFCC to charge the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to Court having previously absolve him of any wrongdoing.
The Minister of Justice is also reported to have also issued a legal advice to the Federal Government to stop the EFCC from proceeding with corruption charges against two former Petroleum Minister of the Federation &a former AGF relating to their roles in the Malabu Oil block deal between the Federal Government & two international oil firms.
These two recent developments involving the powers & functions of the EFCC & the office of the AGF is a national embarrassment to say the least especially as the offices are in the executive arm and the head of both offices hold their positions at the pleasure of the President of the Nation.
The development also highlights very poor coordination between MDAs on the key agenda of government that requires synergy among MDAs if success is expected, it is an indication of the failure of our system in addressing critical national problems due to unclear laws & policies guiding their operations.
The underlying cause of this crises is also linked to the ego tussle of supremacy between the two MDAs heads thereby putting the leadership of their boss to shame just as they have done before in the life of the present administration.
What I would have expected will be a situation that EFCC uses well its capacity for investigating economic crimes while relying on the legal advice and capacity of the AGF office to fight its cases well in the law court. I also expect that the two offices will be vested with the publicly or privately espoused strategy of government in the fight against corruption so that the gains that have been achieved so far under the Buhari's administration will not come to naught or become unsustainable.
The President must step into this matter using the unbiased advice of the Vice President, he must be courageous enough to relieve one of the officers heading any of this two agencies to avoid their ego affecting developments in the country or he must admit his failure in providing Leadership to his team.
Ben Usang
Is a Social Commentator
