A senior lawyer and recently retired director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. George Adebola, Esq. has expressed concern over the torrent of cases that flood the commission.
Adebola, who retired last month as a Director of Special Duties in the legal department of EFCC, said the commission is now struggling to cope with a deluge of cases and complaints coming to EFCC.
He warned that if the avalanche of cases flooding EFCC is not swiftly stemmed, the commission might become inefficient and unable to adequately carry out its responsibilities.
Speaking with Law & Society Magazine, the former prosecutor pointed out that most of the cases that come to the EFCC should have gone to the police.
Hear him.
“EFCC has witnessed a deluge of petitions leading to a number of cases, investigations, endless trials, appeals and all that. That’s why EFCC is now struggling to cope.
“If Nigeria were working the way it should be, all the cases would not come to EFCC. Most of the cases that should go to the police come to us. When people go to a police station and do not find traction, they come to EFCC. The system does not seem to be working, so EFCC appears to be on all fours.
“You can get justice to a large extent in EFCC. The Police are trying their best, but many people don’t even have an iota of confidence in the Police. They don’t think that even though the Police are trying, they are doing enough. But the police are trying within the circumstances they find themselves.
“I think they are trying. You can’t give what you don’t have. A Police Station that does not have a serviceable vehicle, what do you expect? They’ll receive complaints more than 10 to 20 per day; they will need to move from place to place, from here to Nyanya. When a vehicle is not available, what do you expect them to do? They have to cut corners.
“They will keep telling people to come today, come tomorrow. And when there are two or three vehicles, but the vehicles are down, what do they do? I think the Police have their own problem, but they are overwhelmed. All they need is a bit of help. If at least most of their logistics needs are met, they will perform better. They can really be proactive in carrying out their mandate.
“Eighty percent of the work EFCC does currently should have gone to the police, but for their inability of the Police to cope. Presently, EFCC is doing it very well, but as time goes on, if the present situation continues, EFCC will have to be overwhelmed when the challenges become unwieldy; they may break down too. God forbid!
“But if DSS is doing their bit, ICPC is doing their bit, Immigration is doing their bit, the NSCDC is doing their bit, the workload will reduce.
“Someone wants to apply for visa; then your travel agency says he can do visa to Dubai, to London, everywhere, you give him money and he disappears. You come to become EFCC, whereas the appropriate place to come is not EFCC. Police would have been the first place, but if you get to the Police, you know the outcome, so they will come to EFCC.
“Everybody contributed to bringing Nigeria to where it is today, so it will still have to be everybody that will contribute to help it exit where Nigeria is today. So let everybody put their hand together. If Nigeria continues like this, it will get worse for everybody, which would not be in anybody’s favour.”
Watch the full video of his interview below.
