The proposed merger of the two agencies
is said to have received the approval of the Federal Executive Council
and it is part of the restructuring in the public service.
The restructuring, according to
spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati, will see 220
government parastatals scrapped.
The merging of the EFCC and the ICPC is
part of recommendations made by the Steve Orosanye-led Presidential
Committee on Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government
Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies.
However, in separate interviews with our
correspondents on Wednesday, many prominent legal practitioners and
civil society groups differed in their opinions about the benefit or
otherwise of such a merger.
A senior lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN;
EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, and Chief Godwin Obla; as well as
Malam Yusuf Ali, SAN, were among the legal personalities that expressed
their minds about the merger of the two anti-corruption bodies.
Sagay said, “I am not comfortable with
the idea. I think the two anti-graft agencies are beginning to
specialise. There is a tendency by the ICPC to go after corruption by
public officers.
“They have a rigorous training programme that involves paramilitary instructions.
“EFCC is dwelling on both public corruption and corruption in the private sector.
“If we merge them, I think it is going to reduce the energy of the anti-corruption campaign. I don’t think it is a good idea.”
Jacobs explained that the effect of the merger on the anti-corruption campaign would depend on the motive behind the plan.
“It is a proposal; you can’t merge two agencies without changing the law,” he said.
Asked if the planned merger would
improve the anti-corruption campaign, Jacobs said, “Depending on the
intention behind it. If it is well intended, it would strengthen the
anti-corruption war, but if it is not well intended, it will be
counterproductive.”
Obla in his contribution said, “They
have different functions, how are you going to integrate them? You have
to go back to the National Assembly.”
He also said that it would be difficult
to determine what effect such a merger would have on the anti-graft war
at the moment “because it is the new law that will determine whether
the anti-corruption war will be given a new bite or whether it will be
weakened. It is better we wait for the new law.”
On his part, Ali expressed confidence
that merging the two bodies was the right step in the right direction in
the fight against corruption.
Ali said, “The work of the EFCC and ICPC has been known to be overlapping and sometimes it could be very confusing.
“If you look at the ICPC Act it has more
to do with corruption, EFCC has more to do with money laundering but
their functions overlap. If the merger could lead to more efficiency,
then it is welcome.
“If right from the beginning the two agencies have been joined in one body nobody would have complained about it.”
The Campaign for Democracy said the
proposal was “an acknowledgment by government that the two organisations
can no longer continue to exist under a duplicated basis of operation.”
The President of CD, Dr. Joe
Okei-Odumakin, urged Nigerians to acknowledge the fact that while the
EFCC had in the past secured few high profile convictions for corruption
charges, “there has been no major landmark conviction secured by the
ICPC.”
She said, “This has recently become
applicable to the EFCC. Be that as it may, the political will of any
government is what is really required in the fight against corruption.
“While anticipating that this merger
will further strengthen the institution for fighting the menace of
corruption, the government must also go back and address the basic
factors that can enhance an effective performance of anti-corruption
bodies.
“This has to be done by a proper review
of the legislative framework of the organisation and the willingness of
the government to make the welfare of the anti-corruption operatives a
top priority. This has been a major impediment in the fight against
corruption in Nigeria.
“Nigeria must focus more on
institutionalised anti-corruption campaign not by the name or number of
bodies saddled with the responsibilities alone, but utmost by the
determination and political will of the nation’s leadership to fight
corruption.”
When contacted by one of our correspondents, spokesman for the ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, refused to comment on the development.
“No comments,” he told one of our correspondents.
His counterpart in the EFCC, Mr. Wilson
Uwujaren, said he was at a meeting and promised to call back but did not
do so up till the time of filing this report.
Culled from Punch newspaper
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