EFCC engaged in futile showmanship

By Ruona Agbroko
August 27, 2009 12:34AMT
Lawyers across the country have described as ‘hasty’, ‘misdirected’ and ‘publicity-seeking’ moves by the chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Farida Waziri, to relocate to Lagos and unleash a debt recovery team on individuals and companies indebted to the five stressed banks whose management were recently sacked by the apex bank.
The EFCC had disclosed that, following the expiration of its ultimatum to the debtors yesterday, 100 operatives of the agency were being added to the 250 already in Lagos, while an extra 40 mobile police officers would join in the task of investigating and prosecuting debtors.
However, lawyers who spoke to NEXT yesterday unanimously said by acting as a debt recovery unit, the agency had derailed.
Jiti Ogunye, head of the Lawyers League for Human Rights, said “the recovery of money is secondary. That is not the primary reason why the EFCC should be interested in these cases. If a financial crime has been committed in getting these loans, if the debtors pay within a deadline, does that mean the person has not committed a crime? The EFCC is engaged in showmanship and an odious game of spontaneity.
It now has a penchant of just gate-crashing, arresting people and charging them to courts with no jurisdiction to hear these cases. They do not follow through on the cases. They are content to leave it at this stage so long as there are screaming headlines saying EFCC is working.”

Crying wolf
The EFCC’s recent press statements and news reports on the issue also received some flak.
Mr. Ogunye said the agency’s motives were less than honourable. “This is blue-collar crime, perpetuated over a period of time. By law, the EFCC is supposed to be getting reports from its financial intelligence unit on these banks. Where was EFCC when these people were going to the capital market, giving or taking these huge loans that created huge holes in the system? The questions Nigerians have to ask is: why did the EFCC have to wait for the CBN to uncover this before it jumped in the fray?
If the EFCC really wants to act, it should be more proactive and give up this showmanship."
Bamidele Aturu, a legal practitioner, said the EFCC would be better off showing more civility in its dealings. “The EFCC must not take the laws into its hands. The courts are there to resolve these matters. The courts themselves must not become instruments to avoid repayment of loans which people took from the banks.
Chinua Asuzu, an attorney and rights activist, said the frenzy by the EFCC would prove counter-productive. “The fact that one is not paying a loan to the bank is not a crime. It is only when there is deliberate collusion to avoid paying the loans and loans are distributed less than honourably, that there has been crime. In this respect, the EFCC is being very hasty in the arrests.
Some of the misconducts that have been committed by the banks are in the region of civil law. Though there are incidences of criminal behaviour, you don’t start with arrests. They have to start with finding out who are the culprits and determine the level of culpability. Their business is to determine and punish crime not enshrine banking ethics.” Mr. Asuzu added that in its haste, the EFCC had neglected to consider the costs of prosecuting these cases against the monies to be recovered, as the final implications of these investigations would still be borne by taxpayers.
Mr. Ogunye disclosed that the EFCC may have already begun to pay for its failure to adequately prove criminal intent in the disbursement of the bank loans, as senior lawyers were headed for the courts and obtaining orders against the EFCC on the grounds that individuals were being detained unlawfully, beyond 48 hours. “Waziri is saying they are looking for others so they can prosecute all these cases together. I forsee the EFCC being swamped by more of these orders”, he said.