Educate Your Operatives on Proper Conduct – Iche Urge EFCC
……..Opine on the 2025 Budget Presentation and Its Imbroglio
By Onome Naomi
Following recent reports of misconduct from EFCC operatives leading to the death of one of its men, Comrade Prince Saviour Iche opined that EFCC, which stands for Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, is an anti-corruption agency in Nigeria that enforces laws related to economic and financial crimes and has recorded a series of misconduct by operatives from public complaints in recent times, urging President Tinubu’s government to order an overhaul of the agency.
Iche said;
During an operation, it is unwise to barge in on people’s private properties without notifying the owners; the search carried out in the house of suspected persons should be done modestly. As an EFCC operative, it is important to display a search warrant or an arrest warrant before a suspect is whisked away, just like it is done when a police officer approaches a suspect from their various houses.
The unjust arrest of youths while some government officials prey on immunity to keep looting public funds shows how weak the EFCC system has become. The Okoya sons, who displayed an abuse of naira in a viral video, were swept under the carpet in the guise of immunity, but the police officer who was seen helping to hold the naira bundles was apprehended and may be punished according to the law. My question is, does the Nigerian law only apply to the poor?
The hunt for fraudsters should start with those at the senate seat; the misdirection leading to barging into people’s houses, breaking their doors, and appearing at odd hours of the day is cowardice compared to how a government official would be arrested if found on the EFCC list for an arrest and questioning. The oppression meted out on the poor masses by the EFCC is a call for concern and should be stopped.
The EFCC chairman has to reshuffle and retrain the agency’s operatives. The government should do away with dictating EFCC’s affairs and allow the agency to do a thorough investigation on money launderers in the government without restrictions so that corruption can be checked instead of hunting more for young boys suspected to be fraudsters (yahoo boys) and barging into people’s houses unannounced.
I opine that the EFCC should also focus on the following:
*That in 2024, JAMB budgeted over N800,000,000 on mosquitoes, an obvious corruptive way to embezzle funds, the current registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, should be questioned.
*There is so much money allocated for road renovations; meanwhile, we see nothing. The roads are still bad, and all they do is create a big budget but divert funds while the problem remains; this should be checked.
*Our health sector is bad and drastically deteriorating, and there is an allocated budget for it yearly. Our leaders don’t get treated in these hospitals with claims that they are not standard enough. I haven’t heard that former American President Joe Biden travelled to India to get his health checked; the health minister should be questioned.
*INEC gets budget allocations every four years but claims their budget is too small; INEC Chairman should be on the watch list.
*In our science and technology schools and universities, we see no equipment for practicals. Minister of Education, what’s happening?
Comrade Iche stated that the government needs to monitor the usage of budget allocations to ensure accountability. Any allocation unutilized for its purpose should be questioned and culprits brought to book. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should erase party immunity so that those who have committed and, as a result, migrated to the party that gives immunity will be disappointed, for immunity has ceased to exist, he added.
About the writer
Comrade Prince Saviour Iche is a human rights advocate and the president of the Ambassadors of Peace and Enlightenment Foundation ‘AMPEF’ (Voice of the Voiceless Media). He’s also the president of Private Entrepreneur, a multiple award winner for his advocacy on human rights activities, amongst other achievements.
