Law reform commission seeks unbundling of EFCC

One key way of doing this, the commission said, at a one-day public hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes on a Bill to amend the EFCC (Establishment Act, 2017), is the need to separate Nigeria Financial intelligence Unit (NFIU) from the EFCC.

Speaking through Prof. Jumai Audi, a Commissioner in NLRC, the commission insisted that if the measure had been taken long before now, Nigeria would not have been suspended by the Egmont Group for ineffective financial intelligence performances.

He believed that its continued operations from the anti graft agency was threatening its efficiency. According to Audi, “NFIU should be independent and made an autonomous body separate from the EFCC.

“The Nigerian Law Reform applauds the initiative but recommends the establishment of NFIU as an independent and autonomous body separate from EFCC rather than as a unit domiciled in EFCC as proposed in the bill.

“Nigeria was suspended from the Egmont Group for lack of autonomy in the real sense of the NFIU and this position has not been addressed by these proposed amendments, she said.

But the Secretary of the EFCC, Mr. Emmanuel Adegboyega Aremo, in his presentation countered the position of NLRC adding that “giving NFIU an autonomy outside EFCC will endanger it.”He said: “NFIU needs a protective shield from politicians, if you leave it to survive alone, it will be endangered and exposed to external influence.”

Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has asked states and other stakeholders in the justice sector to collaborate with the Federal Government in the ongoing reform in the justice delivery system.

Malami said reform of the justice sector was a critical component of the overall agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration
to fight corruption, develop the economy, promote respect for human rights and due process and build public confidence in the system.

The Minister at a two-day National Sensitization Workshop on the National Policy on Justice for the South East zone in Enugu yesterday stated that government remained committed to mobilise justice sector institutions to put in place structures and policies that will address the various challenges militating against justice delivery in the country.

Represented by the Director of Public Prosecution, Federal Ministry of Justice, Etsu Mohammed, the minister said participants at the workshop
were expected to examine the policy and initiate an implementation roadmap that will be articulated into an implementation plan.