The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede has disclosed restraining court orders have prevented the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from carrying out investigations in 10 states in the country.
Olukoyede spoke on Monday at the ongoing 6th EFCC-NJI Capacity Building Workshop for Justices and Judges held at the Conference Hall of the National Judicial Institute in Abuja.
The EFCC boss also described the workshop with a theme titled “Integrating Stakeholders in Curbing Economic and Financial Crimes,” as apt.
Although Olukoyede did not disclose the names of the 10 states involved, he, however, lamented that the EFCC’s activities have continued to be impeded by court orders restraining it from carrying out its statutory investigation.
According to him, among the plethora of issues bothering the EFCC are the frequent adjournment of high-profile cases by courts, contempt orders and undue reliance on technical grounds.
He further urged the courts to discourage a situation where suspects would rush to court to obtain restraining orders against the EFCC from arresting them.
Acknowledging the infallibility of the EFCC, Olukoyede noted that the commission has taken some steps to reform its processes of investigation in accordance with the provisions of the law.
He also highlighted other challenges affecting speedy trial of corruption cases, saying that the commission is doing its best in the fight against corruption.
Olukoyede said, “ The spectre of frequent adjournments of high profile corruption cases arising from frivolous applications, conflicting orders by courts of coordinate jurisdiction in corruption cases, intemperate contempt orders hauled at the Commission’s leadership, unwarranted orders of injunction restraining the Commission from investigating cases, are among a plethora of issues that bother the EFCC”.
He added that In spite of all the challenges, the Commission has been undeterred in its works, engaging stakeholders locally and globally to tackle the monster of corruption.
He said, “As a Commission , our efforts at integrating stakeholders in the fight against corruption are continuous. Earlier this year, we held a Stakeholders Dialogue on the issue of cybercrime where we equally unveiled the Commission’s new focus on corruption prevention with the establishment of Fraud Risk Assessment and Control (FRAC). We are convinced that it is ultimately more profitable to prevent than to investigate and prosecute corruption cases”.
The workshop featured stakeholders, policy makers, top government officials, civil society organisations and anti-corruption bodies.
