Farida Waziri,  chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , EFCC remains under pressure to deliver more than she  has done already.But the commission seems handicapped. Here is the story of why the Commission is embattled

By Danlami Nmodu

Soon after Farida Waziri assumed office as the chairman of the Econonic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, she launched further investigations into the cases of former governors that have questions to answer.Insider Weekly learnt that the Commission within a short time  completed its investigations into the cases of five governors that have allegations of corruption leveled against them.

The new set of ex-governors investigated included Rasheed Ladoja of Oyo state , Michael Botmang of Plateau State. Botmang became governor after the controversial impeachment of Governor Joshua Dariye by Plateau State  House of Assembly.Other governors whose investigations were concluded  by Waziri’s EFCC included Boni Haruna of Adamawa State  of Adamawa State  Peter Odili of Rivers State and Adamu Muazu of Bauchi State.

So far, Ladoja,  Haruna and Botmang have been charged to court . Peter Odili has a court’s ruling to his favour restraining  the EFCC from taking further legal actions against him . But the Commission  has filed an appeal in order to vacate the court’s ruling.

Of all the five  former governors ,Adamu Muazu of Bauchi State has been most elusive .Insider weekly was told that EFCC actually invited Muazu for questioning.But the former governor had other ideas . Actually the commission having  done its own investigation a has come up with a watertight case against Muazu . An insider said the commission wanted to hear from him and get what he might have to say about the allegations that it had investigated .But the case of  Muazu took an unexpected twist.

Sources said the former Bauchi State governor  informed the commission that he was going to attend his daughter’s graduation ceremony in London some time ago.He promised  to return soon.But he has failed to return .Neither has he reported by any means to the Commission . ``We are waiting for him to come back.As soon as we see him we shall charge him to court because investigations into his case have been completed a long time ago” a source told Insider weekly.He added ``we called him to come an give a statement but he gave us an excuse”.

Now it is obvious that the commission is on the alert ,ready to pick Muazu up any time he shows up. Not long  ago, the former governor of Bauchi reportedly said he was not on the run. But a source at EFCC revealed that statement was very deceptive as it is believed that  he has indeed escaped under the guise of attending his daughter’s graduation and has since refused to return .``Now we are looking for him .As soon as we see him, we shall charge him to court .The issue is that we have refused to make any noise about such cases,” the magazine was told .

Waziri avoided mentioning the Cat and Mouse game between Muazu and  its commission when she spoke on her one year anniversary as EFCC boss last week .But from her accounts it was clear to discerning minds that she and her commission are embattled as they  attempt taking on daunting tasks .She specifically said the cases against Odili and Bola Tinubu of Lagos state were not dead .True there is a court ruling in favour of Odili, but she said :``There  was no time the case against Odili was dropped .There was this obnoxious court order of perpetual injunction restraining us from prosecuting him but we have appealed against it .We have been contesting the obnoxious order  restraining us from  prosecuting him .We have assigned the case to a SAN to try to vacate it .’’The Commission Waziri said is trying to gather evidence in order to establish   a case against Tinubu.But Tinubu said Waziri statement is tantamount to political blackmail:``I am not interested in what they are saying,but you cannot perpetually  hang the hammer of investigation on my head.It’s not fair.It all started from (Nuhu) Ribadu’s era from the year 2002 when they attempted tostop from contesting for a second term.They didn’t succeed.Then in the following year, they have been talking of  Bola Tinubu being under investigation.Each time I aggressively pursue a goal tha is anti establishment position, you find an act of investigation by  EFCC or the authority  hanging over my head``Tinubu said last week.

Taking a panoramic view of her one year as EFCC boss , she said ``I don’t have any basis to lie as posterity  will judge  me because in the last one year, what I have done  is to build  case  files, analyzing them and working day and night to ensure that suspects  are arrested once a prima facie case is established .”

 The EFCC boss appears frustrated by the difficulties she is encountering in the prosecution of former governor because most of the cases are suffering unnecessary delays in courts .Last week she launched into a lengthy explanation of her predicament .Said Waziri: ``The cases against past governors  are on going .They are in court. I have been crying hoarse  that cases are stalled .This is the area that I expect you, the media to assist me;to cry out with me .Cases that were filed by my predecessor are still there in the courts .They are stalled , one way or another.

She explained why these politicians   prefer to adopt such delay tactics ``I have told you many times why I feel the cases are stalled .If you  have a bad case and you engage  a lawyer whom you pay everything that you can pay and even from the charges drafted he knows that if this case gets to  its logical conclusion, he will end up in jail, they will do  everything they can to forestall the trial and this is what is happening .The cases are not moving.” Waziri revealed that what these lawyers ``do is to first challenge the  jurisdiction of the court . Even when it is clear that the High Court has jurisdiction they they go to the Court of Appeal  to ask for  a stay of execution ,so the case is not moving at all .And the delay of trial has its own repercussions : witness fatigue, witnesses may die or move .``

For some time now, she has been calling for a special court to try corruption cases .This call is a fallout of her frustration with the very slow pace of the normal court processes .She feels frustrated and the EFCC boss has been saying so very loudly of late. Waziri  told journalists that the EFCC is not responsible for everything that goes on in the fight against corruption.``My job is  to compile the case file ,charge them to court and the next thing is to monitor the trials ;to see whether on grounds of technicality, the investigation was thorough or something was missing ;secondly to ensure that witnesses attend court  and to ensure that exhibits  are tendered. And that is where my job stops. I don’t go to the bench ; I can’t do anything else.This is what is frustrating us…’’

She may have been economical with words about her growing source of frustration .Truth is that even her job had been threatened right from scratch by those who wanted to ensure that only someone acceptable to them would emerge as EFCC chairman .From all accounts, the storm is not over yet .The question of the leadership of the EFCC has been in the eye of the storm for some time ever since the President Umaru Musa YarAdua regime began .Since the new government set in, intrigues began to heighten over the leadership of the commission .It became clear that the men with questions to answer were interested in seeing someone acceptable to them as the head of the Commission.

In particular, former governors who have  become influential in the new regime had  threatened to remove Ribadu and some how he was removed and sent  on course at NIPSS Kuru. He was dramatically dismissed from service . Now he is in the United Kingdom.Yar’Adua temporarily put Ibrahim Lamorde as the acting chairman of the commission.He was later redeployed to pave the way for Farida Waziri the current chairman.

But it has been a serious contest for the control of the commission .Former governors wanted her to  be their lackey.In fact ,the general public had the impression that she was appointed with the influence of former governors who allegedly used Michael Aondoakaa as the arrowhead to facilitate her emergence .Such claims have turned to out to be untrue as reports of high level tension between the former governors and Waziri’s EFCC emerged recently .In the light of their inability to halt their trials, former governors are reported to be plotting her exit .That plot hit the brickwall recently .

The magazine`s source within the EFCC insists there is no plan by the president to sack her .This statement came on the heels of rumours of change being imminent in the commission .The magazine learnt from another official source that some new intelligence reports have just been received ‘outlining a deliberate campaign overseas to malign and tarnish the image of the government..It within this contest that the campaign against EFCC abroad falls .It is not really a  move against Waziri or EFCC alone ,no.  EFCC falls into their plot because it is the pillar of good image for Nigeria ,so ,an  official alleged .Their massive international campaign is expected to kick off in the next three weeks.`But we are aware of the campaign of calumny already.` an official said in Abuja .He added YarAdua has no  problems  with  the EFCC boss.In fact YarAdua is said to have been encouraging her to go ahead to do what is right always.The president told Waziri also not to listen to anyone who comes to ask for a favour in his  name.Such is the measure of the president’s confidence in Waziri, the magazine was told.

Actually, it was Yar’Adua that personally appointed her based on her qualifications . The magazine reported earlier that Farida had merely been nominated for membership of the EFCC board.But it was while personally going through the CVs of those to be appointed that Yar’Adua fished out Waziri and made up his mind that she would be the EFCC chairman.

But no one can deny the fact that ex-governors and some influential ones called the godfathers  want Farida out of her job . As the magazine reported  two weeks ago, the former governors are angry that she is not doing their bidding . Among the former ex governors being tried by the EFCC include James Ibori of Delta state, Boni Haruna of  Adamawa , Jolly Nyame of Taraba , Orji Kalu of Abia ,Ladoja of Oyo State, Saminu Turaki of Jigawa state and Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu state among others.

As the magazine reported, some influential men in and outside government had sought to influence the choice of Ribadu’s successor .As soon as they realized that Yar’Adua was settling for Waziri, they quickly ensured Tunde Ogunsakin was appointed as Director of Operations of EFCC and he resumed  ahead of Waziri .The reason for that move was to ensure Ogunsakin  would serve as a check to the chairman whom they could not really predict what she would do as EFCC boss. If she failed to listen to them, the next plot was to campaign for her to be removed and have Ogunsakin emerge as the new EFCC boss . Sources said this arrangement led to endless tension within the commission.

Unfortunately, the plot to make Ogunsakin succeed Waziri backfired as Ogunsakin was caught up in an alleged exam fraud at the University of Abuja where he is a Law student .That scandal led president Yar’Adua to order the redeployment of Ogunsakin back to the Police headquarters .But despite this unexpected twist, no one is expecting the ex governors to give up as yet.

Truth is that the former governors are very close to the president  since they were colleagues while he was also governor of Katsina State . In fact, some of them are growing in influence .Ibori is known to be the most influential. Media reports indicate he may be having his 2011 plots towards at least joining  any ticket for the presidency. Kalu has remained very influential .His plots to join the 2011 presidential campaign  are  alive and kicking .Recently former President Ibrahim Babangida visited him and alluded to the fact that Kalu’s potentials have not yet been utilized by Nigerians.

But the EFCC boss  appears  ready to tackle politicians as the 2011 elections approach.Last week she pledged that no stone will be left unturned to checkmate political office holders  who want to loot the treasury in order to prosecute the next  election.``I  have been told next year will be crucial  and tough for EFCC as politicians  will be campaigning for 2011elections  and some will want to amass wealth for that purpose.We are ready or them`` Waziri said.Insider Weekly magazine learnt that the EFCC`s claim of being ready for the politicians may not be an empty boast .It  has been revealed that the commission is already on the trail of some mind boggling withdrawals from some states.The problem has always been that in most of these cases the principal suspects who are governors cannot be arrested since they have immunity from arrest and prosecution.The saving grace now is that at  least ,the aides can be arrested or  transactions with such funds can be blocked where there is adequate information about the movement of such funds

But the commission is also training its sights on the new estates that are springing up in Abuja.The only snag is that the Non -Conviction Based Assets Forfeiture  Bill has not been passed by the National Assembly yet.Hear Waziri:A lot of estates are springing up in Abuja .We are waiting for our Non Conviction Based Asset Forfeiture Bill to be passed then we will really go into that .Find out the owner of the estate , find out how he got the money to develop the estate .If you can’t we investigate you ,we take the property to court.

Inspite of the obstacles, Waziri’s men boast of what they call an impressive record.Listed among her achievements for the last one year is the fact that EFCC secured over 65 convictions in the past twelve months. These represent about a third of all convictions secured since the establishment of the Commission in 2002.It has also made recoveries of over N50 billion in the last 12 months.

The Commission also developed and  it’s about to deploy EagleClaw a software that will change the face of fighting cybercrime and 419 in Nigeria and the whole world. Project EagleClaw is a software that sniffs out all fraudulent e-mails and monitors them with the option of shutting down such mails. This means that when fully deployed, all 419 e-mails emanating from Nigeria will either be monitored or be shut down.

Waziri’s EFCC Investigated and filed several fresh high profile cases which include cases of former Governors and Ministers. Some of this high profile cases have been those of Michael Botmang, Boni Haruna, Rasheed Ladoja, Bode George, Femi Fani-Kayode, Babalola Borisade, Kenny Martins, Prince Ibrahim Demuje, Roland Iyayi, Nyeson Wike (Chief of Staff Rivers State), Eider George (Aviation Fund), 4 Senior Managers of Zenith Bank, Billionaire Indian Businessman Patrick Fernandez, the 13 Phillipinos Case (Already sentenced to 65 years) and the 6 Ghanaians case,(for oil bunkering).

The case of Nasir El-Rufai has also been filed and the Commission will soon commence the process of his extradition. Others include Rowland Owan and six Commissioners of NERC, the REA case involving a serving Senator, 3 Reps members, Perm Sec. and other top officials of REA, 5 top officilas of UBEC and a Lebanese contractor. Also 3 top officials of Transcorp have been arraigned in court over a fraud of N15billion. ``Iam confident that in the coming weeks, several other high profile matters will  be filed in court``  an official of the commission said .He added that the commission has Instituted an aggressive programme of sensitization of the public and whistle blowing to ensure their buy-in into the anti corruption fight (ANCOR).The Commission is also Championing  the enactment of a non-conviction based assets forfeiture legislation to compliment the present conviction-based regime. The Bill is on its way to the National Assembly for passage into law.

As the EFCC battles to tackle those with cases to answer it is becoming increasingly clear that a more aggressive approach towards fighting the corruption virus is needed now.Perhaps that is why Waziri is championing the call for special courts.Also her promise to tackle corrupt officials ahead of the 2011 polls will certainly monitored will keen interest as the corruption plague becomes more sophisticated.