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EFCC Needs Enhanced Funding - House Committee Chairman
Newsdiaryonline Tue Dec 6,2011
The House Committee Chairman on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial
Crimes, Honourable
Adams Jagaba, on Tuesday, December 06, 2011, advanced strong
reasons for an enhanced funding of the activities and operations
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Jagaba
advocated this while on a four-hour inspection tour of the
offices, operationsand projects of the EFCC.
The tour, which came as part of the oversight functions
of the Committee,
took members and
management of the EFCC,
led by Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Ibrahim
Lamorde to key offices and projects of the Commission scattered
around the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Jagaba said that, given
the peculiar and challenging operating environment of the EFCC,
the Commission has acquitted itself very well. “As far as we are
concerned, at the Committee level and considering public
opinion, EFCC has done well. We have come to see your projects,
we have also seen your Commission and at the end of the day,
more releases of funds to the Commission will be guaranteed to
ensure that it performs better”, he said. He expressed concerns
over the scattered offices of the EFCC, saying that effective
coordination of work may be hindered with such an arrangement.
He,however, expressed optimism that with the acceleration of
work at the Complex of the EFCC, such a challenge will soon
become a thing of the past.
Chairman and members of The House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics
and Financial Crimes arrived the Corporate Headquarters of the
EFCC to the warm
reception of Lamorde and senior management staff of the
Commission. Jagaba explained that his Committee was interested
in monitoring the entire gamut of the anti-graft activities and
challenges of the EFCC. “So far, so good, we are monitoring a
lot of things about the EFCC. We
are happy with you. EFCC is trying its best within the
circumstances it finds itself”, Jagaba said. He stressed the
need for
transparency and integrity among
EFCC staff, saying that “since EFCC fights corruption,
its staff must be seen to be above- board”.
In response, Acting
Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, welcomed all the
Committee members. He said that the EFCC appreciated such a
visit by key stakeholders in the anti-graft war and expressed
the readiness of the Commission and its staff to continue to
offer their best to rid the nation of corrupt practices. “We
need this kind of oversight visit.
We need it often so that we can jointly achieve the
objectives of fighting graft. EFCC staff can’t fight corrupt
practices alone. If there are issues you want us to respond to,
let us know and we will respond immediately”, he promised. The
Committee members later embarked on an assessment visit to the
Forensic Laboratory of the EFCC where state-of-the-art forensic
equipment were demonstrated for the members to see. The visit
also took the members to the Training and Research Institute,
TRI: the intellectual arm and capacity-building academy of the
EFCC
Most of the Committee members expressed surprise at the level of
development and sophistication of the Institute and urged the
EFCC to throw open the Institute to other agencies for training
and development. Also, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit,
NFIU
was visited and a wide array of globally-competitive
transactions reporting mechanisms was assessed by the members.
To crown it all, the construction site of the N18billion
Headquarters Complex of the EFCC was visited. Site Engineers of
Julius Berger plc, construction firm handling the project,
explained that the project had already achieved 18% completion.
Members of the Committee were taken round the project site and
they expressed satisfaction with the level of work done.
Some of the Committee members that accompanied Jagaba on the
assessment tour of the EFCC include; Honourable Emmanuel Udende,
Deputy Chairman; Honourable Sani Ibrahim Ruwa Dorowa; Honourable
Aminu Koko; Honourable Nathaniel Agunbiade; Honourable Sunday
Adepoju; Honourable Sule Nasiru, Honourable GanawaTitsi and
Honourable John Dyegh.
They were received by
the Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde; Secretary to the
Commission, Mr. Emmanuel Akomaye and Director of Organizational
Support, Mr. Bolaji Salami among others.
Th
This is the document referred to in the Witness
Statement on Oath of Clifford O. Kokogho as
“Exhibit
COK.2”
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