$2 Trillion Recovered By EFCC In 12 Years? Nigerian Gov’t Peddling Dangerous Falsehood
The advocacy attention of the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
has, again, been drawn concerning a public sensitive report credited to
the Attorney General of the Federation & Minister for Justice, Mr.
Abubakar Malami, SAN, to the effect that “the Economic &
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in the past 12 years since its
creation, recovered over $2trillion or N400trillion from Nigeria’s
criminal groups and public office holders”. The perfidiously false report was published in the front page of the Vanguard Newspaper of today, being 3rd of February 2016.
The AGF was copiously quoted
by the Newspaper’s Ikechukwu Nnochiri as having made the disclosure in a
keynote address presented at the ‘First Annual Conference on Financial
Fraud, Cyber-Crime & Other Cross-border Crimes’, in Abuja, yesterday
(2nd of February 2016. The AGF was specifically quoted as saying: “available
reports showed that in the past 12 years, since the establishment of
EFCC, more than $2 trillion has been confiscated and recovered”.
Full details of the AGF’s unpardonably falsified report are:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/02/money-laundering-efcc-recovers-looted-2trn-in-12-years/.
We had in the course of
issuance of this statement, gone extra mile to confirm the authenticity
of the AGF’s blundered figure and his authorship; leading to the management of the Vanguard Newspaper informing us this morning (3rd of February 2016) that “the AGF was not misquoted” and that
“it was contained in his written keynote address” delivered at the said
Abuja function. They also informed us that “ before its publication,
the reporter (Ikechukwu Nnochiri) was specifically requested to scan and
forward the said keynote speech containing the “blundered version and
figure” and he forwarded it immediately, leading to the publication and
its front page use.
We have severally stated
publicly and still state that “corruption is first driven by moral
decadence or integrity crisis” and that those wishing to fight the
scourge must first be morally upright or integrity rewarding. That is to
say that “he or she that sets to go to equity, must go with clean hands
at all times”. A man or woman that shaves his or her armpit hairs
is not expectant of armpit dirt and offensive odour. A woman who wears a
stained white brazier does not wear short sleeve gown to an occasion.
One of the greatest threats
to fight against corruption is falsehood and propaganda. Another is
unclean hands of those fighting it and those supporting those fighting
it (i.e. CSOs and activists). One, out of plethora of governance undoing
of the Buhari administration is its adoption of propaganda and
falsehood as an official policy. A government that uses propaganda and
falsehood as its official policy has inexcusably exposed itself before
the citizens and international community as a government founded on
turbulence, brigandage, rascality and violence. A grave danger of using
falsehood and propaganda as official policy is that government
utterances will always be taken with a pinch of salt and made summarily
dismissive even if any is grounded on reality.
For the avoidance of doubt,
the Nigeria’s Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was
established through an Act of the National Assembly of Nigeria, dated 13th December 2002 (now refers as
“EFCC Act of 2004”) and it started its operations in 2003 or during the
second term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The creation of the
Commission was partly in response to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering
(FATF), which named Nigeria as one of 23 countries non-cooperative in
the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering. The
successes recorded by the Commission including loots recovery and
effective and maximum use of technology and institutional mechanisms
reached their peak between 2004 and 2007. The fame of EFCC and others
like NAFDAC, got shrank from 2008 and upwards; owing to election and
appointment of corruption friendly public officials as new set of heads
of Nigeria’s Presidency, AGF, NAFDAC, Police and EFCC.
Just yesterday, 2nd
of February 2016, we released a facts laden report of our recent
investigation on the state of public budgets, loans and expenditures in
Nigeria in the past 12 years; covering January 2005 to December 2016.
The expenditures covered the 36 States, the Federal Government, the
Niger Delta, the Federal Capital Territory and the country’s
constitutionally recognized 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). At the
end, we found that the totality of public expenditures in Nigeria in the
past 12 years, captured by various FGN, States, FCT and Niger Delta budgets and LGAs allocations in Nigeria in the past 12 years (2005-2016) stood at $600billion or N118.2trillion.
We also found that Nigeria
had in the past 10 years (2007-2016) borrowed a total of N10trillion or
$50billion from local and international lending institutions. Of
$600billion or N118.2trillion of the public expenditures under
reference, only 30% of same or $180billion (N36trillion) was spent on
capital projects. One of the reasons behind this special investigation
is to checkmate the antics of some propagandist government officials and
their unprofessional media acolytes, who recklessly and mindlessly
inflate and corrupt figures and other sensitive public matters here and
there for purposes of settling political scores and misleading Nigerians
and members of the international community. The report is published on
the electronic media below. HERE.
Using the foregoing
indisputable statistics, therefore, it is totally correct to say Nigeria
and its federating units including States, LGAs and Federal had never
generated half of “$2trillion (N400trillion)” since the return of civil
rule in June 1999; not to talk of the EFCC recovering “$2trillion in the
past 12 years since its creation”.
Even if the total public
expenditures of 2003 and 2004 are added to the total public expenditures
of $600billion or N118.2 trillion under reference; covering January
2005 to December 2016, the total public expenditures including loans and
generated funds; budgeted, allocated and expended since then is not
more than $700billion or N140 trillion.
Our questions to the Honorable AGF and the Federal Government are: Where
did “the $2trillion (N400trillion)” the EFCC recovered in the past 12
years come from? Where is it kept? Was it recovered from “looted”
personnel cost budgets or overheads cost budgets? Or was it recovered
from meager $180billion (+$30billion allocated for capital expenditures
for 2003 and 2004) meant for capital expenditures from January 2005 to
December 2016? Was it also recovered from oil bunkering? What are
Nigeria’s total public expenditures from its three tiers since 2003? How
much was recovered from “criminal groups” as well as “from public
office holders”?
We challenge the AGF as well
as the authorities of the EFCC to rubbish this position of ours by
providing publicly concrete answers to the above questions and graphic
details of how, where and when the EFCC recovered “$2 trillion or N400
trillion from criminal groups and public office holders” in the past 12
years, as well as statistical breakdown of the amount and how it was
recovered, kept or spent. Also, “in the past 12 years since its (EFCC)
creation”, requires detailed specification, as in from what year to what
year did the 12 years cover? We will not be surprised if defense of
“being quoted out of context” is invoked by the AGF as an escape route.
If this type of unpardonable falsehood can be dished out by the
country’s law-lord or chief law officer, then Nigeria is doomed
irreparably!
Signed:
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
Email: info@intersociety-ng.org, emekaumeagbalasi@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.intersociety-ng.org
Chinwe Umeche, Esq., Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
No comments