NASS Has Never Supported Anti-Corruption Fight As Expected – EFCC.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused
the National Assembly of not supporting the war against corruption
in the country as expected.

Spokesman for the anti-graft agency, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said
this on Sunday during his appearance on a special programme on
Channels Television.

Commenting on the passage of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence
Unit (NFIU) bill, Uwujaren asked Nigerians to be wary of the
rationale behind the swift passage of the bill by the
legislative.

He said: ”it is also very important for Nigerians to know that
what is going on concerning the NFIU calls for concern. For the
first time in the history of our country, we have a law that was
passed within one week in the National Assembly.”

“This is a National Assembly that if we look back, we can
recollect that that Assembly has never supported the fight against
corruption as people would have expected but now, when the NFIU
matter came, within a week a law was passed; that should raise
suspicion.

“People think that in taking away the NFIU from the EFCC, they
will be undermining the fight against corruption being spearheaded
by the EFCC; that is the single motivation behind the speed with
which this new law was passed,” he added.

With the allegation coming from the EFCC, it appears the
purported feud between the commission and the lawmakers might not
end in a short while.

Uwujaren further said separating the NFIU from the EFCC does not
mean the anti-graft agency would be rendered inefficient.

He said: “NFIU bill remains the power of the EFCC. I think there
is a misconception about what NFIU is and what is not about. People
term to think that once you remove the NFIU from the EFCC, then the
EFCC cannot do its work again; that is absolutely not correct.”

“The NFIU, yes, is relevant in collecting intelligence and
analysing such intelligence and making it available to law
enforcement agencies; but it does not mean that without the NFIU,
the EFCC cannot function. EFCC can function; it was functioning
before NFIU and even if NFIU is taken away, it will continue to
function.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has accused
the National Assembly of not supporting the war against corruption
in the country as expected.

Spokesman for the anti-graft agency, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said
this on Sunday during his appearance on a special programme on
Channels Television.

Commenting on the passage of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence
Unit (NFIU) bill, Uwujaren asked Nigerians to be wary of the
rationale behind the swift passage of the bill by the
legislative.

He said: ”it is also very important for Nigerians to know that
what is going on concerning the NFIU calls for concern. For the
first time in the history of our country, we have a law that was
passed within one week in the National Assembly.”

“This is a National Assembly that if we look back, we can
recollect that that Assembly has never supported the fight against
corruption as people would have expected but now, when the NFIU
matter came, within a week a law was passed; that should raise
suspicion.

“People think that in taking away the NFIU from the EFCC, they
will be undermining the fight against corruption being spearheaded
by the EFCC; that is the single motivation behind the speed with
which this new law was passed,” he added.

With the allegation coming from the EFCC, it appears the
purported feud between the commission and the lawmakers might not
end in a short while.

Uwujaren further said separating the NFIU from the EFCC does not
mean the anti-graft agency would be rendered inefficient.

He said: “NFIU bill remains the power of the EFCC. I think there
is a misconception about what NFIU is and what is not about. People
term to think that once you remove the NFIU from the EFCC, then the
EFCC cannot do its work again; that is absolutely not correct.”

“The NFIU, yes, is relevant in collecting intelligence and
analysing such intelligence and making it available to law
enforcement agencies; but it does not mean that without the NFIU,
the EFCC cannot function. EFCC can function; it was functioning
before NFIU and even if NFIU is taken away, it will continue to
function.”