EFCC attacks U.S. govt over report criticising Buhari administration’s anti-corruption efforts

The anti-graft agency, EFCC, has criticised the U.S. government
over a report by the State Department criticising Nigeria’s
anti-corruption efforts.

The U.S. Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor^[1] in its
‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018’ states among
others that “there is a climate of impunity in the President
Muhammadu Buhari government that allows officials to engage in
corrupt practices with a sense of exemption from punishment.”

The U.S. agency also said, “In their prosecution of corruption
cases, law enforcement and intelligence agencies often failed to
follow due process and arrested suspects without appropriate arrest
and search warrants.”

In a statement on Sunday by its management, the EFCC said the
“report is not only outdated and false but misleading.”

The anti-graft agency listed some of its achievements under
President Muhammadu Buhari.

Read the full EFCC statement below.

US Report over anti-graft war false, misleading –
EFCC

.Agency secured 943 convictions between 2015 and
2018

.Recovers Billions of Naira, Foreign Currencies,
Properties

The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) has been drawn to a misleading report of the United States
Department of Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour over
Nigeria’s anti-graft war, published in ThisDay Newspaper of March
17, 2019 entitled: “Nigeria: Massive, Pervasive Corruption At All
Levels of Govt – US Report”.

The report, among other things, said that “there is a climate of
impunity in the President Muhammadu Buhari government that allows
officials to engage in corrupt practices with a sense of exemption
from punishment”. The Bureau, in its Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices for 2018, said Nigeria had made little progress in
efforts to limit corruption in its public service. This report is
not only outdated and false but misleading.

The report is unfounded on the grounds of Nigeria’s remarkable
achievements in the last four years as the war against corruption
is on course.

The EFCC’s commitment to the fight against corruption in the
last four years is not in doubt to any discerning and genuinely
concerned observer. This commitment is benchmarked by the
unprecedented record of convictions, non-conviction based
forfeiture and stolen assets recovery.

We are surprised that the US report could ignore or downplay our
convictions in such a brazen manner when it claimed that the EFCC
secured only 13 convictions in 2016. That is false and far from the
truth.

Remarkable Convictions

For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC has secured 943 convictions
since 2015 till date. The agency recorded 103 convictions in 2015,
secured 195 convictions in 2016, got 189 convictions in 2017. It is
important to state that the EFCC secured 314 convictions in 2018
including two former state governors who were sentenced to 14 years
imprisonment without option of fine. It is instructive to note that
the two former governors serving their jail terms in prison are
members of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). The
Commission has so far recorded 142 convictions as at March 19 this
year. These are verifiable facts.

We wish to state unequivocally that these convictions being
celebrated included high profile persons among who were top ranking
military personnel and other politically exposed persons.

It is instructive to state that no other agency in Africa has
this record of convictions and recovery of stolen assets which were
achieved in spite of great encumbrances faced by the Commission in
the discharge of its assignment as it has come to be known that
when you fight corruption, corruption fights back.

Assets Recovery and Forfeitures

As a quick reminder, the Supreme Court of Nigeria had on Friday,
March 8, 2019 in a unanimous judgement, dismissed the appeal of a
former First Lady and wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan,
Patience, against the interim forfeiture order of a Federal High
Court, Lagos, for $8, 400, 000 (Eight Million Four Hundred Dollars)
traced to her by the EFCC and believed to be proceeds of illegal
activities.

Subsequently, on March 14, 2019, the Supreme Court dismissed
another application by Mrs. Jonathan, seeking to upturn the interim
forfeiture order by a Federal High Court, Lagos placed on the sum
of N2.4 billion linked to her.

Also of interest is the fact that the former Chief of Defence
Staff, the late Alex Badeh forfeited six choice properties and $1,
000,000 (One Million Dollars) to the Federal Government, few days
ago on the order of Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court,
Abuja.

It could also be recalled that the EFCC on Friday, March 1,
2019, secured the final forfeiture of the sum N732.85 million being
proceed of fraud perpetuated by 17 individuals in the Presidential
Amnesty Programme Office. These are no rhetoric, but hard
facts!

We further wish to state that in the area of convictions, Air
Vice Marshall Tony Omenyi (retd), was jailed by Justice Nnamdi
Dimgba of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, February 28,
2019. He was found guilty of the amended three-count charge brought
against him by the EFCC and was sentenced to seven years
imprisonment without an option of fine.

Justice Dimgba, also ordered Huzee Nigeria Limited, a concern
owned by Omenyi being a corporate entity to forfeit N60, 000, 000
(Sixty Million Naira) to the Federal Government.

Indeed, the EFCC has revolutionized the process of assets
tracing and recovery. From the available records, the Commission
recovered assets worth several billions of naira and different
foreign currencies between 2015 and 2017.

Breakdown of the recoveries for the three year period (2015-
2017) show that N676, 522, 889, 647.05 (Six Hundred and Seventy Six
Billion, Five Hundred and Twenty Two Million, Eight Hundred and
Eighty Nine Thousand, Six Hundred and Forty Seven Naira and Five
Kobo); $254, 563, 877.27 (Two Hundred and Fifty Four Million Five
Hundred and Sixty Three Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy Seven
Dollars, twenty Six Cents); 486, 736.82 Pound (Four Hundred and
Eighty Six Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Six Pounds Eighty Two
Pennies); Euro 8, 136, 071.13 (Eight Million, One Hundred and
Thirty Six Thousand and Seventy One Euro and Thirteen Cents); 80,
931, 500 CFA; 3, 729.50 RMB/YUAN; 452, 175 DIRHAM; 90, 956SR; 117,
004 CAD$ (ONE Hundred and Seventeen Thousand and Four Canadian
Dollar); 120, 141.50 YEN; 5, 000Francs and 2, 000 Ruppies.

In 2018 alone, various sums amounting to billions in Naira and
other foreign currencies were also forfeited to the Federal
Government through the unrelenting efforts of the EFCC. The sums
are: N171, 131, 700, 541.17 (One Hundred and Seventy One Billion,
One Hundred and Thirty One Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Five
Hundred and Forty One Naira and Seventeen Kobo); $14, 490, 174.49
(Fourteen Million, Four Hundred and Ninety Thousand One Hundred and
Seventy Four Dollars Forty Nine Cent); 873, 278. 09 Pounds (Eight
Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand Two hundred and Seventy Eight
Pounds and Nine Pennies); 298, 055 (Two Hundred and Ninety eight
Thousand, and Fifty Five Euros); 391, 838 (Three hundred and Ninety
One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Eight Riyals) and 10, 135
Dirham (Ten Thousand One Hundred and Thirty Five Dirham). These
recoveries are unprecedented as no other agency can boast of such
record.

Judging by the dexterity with which the Commission has
prosecuted its cases from the High Court to Court of Appeal up to
the Supreme Court, the Commission is by far the major contributor
to case law and jurisprudence in Nigeria. The major Law Reports are
replete with successfully concluded cases by the Commission. Again,
these facts are verifiable!

Burden of Proof Now Resides With Defendant

Until recently, the practice has been that the burden of proof
in criminal prosecution resides with the prosecution. But that was
overturned in FRN v. YAHAYA which was decided on January 25, 2019.
SC.645/2014.

This was a case in which the Supreme Court upheld the argument
of the EFCC that the burden of proof had now been shifted from the
prosecution to the defendant in terms of ill gotten wealth.

The apex court further held that the defendant would have to
show that his income was in tandem with what he acquired otherwise
such ill gotten wealth and properties would be forfeited to the
Federal Government.

This is a landmark decision with potential to improve the fight
against corruption in Nigeria. It is regrettable that this feat
failed to impress the United States Department’s Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.

Worrisome Report with Inaccuracies

Indeed, the US report’s portrayal of the work of the EFCC which
is replete with inaccurate information is worrisome considering the
close relationship between the Commission and some US entities.

Agencies of the US Government, especially the Department of
Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), US
Securities and Exchange Commission, Post and Telecommunications
Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
have very strong collaboration with the EFCC in the delicate task
of tracing and seizing assets stolen but stashed abroad by rogue
Nigerian officials. We also have FBI agent domiciled in the
EFCC.

Even as many of those assets are still stashed in US financial
and property markets, these US agencies are familiar with the
determination and passion with which the Commission is going about
the fight against corruption.

10 Different Countries Seek Mutual Legal Assistance from
EFCC

Unfortunately, the US Report does not reflect this deep
knowledge of the EFCC and its work, which is enough reason to be
suspicious about the motives behind the publication.

To underscore the important role which EFCC is playing in the
fight against economic and financial crimes, no fewer than 10
countries on Monday, March 18, 2019, requested for Mutual Legal
Assistance (MLA) with the Commission. This is unprecedented in the
history of any agency in Africa in general and Nigeria in
particular.

Malabu’s case

The prowess of the EFCC’s investigative power is worthy of note
in the celebrated Malabu’s case. The historic trial of prominent
major oil companies- Shell and ENI in Milan, Italy by the public
prosecutor was made possible by the political will of President
Muhammadu Buhari and dexterity of the EFCC.

The comprehensive investigation of the commission and evidence
generated in prosecuting the corrupt deal formed part of documents
used in prosecuting the criminal aspects of the notorious deal by
the Milan prosecutor.

The EFCC recorded another first in Africa with its prosecutor
appearing in the Milan trial as a witness, the first of such to
happen in Italian prosecution.

Some individuals including an Italian, Gianlura Di Nardo and a
Nigerian, Emeka Obi, were last year convicted in the matter while
the Dutch prosecutor just recently notified Shell of his readiness
to prosecute the oil giant over the controversial deal.

US Report, a Disservice to EFCC

From the foregoing, it is clear that the report authored by the
American agency has done a great disservice to the work of the EFCC
in particular and the fight against corruption under the leadership
of President Buhari, an administration that is globally
acknowledged for the enormous political will it has brought to the
fight against corruption in Nigeria.

We are conscious of our past with previous government officials’
involvement in corrupt practices with impunity but that history is
being re-written by this government and the commission.

The rest of Africa appreciate the administration’s work in terms
of fighting corruption in Nigeria which was the impetus behind the
designation of President Buhari as the Anti- Corruption Champion
early last year by the African Union (AU). In that capacity,
President Buhari is saddled with the responsibility of leading the
rest of Africa out of the corruption quagmire.

At the level of the EFCC, the Acting Chairman of the commission,
Mr Ibrahim Magu, attained the leadership of the Heads of Anti-
Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa (HACACA) in May 2018.
This was based on his antecedents and acknowledged track records in
the fight against corruption.

There can be no greater validation of the revolutionary impact
of the fight against corruption in Nigeria in the last four years
than these milestones achievements. But for those who cannot see
any good in what Nigeria is doing, it is better to leave the
country alone than distract it with bogus reports.

Onnoghen: FG Closes Case on Asset
Declaration
…. Suspended CJN Has 5 Houses, Not 55 Properties

Federal Government has closed its case of non asset declaration
charges against suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice
Walter Onnoghen, after calling 3 out of the 6 witnesses listed for
the trial.

Onnoghen is being prosecuted by the Federal government on a six
count charge bordering on alleged failure to disclose some of his
assets in his Asset Declaration forms submitted to the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB).

However prosecution counsel, Aliyu Umar SAN, announced that the
prosecution is closing its case shortly after the defendant
finished cross examination of the third prosecution witness, Ifeoma
Okagbue, an official of Standard Chartered Bank.

The prosecution in its application for the trial had said it
would be calling 6 witnesses to prove its case against Onnoghen.
However, at the end of cross examination, the lead prosecution
counsel said though they initially listed 6 witnesses for the
trial, however, it would not be calling on the remaining three,
adding that he is offering them to the defense for cross
examination if they so wished.

But, counsel to the defendant, Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, said the
defense does not need the witnesses, adding that the prosecution
can go ahead to close its case if it is done.

Shortly after the prosecution announced the closure of its case,
Awomolo informed the tribunal of its intention to invoke section
303 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015. He
pleaded with the tribunal to allow him prepare a written address
and urged the chairman to order the registry to make record of
proceedings available to him to guide him in the written
address.

The prosecution did not object to the application, prompting the
tribunal chairman, Danladi Umar to make an order on the registry to
avail parties in the matter with the record of proceedings.

He also ordered that the record must be made available to the
parties on Monday and adjourned hearing in the no case submission
to March 29.

Okagbue in her evidence in Chief told the tribunal that Onnoghen
maintains 5 different accounts with her bank in Abuja. According to
her, two of the accounts are naira accounts, one saving and the
other current, while the remaining three in pounds, dollars and
euro.

She disclosed that as December 2018, one of the naira accounts
has N2.6m while the other has N12.8m, the euro account as at
December 2018, 10, 187 euros, the pounds Sterling accounts as at
December 2018, had 13,730 pounds and the dollar account as at
January 2019 has $56, 878.

The witness said she met the defendant once in 2015 as a
Relationship Manager.

Under cross examination by Onnoghen’s lawyer, Okagbue said that
the 5 accounts are domicile in the Wuse branch in Abuja and that
Onnoghen never made any foreign transfer from the accounts.

She also confirmed that the 5 accounts have one Bank
Verification Number (BVN). The witness however admitted that
Onnoghen has a facility of $500,000 as at January,2019 with the
bank secured by his investment in bonds and other investment.

She further admitted that Onnoghen as a discipline account
holder was encouraged by bank to invest in profit yeilding
investment and that interest in the investment are regularly
credited to his account, adding that the bank made investment on
Onnoghen’s behalf from his account.

Earlier, the second prosecution witness, Awal Yakassai under
cross examination admitted that two assets declaration forms
submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), by Onnoghen, three
years ago have till date not been verified.

Yakassai, a retired director of the CCB, when his attention was
drawn to the column for remarks, admitted that no comment was made
on the verification column indicating that the forms have not been
verified.

Answering a question, Yakassai further confirmed from the forms
that Onnoghen has only 5 houses contrary to the allegation of 55
properties. One of the houses was said to have been sold to him by
the Federal government.

By PRNigeria