Reps To Strengthen EFCC, ICPC, Says Anti Corruption Laws Not Strong Enough

The House of Representatives has unfolded its legislative agenda
for 2019 to 2023 with a resolve to strengthen anti corruption
agencies in the country, saying existing anti-corruption laws in
the country has not given the anti-graft bodies enough power to
investigate and prosecute corruption cases.

The House legislative agenda says that the nation’s anti
corruption laws are not strong enough and has not helped in the
fight against corruption as The strength of The law has been
largely responsible for the slow pace of prosecution of corruption
cases.

The House legislative agenda which was adopted at Thursday’s
seating of the House also indicate the resolve of house to revisit
in a holistic manner, laws, policies and investments in the
nation’s power sector, while ensuring that get the worth of their
money in the power delivery.

Items to attract the attention of the House, according to the 58
paged document prepared by an Adhoc committee led by hon. Julius
Ihonvbare and deliberated upon and approved by the lawmakers
include Reform of the House of Representatives; Social Justice;
sustainable power; environment and climate change.

Others are economic growth, development and job creation;
gender; education reform; anti corruption; sustainable agricultural
development and food security; security; open governance,
transparency and accountability; Internally Displaced Persons;
public health; media and national development as well as national
budget.

In his statement of purpose, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamilla lamented
that twenty years into the present democratic endeavours, the
promise and benefits of democracy are yet to be fully felt in the
lives of many of our citizens.

The Speaker said “In this 9th House of Representatives, the
“Peoples’ Assembly”, we have a clear mandate: to make better the
lives of our citizens and bring home the long-promised benefits of
democracy.

“We are called to give voice to the yearnings of our people, and
we will, through effective execution of our constitutional
responsibilities of law-making, representation and oversight. We
will open them legislative process to effective citizen
participation and involvement so that our people, on whose behalf
we serve may become our real partners in democracy and in
progress.

“More than law-making and oversight, our highest obligation in
this House of Representatives is to restore public trust in the
political process, and in government. Corruption in public service
has caused many Nigerians to lose faith in the ability of
government to deliver real development, protect those who need
protection and build the ladder of opportunity for those who wish
to climb it.

“Restoring faith in government requires that we begin to deliver
on the promises we have made and that in doing so, we conduct
ourselves with dignity and probity so that in our words and deeds,
we are never found wanting.

“This will begin with reforming the activities of the House of
Representatives, opening our internal debates to public scrutiny,
taking individual ownership of the votes we take in the House and
ensuring transparency and accountability.

“In undertaking this journey of reform, we are united in spirit
and purpose as one people irrespective of fault lines and political
leanings. Hence, we have tagged our mission of Nation Building, a
joint task.

“As we launch this Legislative Agenda for the 9th House of
Representatives, we do so fully expecting that at the end of our
term in office, the Nigerian people will look to this document, and
we will be judged by how well we have done in keeping the promises
we have freely made. Our goals are clear, and our determination is
not in question. Let us go forth and make ourselves deserving of
the awesome mandate that has been entrusted to us by God and by the
Nigerian people.”

The Legislative Agenda is a declaration of the intent of members
of the House to serve the country with dedication, focusing our
considerable energies on those issues that most affect the lives of
our citizens.

The House is also to “pay special attention to the vexing issues
of rape, violence against women and child abuse. We are prepared to
partner with development partners, human rights organisations,
religious leaders, and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to firmly
address this malady.

“Similarly, issues of wealth and job creation, mass housing,
access to water, education reforms especially at the basic level,
social and food security, prison reforms, the conditions of
internally displaced persons, protection of the girl child,
environmental protection, and socio-economic and cultural rights
will form part of the core of our interest and concern in the 9th
Assembly.”

The document said “For decades corruption has been the bane of
our national development. We have seen the policymaking process
distorted and compromised to produce policy outcomes expressly
designed to serve the interests of the few at the expense of the
many whilst resources for development and security, healthcare and
education are diverted to enrich the private interests of public
officials.

“The private sector has not been spared as corruption has
continued to limit their ability to make the breakthroughs required
for industrialisation and growth. Until we put in place a system
that punishes acts of public corruption quickly and decisively, the
Nigerian people will never be convinced of our commitment to rid
ourselves of corrupt tendencies.

“Until we have rid ourselves of corruption, our national growth
will remain stunted by the actions of those who will choose to
place personal interests over the public trust.”
It stressed that “a fundamental problem with anti-corruption law
enforcement in Nigeria is that the laws we use to prosecute and
charge public corruption are often not designed primarily for that
purpose. Prosecutors are left to repurpose anti money laundering
laws and other such financial crimes legislation to prosecute
public corruption.

“The House of Representatives will seek to correct this by
working with the Nigeria Bar Association, The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt
Practices Commission (ICPC) to design a new Omnibus Corruption and
Racketeering in Public Service law that will allow for expedited
indictment and prosecution of public officials suspected of acts of
misappropriation, misconduct or criminality however defined.

“The House will further examine the possibility of establishing,
through legislation, and (or) constitutional amendment, Special
Courts for the prosecution of public corruption cases under the
proposed Omnibus Corruption and Racketeering in Public Service law
in the same way that special tribunals are used for election
petition matters. The special courts will allow for an expedited
process of investigation, indictment and prosecution to allow for
rapid dispensation of these matters.

“The House will seek to amend the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) Act to allow for appointment of qualified persons
from the judiciary, academia, legal practice etc., to lead the
Commission, instead of the current practice that allows for only
current or former security and law enforcement personnel to be
appointed to Chair the Commission.

“The House of Representatives will seek to increase funding to
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the
Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for recruitment of
lawyers and forensic accountants with expertise in investigation
and prosecution of crimes of financial misappropriation and public
corruption.

“We will further seek, through legislation, to ensure that the
Commissions can engage foreign and local experts and partners to
aid in the investigation and prosecution of crimes.

The document, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation
stressed that “our prisons are overburdened by thousands of inmates
who having never been convicted, are incarcerated while awaiting
trial. In some cases, the incarceration lasts for much longer than
they would have been had they been convicted by a court of
competent jurisdiction.

“The House of Representatives will seek to pass a Prisoners’
Rights Act to enshrine into law protection of the rights of
prisoners. The House will further seek review of the statutory
framework for establishment, maintenance and control of
prisons.

“We will engage the Legal Aid Council (LAC) in efforts to ensure
that persons accused of crimes are provided with competent legal
counsel at the earliest stages of the process to prevent abuse of
police authority, wrongful convictions and the damage to
individuals and communities that derive therefrom.”

On epileptic power supply in the country, the House said that a
constant, cost-effective power supply remain an integral part of
economic development of any nation, lamenting however that “in
Nigeria, we have not yet begun to generate or distribute sufficient
power to meet present needs or provide for future demand.

“This paucity of power generation negatively affects
productivity sectors from large industry to small and medium scale
enterprises resulting in measurable adverse effects on economic
productivity, industrial sustainability and general prices of goods
and services.

“Getting things right with electricity generation, transmission
and distribution will drastically improve our economic outlook and
is essential to put us on the path of sustained economic
development.

“Our concern as a House is to address the sub-structural issues,
mitigating against improved performance in the sector despite the
huge sums of money expended by the government. The House will
revisit in holistic manner laws, policies and investments including
the roles of the Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and Power
Generating Companies (GENCOs).”

In doing this, the House said it will initiate a comprehensive
review of all legislation relating to the power sector in Nigeria
and engage all stakeholders in the industry and take all necessary
steps to guarantee that the views of business are considered in the
process.

The House said it will also step up its oversight functions to
ensure that the funds allocated to the development of the power
industry are judiciously and effectively employed, adding that “the
mismanagement and misuse of funds are also one of the issues
crippling electricity development in Nigeria.

“All records of legislative proceedings and documents with
respect to the energy sector, particularly those related to misuse
of funds would be reviewed for onward legislative deliberations and
resolutions. That is, oversight should ensure that there is no
diversion of funds meant for our electricity.

“This House will use the legislative instrument to mandate
allocation of pre-paid meter to all consumers. Currently, less than
20% of electricity consumers in Nigeria are on a prepaid meter
system. This is an inefficient arrangement that places an undue
burden on end-users of electricity. This must stop.

“All electricity consumers in Nigeria must be provided with
prepaid meters within a fixed period. We would seek to enforce a
comprehensive ban on the practice of estimated billing and make it
impossible for distribution companies (DISCOs) to continue to take
undue advantage of consumers.

“This House will further seek to pass legislation that will
provide enabling grounds for the development of local engineering
capacity and encourage technological advancement of Nigerian
Universities in the area of engineering technology and enable
Federal government to actively exercise control over privatised yet
inefficient power companies and encourage and assist capable market
players and investors take over ineffective ones.

“Support full commercialisation of the industry to attract new
capital and advanced technology and encourage investors in power
generation to distribute directly to consumers or where the law
insists that they must continue to supply to the national grid
alone, then there must be guaranteed payment for power supplies
from the Federal Government

“The House will make laws that would expand the energy source
mix for power generation and mandate significant government
investment in renewable energy sources and infrastructure. The
House will revisit all efforts and commitment to renewable energy
with the intent to develop a viable alternative contribution to the
national grid.

“Nigeria’s potential capacity in renewable energy will be
expanded and utilized, most especially solar, geothermal, and wind
that are in abundance in various parts of our great country.
Currently, only a handful of licenses exist in the country and
regulatory bottlenecks are hampering take-off. If we are to meet
the set target, there would be a need to review existing
legislation in order to attract more players into the green energy
industry.”

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