By Ayo Yusuf
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has blamed its serial failure to win high-profile cases on the frivolous judgements given by the courts.
The anti-corruption agency said in many instances its inability to secure conviction, particularly in corruption cases, was often because courts tend to rely on technicalities in giving rulings rather than on the facts of the case.
The spokesman for the EFCC, Wilson Uwajaren, in an interview with journalists in Kaduna Saturday, decried the agency’s conviction rate with regards to high-profile cases.
Mr Uwajaren who was sharing his insight at a one-day workshop for media practitioners on Effective Reporting of EFCC activities listed a number of challenges impeding the speedy prosecution of corruption cases and securing convictions.
According to him, most of his agency’s losses were often due to “frivolous court judgements based on technicalities rather than the facts and national interest, as well as arbitrary adjournment of corruption cases, among other factors. ”
He however noted that the commission was nevertheless able to secure about 7,700 convictions across the country in 2022.
In his remarks, the acting chairman of the commission, Abdulkarim Chukkol, expressed concern over the rising Internet-related fraud among the youth of Kaduna State.
The EFCC boss, who was represented by the acting Zonal Commander in the state, Aisha Abubakar, lamented that the active involvement of youths in Internet-related fraud has damaged the image of the country and discouraged hard work and the desire to seek legitimate means of livelihood.
He urged the media to beam its searchlight on the menace of Internet crimes and adequately inform the public about the activities of such criminal elements in order to safeguard them from falling victims to fraud.
Mr. Chukkol restated the “unwavering” commitment of the EFCC towards eradicating all forms of economic and financial crimes in the country, noting that such efforts had led to the conviction of over 100 financial crime offenders in the Kaduna zonal office alone.
