By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed how lawyers are aiding mega financial fraud, especially illicit financial flows, in the country.
Olukoyede noted that some lawyers display unpatriotic attitude by sacrificing national well-being on the altar of personal interest by aiding those he described as “briefcase foreign investors” to fleece the nation in dubious transactions.
The EFCC boss stated this during the opening of the 6th Annual Criminal Law Review Conference in Abuja, titled, “Optimising the Administration of Criminal Justice in Nigeria: How to Navigate Emerging and Systemic Challenges of Insecurity and Economic Hardship.”
He stressed that the transfer of huge funds into offshore accounts, preferable in tax haven are aided by lawyers.
“The most traumatic discovery of the EFCC in recent years was the subjugation of national interest and wellbeing to personal interest by lawyers who aided briefcase foreign investors to fleece the nation in dubious transactions.”
“The P&ID scam, the Mambilla Power Project and Sunrise issues are cases in point,” he said.
He said while the anti-graft agency had had cause to prosecute judicial officers and senior lawyers and earned conviction, his respect for the bench and senior members of the bar remained undiminished.
“However, based on the unique experiences of the EFCC in the prosecution of corruption cases, I am particularly interested in systemic reforms in our justice delivery system that capture: The process for the discipline and regulation of judicial officers. The regulation and discipline of legal practitioners. Ethics, values and standards of legal practice. These are essential to me because the job of EFCC is ensuring that the corrupt does not find space in our national life. And when they do, to make them pay for their deeds,” he said.
Olukoyede urged the judiciary “to address the issue of obscene legal fees senior lawyers earn from political office holders, particularly the manner in which they collect such fees which clearly conflicts with existing statutes.”
“If a lawyer would not care about the source from which a sitting governor or any other public servant pays him millions of naira to defend him in electoral tribunal, the lawyer must necessarily be mindful of the fact that the only proper way to collect such humongous amounts is through the financial system.
“Aside from violating money laundering regulations, hauling millions of naira of professional fees from public office holders in liquid cash as senior lawyers do is only aimed at tax evasion. It is needless to stress that the best act of mentoring from leaders of the bar to the younger generation of lawyers is by living out the ethical demands of the profession,” he said.
