The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said
on Tuesday that the cases involving the chief executives of the banking
sector had been the most challenging.
EFCC Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri, said the commission would, however, not be deterred in its war against corruption.
“All our cases have been challenging, but I will say the most challenging in the last three years have been the cases of fraud in the banking sector,” she said.
The probe of the EFCC into the financial activities of several bank executives had led to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of bank chiefs who had misappropriated depositors’ funds or converted such funds to personal use.
The focus of the anti-graft commission on the financial sector had led to the recovery of N975bn with about N650m coming from the banking sector.
“There is corruption everywhere, but not everyone is corrupt in Nigeria. We only have syndicates whose only pasttime is corruption. We also have people who can die for their honour and integrity in this country,” Waziri said.
The EFCC boss denied that she had turned the commission into a show and a media circus with the humiliation of suspects who were yet to be arraigned before courts of competent jurisdiction, saying during her tenure, there had been no reported cases of brutality against suspects or those invited for questioning.
Waziri spoke during the public presentation of two publications, “Doing Business in Nigeria: an Investors’ Handbook,” which she wrote, and the “Economic Crimes Law Report,” produced by the agency.
Chairman of the occasion, Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Aloma Muktar, said the scourge of corruption in Nigeria was like a curse of the Sphinx in the Ancient Greece.
“Today, Nigeria is devastated by a spell. For almost the whole length of life as a country, Nigeria has advertently lived with a self-imposed Sphinx known as corruption. Nigeria has a seemingly promising economy ahead of other countries in terms of resources and opportunities required for growth and sustainable development,” Mukhtar said.
She noted however that economic mismanagement, corruption and lack of accountability and transparency by previous administrations had been the main reason for the poor economic performance and rising poverty.
Mukhtar stressed that the EFCC had performed extremely well despite the harsh operating terrain.
She said the EFCC had grown to become the premier anti-corruption agency in Africa and the level of discoveries it had made was unparalleled in the history of any agency in the world.
By Olamilekan Lartey, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
EFCC Chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri, said the commission would, however, not be deterred in its war against corruption.
“All our cases have been challenging, but I will say the most challenging in the last three years have been the cases of fraud in the banking sector,” she said.
The probe of the EFCC into the financial activities of several bank executives had led to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of bank chiefs who had misappropriated depositors’ funds or converted such funds to personal use.
The focus of the anti-graft commission on the financial sector had led to the recovery of N975bn with about N650m coming from the banking sector.
“There is corruption everywhere, but not everyone is corrupt in Nigeria. We only have syndicates whose only pasttime is corruption. We also have people who can die for their honour and integrity in this country,” Waziri said.
The EFCC boss denied that she had turned the commission into a show and a media circus with the humiliation of suspects who were yet to be arraigned before courts of competent jurisdiction, saying during her tenure, there had been no reported cases of brutality against suspects or those invited for questioning.
Waziri spoke during the public presentation of two publications, “Doing Business in Nigeria: an Investors’ Handbook,” which she wrote, and the “Economic Crimes Law Report,” produced by the agency.
Chairman of the occasion, Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Aloma Muktar, said the scourge of corruption in Nigeria was like a curse of the Sphinx in the Ancient Greece.
“Today, Nigeria is devastated by a spell. For almost the whole length of life as a country, Nigeria has advertently lived with a self-imposed Sphinx known as corruption. Nigeria has a seemingly promising economy ahead of other countries in terms of resources and opportunities required for growth and sustainable development,” Mukhtar said.
She noted however that economic mismanagement, corruption and lack of accountability and transparency by previous administrations had been the main reason for the poor economic performance and rising poverty.
Mukhtar stressed that the EFCC had performed extremely well despite the harsh operating terrain.
She said the EFCC had grown to become the premier anti-corruption agency in Africa and the level of discoveries it had made was unparalleled in the history of any agency in the world.
By Olamilekan Lartey, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch
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