Is EFCC really jinxed? — Femi Adeoti Column

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The harder they come, the harder they fall. They would enter with all
the glamour, glister and sparkle. All full of life. But they end up
crashing, biting the dust.
In the spate of 20 years, it has had eight chief executives, acting
and substantive. The story of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) has always been shrouded in high-tech controversies.
Its chairmen constantly swim in troubled waters. Their tale has
remained that of grace to grass. Sadly, they hardly learn from the
missteps of their predecessors.
Once they mount the saddle, they become a law unto themselves. They
put on the toga of a tin god. And enjoy its allure while it lasts.
Unfortunately, it has never lasted the distance. It usually ends
suddenly and in disaster too. Yet, the successor falls into the same
pit. He is blind to the landmines.
So? They entered with fanfare, they exited virtually unsung. Yes, in
utter disgrace and disrepute. Such has been the fate of previous EFCC
helmsmen. Is EFCC jinxed?
The real message is usually lost on them. They are mere pawns in the
hands of their benefactors. They are perceived as attack dogs. They
are at the whims and caprices of their handlers.
Since EFCC came on board in 2003. The journey remained turbulent, full
of twists and turns, ups and downs. The fall guy in all this is always
the agency’s chairman. He is prey and victim.
The roll-call would shock you: Nuhu Ribadu, pioneer chairman, 2003 to
December 2007; Mrs. Farida Waziri, May 2008 to November 2011; Ibrahim
Lamorde, November 2011 to November 2015; Ibrahim Magu (acting
chairman), November 2015 to July 2020; Umar Abba (acting), July 2020
to February 2021; Abdulrasheed Bawa, February 2021 to June 2023; and
Abdulkarim Chukkol (acting), June 2023 to date.
The controversy denominator dogged their footsteps. It trailed their
appointments and/or performances. Worst still, all were alleged to
have abused their office. Some laced with doses of corrupt practices.
They became bullies as quickly as they got there. They did this with a
terrible and frightening template. That’s the undoing of its chairmen.
Once they picked their suspect, they declared him guilty. Even before
trial. Made a media show of him. Detained him.
Then they scouted frantically for charges to nail him. Oftentimes,
they failed. This method is lousy and inhuman. The reason most of its
“celebrated cases” met a dead end.
They never went beyond public entertainment. Some of the arrests were
effected to settle whatever scores. The suspect you parade today walks
the street tomorrow. Free, unmolested. Sad. You still wonder why the
anti-graft czars end the way they end?
But one woman chairman, Waziri, stood out from the pack. She refused
to toe that path. She gave a clear hint to this. She made a sterling
difference. It was crystal clear.
She evidently proved a point: What a man can do, a woman can do even
better. Waziri lent credible credence to this. She knew what she
wanted at EFCC. And how to go about it.
She gave a profound account of herself. Her unambiguous testimony in
her biography, “Farida Waziri One Step Ahead; Life as a Spy, Detective
and Anti-graft Czar,” said that much:
“I had set before me the priority of building the agency into a
formidable anti-corruption institution. What I met on ground was an
EFCC built on the cult of personality.”
She hit the ground running almost immediately:  “From the first day, I
had envisioned a long-term future where the agency would be autonomous
like its counterparts in the developed world.”
She was faithful to her resolve. She never derailed nor deviated: “The
EFCC I took over was an organisation with offices strewn all over
Abuja. The headquarters was in Wuse II. The Economic Governance Unit,
the department that deals with theft by politically-exposed persons,
was in Asokoro.
“The Legal Department was domiciled in the Aso Rock, while the
intelligence unit was somewhere in Garki. I thought that was not the
ideal.” She promptly did the needful:
“We needed professionalism in every aspect of our process and
operation. I tried to solve the office problem, to decongest the
offices.”
She got all the departments into one location: “I was able to secure
five and a half hectares of land for the permanent site along Airport
Road.” Former President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated it seven years
later: “I dreamt it. I laid the foundation. I was proud of it.” What a
fulfilment!
Waziri did not operate in a vacuum. She had a focus: “I dreamt of the
day the EFCC would become an independent, fully fledged agency,
staffed with core EFCC operatives and some police officers that want
to switch to the organisation. I had fully prepared the staff for that
prospect.”
She was creative in her approach and operation. She drew deeply from
her rich experience. She had been to Hong Kong, Switzerland and
Israel. And she picked useful lessons from them. Her sojourns at SFU
and Force CID also came into active play:
“I created two interrogation rooms fitted with the necessary
electronic recording fixture. From my office, I could monitor
proceedings through a closed-circuit system. I could chip in one or
two things from my office during an active interrogation.”
With this: “We changed the interrogation culture from the hitherto
friendly atmosphere to a gritty, business-like approach.” How?
This is how: “A suspect is sent into the room to wait some minutes
ahead of his questioning. The time they spent waiting eased them into
a sober mood and infused some gravitas into subsequent interaction.”
That’s how to get the best results and rehabilitate. And she did get
some in abundance. By the time she left EFCC, it was a different
story. A huge departure from the past. She was proud to flaunt it:
“The money recovered under my watch was over $9 billion in three
years. We made decent recoveries, especially during the bank
sanitation carried out in collaboration with the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), under the leadership of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.”
She knew what to do to achieve results. And she did it with deftness
and aptness. She would not shy away from reality. She made the right
move at the right time:
“Inter-agency cooperation was top on my agenda. I had good working
relationship with the State Security Service (SSS). Ditto the Nigeria
Police, whose hierarchy I frequently approached each time I needed
staff or when EFCC operatives needed reinforcements.”
She didn’t stop at that: “We had a very good working relationship with
Code of Conduct Bureau. We had a healthy interface with the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA), a cordial working relationship.
“EFCC was never in rivalry with any of the various security and law
enforcement agencies.” That is the way to go. Synergy is key in
security network. That was not lost on her either.
Waziri sure had her bad times. She confessed there were tough times
but believed such times never lasted. And she was damn right. This is
how she handled one such time:
“At the time the Americans were giving out bad reviews of the EFCC
under my leadership, I had very good relationship with the
Metropolitan Police and other European agencies.”
Even more: “The United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
brought me a bullet-proof car. We didn’t have patrol vehicles for
surveillance. UNODC gave us a fleet of 12 buses.”
It was a boost: “That contradicted the falsehood making the rounds
that traditional partner agencies had lost faith in the EFCC and had
severed ties with the organisation.”
She strived hard to change the negative narratives about the
anti-graft agency under her watch. And it paid off handsomely: “As an
organisation, we also tried to divest ourselves from the culture of
arbitrariness and impunity.
“The EFCC was not about me. We tried to position it as an institution.
I was careful to follow the due process. I did not get carried away by
power. I did not use my position to harass anyone or pandered to the
wish of politicians.” What a radical departure from the sordid past!
She’s not yet done: “The EFCC handled VIP cases without undue media
circus, without pressure or prejudice from the Presidency. The agency
refrained from acting like an attack dog that took its cue from its
handler.”
Then came another initiative: “I carried case files home. As bulky as
they came, I read the case files back-to-back, paying attention to
recommendations. I took my own notes. I wouldn’t want to rush to court
only to have my case fall flat on its face.”
She beat her chest and boasted: “Yes, I would have gotten convictions
for some of those cases. I was accused of being soft but they forgot I
arrested and indicted more high-profile figures than any EFCC chair
before or after me. The record is incontrovertible.”
Waziri was guided and guarded accordingly: “I remember (former)
President (Umaru) Yar’Adua saying to me: ‘I don’t want Gestapo
methods. I don’t want a trial by the media. I want you to follow due
process.’
“I had abided by his orders. The EFCC I chaired cannot be accused of
arbitrary disposal of suspects’ properties. The assets were kept until
the cases were concluded.”
She made bold to say: “There was nothing personal between me and those
persons arrested by the EFCC under my watch. I was just doing my
work.”
Waziri was emphatic and down to earth: “The point is, the cases we
handled were never personal nor personality-driven. No one individual
influenced the case to take up, not even the Presidency made the call.
The EFCC chair is a very powerful office. But I worked within the
rules.”
Her ultimate objective: “We wanted to have a Nigerian society that
questions its members who suddenly amass wealth overnight. A society
that would shun rather than fawn over those known to be living off
proceeds of fraud.
“That was the motives behind the Anti-Corruption Revolution (ANCOR).
The fight against corruption is not won by handcuffs and cudgels
alone.” Right and right!
Waziri is a pride to womanhood. She has thrown a challenge. Let others
before and after her also straighten their records with EFCC if they
dare. It’s only wise to tread Waziri’s shining path.
So, is EFCC actually jinxed?