Two public commentators on Sunday called for adequate funding of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to enable it strengthen its anti-graft activities across the federation.
They spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos while reacting to ongoing investigation by the EFCC into how state governors spent the N552.74 billion Paris Club loan refund.
President Muhammadu Buhari had, on Dec. 22, 2016, approved that the fund be distributed to the state governments and directed the governors to pay salaries with part of the money.
EFCC is currently probing how the fund was spent, following allegations that the governors diverted the funds for purposes not intended.
A political analyst, Mr Charles Ideho, appealed to the Federal Government to establish EFCC offices in all the 36 states and FCT for effective fight against corruption in the country.
Ideho told NAN that it was a “good development’’ that EFCC had started beaming its searchlight on state governments instead of concentrating only on the government at the centre.
He urged the state governors to account for the funds they received and how much had been disbursed.
The analyst said that the anti-corruption fight would not be effective if the commission was not evenly spread across the country.
“I don’t think the existing six centres are enough.
“As it is now, EFCC is overwhelmed with many cases it is handling; as they are tackling one case, another is coming up.
“If we can have EFCC centres in all the 36 states and they are well funded, corruption will drastically reduce,’’ Ideho said.
Also, Mr Onyekachi Ubani, a human rights lawyer, told NAN that there was nothing wrong with EFCC probing the Paris Club funds received by state governments.
Ubani, therefore, urged Nigerians to support the commission in the fight against corruption.
“Because the EFCC is asking state governors to account for the money, they are ganging-up and threatening Ibrahim Magu and his pending confirmation as the substantive Chairman of EFCC.
“The governors have to account for that money because accountability is inherent in leadership and governance,’’ Ubani said.
He said that there was nothing wrong in what EFCC was doing and that every Nigerian should be involved in the anti-corruption war.
“If we want a country that we will be proud of, if we want Nigeria to grow positively, Nigerians must support EFCC,’’ Ubani said. (NAN)