The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of unprofessionalism, saying the anti-graft agency has engaged more in sensationalising issues rather than carrying out rigorous investigation. Akpabio stated this during the screening and confirmation of the newly appointed EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, and the Commission’s Secretary, Muhammad Hammajoda, during plenary on Wednesday.
“The reality is that the EFCC has engaged more on sensation than real investigation,” Akpabio said. The Senate President further narrated how the former chairman of the ant-graft agency, Abdulrasheed Bawa, tried to embarrass him ahead of the 2023 elections and how operatives of the commission broke into the house of a former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha. “I have had me own share, releasing a letter informing the EFCC that I will not be able to come on a frivolous petition was released by the office of the chairman of the EFCC to the press, you see the chairman’s stamp on it.
“He released it to the press just to embarrass me because of the 2023 election, but to the glory of God I surmounted it. So, for me, I don’t think we should waste time with EFCC, we need to take a thorough look at EFCC and look at whether the Act setting up EFCC even allows them to function because there is too much discretion. “I don’t see how the EFCC will go and arrest a former governor and come through the rooftop as if they are taking Pablo Escobar. It happened to Rochas Okorocha, they came through the roof and they broke the POP and went down with guns. Is that EFCC? And to you that is investigation?” Akpabio said.
He said that Olukoyede must do things differently away from how some of his predecessors operated, adding that somewhere else, people are invited to defend themselves after evidence of crime has been established against them.
