Friday, 13 May 2016

NEWS:::-EFCC recovers N600bn in under six months

EFCC recovers N600bn in
under six months

– The EFCC has recovered N600 billion in
less than six months
– According to Rep. Kayode Odele,
attempts to call the EFCC’s integrity into
question are mere politics
– The anti-corruption agency has been
accused of waging political persecution
against President Muhammadu Buhari’s
enemies
The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) has recovered over
N600 billion in less than six months, the
chairman of the House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Financial Crimes,
Hon. Kayode Oladele, has said.
The lawmaker, who spoke to journalists in
Abuja yesterday, also noted that the public
need to understand that not all recovered
property, cash or any other asset by the
anti-graft agency are immediately forfeited
to the government’s coffers as they remain
exhibits until when a judicial pronouncement
is made by the court.

EFCC
Oladele insisted the frequent questioning of
the agency’s modus operandi by politicians
was just to cast aspersions over the
integrity of the EFCC in its effort to rid
Nigeria of corruption.
“People just bring up questions to discredit
and to reduce the credibility of the agency. So
far, with an agency collecting $3.1 billion in
less than six months, people should really give
them a lot of accolades,” he said.
“When you talk of money being remitted to the
national treasury, it is something you have to
look at very well in a different perspective
because when you collect money and unless
somebody voluntarily says ‘this money is
stolen’ and he is really giving it up, any money
collected by EFCC, unless there is voluntary
admission of guilt, is still regarded as an
exhibit for the purpose of conviction.”
“So, EFCC cannot just collect money and begin
to pay into national treasury. What if at the end
of the day the person from whose hand they
collected the money is acquitted? Who will pay
back the money?”
Oladele, however, said the agency operates
a Recovery Account where the recovered
funds are deposited to yield compound
interest, noting that any given accused will
get his money back with accumulated
interest in the event he or she is not
convicted.

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