FOR many Nigerians, corruption is simply the biggest challenge the country is faced with. Graft is seen in many quarters as the root of other major challenges such as under development, poverty, unemployment and slow economic growth. Despite this, there are those who believe that the two anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), haven’t been impressive. It is therefore cherry news that a member of the House of Representatives has sponsored a bill to amend the Principal Act of EFCC. But not many would have expected that the lawmaker to sponsor a bill to make the anti-graft commission more effective will come from the PDP. The main opposition party has severally accused the Buhari administration of using the EFCC to hound its high ranking members. But the sponsor of the bill, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai says anti-corruption is a national issue that transcends partisan politics. This is even as he dismissed party affiliation as according to him, political parties in the country lack ideology and are just vehicles to power. Ossai, who is the chairman of the House committee on Ethics and Privileges also spoke on the allegations of motions and bills recycling in the lower House. Excerpts:
What kind of restructuring are you seeking with your bill on the EFCC?
The EFCC Act was established in 2004 precisely and this is what this bill is seeking to amend and cure in the sense that it is an addition to what is already in existence. What we are doing is naming the financial agencies that are supposed to be part of the commission. In the current Act, we have these financial agencies mentioned in passing. So, what we are trying to do is add value by having nominations from these agencies to be part of the EFCC. Of course, I am talking about agencies like the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). You need experts like these. What does the EFCC investigate? It investigates financial crimes, so we need to have these relevant bodies involved. Secondly, EFCC has been criticised over the years, so it needs an advisory body like the Council of State is to the president. As past Heads of Government and presidents, they advise Mr. President on some issues because they have been there before. They have the experience. This bill seeks to establish the Review Committee, which will look at the areas for which EFCC has been criticised and present their report to the chairman of the commission for a better approach to prosecuting cases especially. At the end of the day, the Courts will not free those people that are perceived to have defrauded the country. You imagine when the EFCC is being advised by a former Inspector- General of Police, the former Chief Justice of the Federation or even the National President of the NBA. You will agree with me that such an EFCC chairman will get very good advice.
Talking about the Review Committee, it is one aspect of your proposed amendment of the EFCC Act which didn’t go down well with the House Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila. Though he spoke in favour of the bill, he said the EFCC should enjoy full independence, that the suggested committee may encroach on the agency’s independence. What do you think?
The issue is simple. If I had a second right of reply on the floor, I would have dissolved that argument easily. He didn’t see the light from where I was seeing it. You see, I wasn’t the only person that worked on this bill. I consulted other experts in the country to come up with this bill. I know very well that this bill will survive at the committee level.
You are sponsoring a bill to restructure the EFCC during a time when your party, the PDP is seriously criticising how the agency is carrying out the anti-graft war. Could it be that the mood in the PDP is what influenced you to do what you are doing?
When you look at the amendments I am seeking, there are the kinds that will bring the change we are talking about. It will bring justice and fairness. I am elected to represent my constituency in the National Assembly. And I must build national consensus. I will not do anything just based on political parties. Like what I told my colleagues on the floor that, today we are trying to define leadership by doing what our children’s children will remember us for. They will remember that there was a day, that we as lawmakers took it upon ourselves to enact laws that will ensure that those who defrauded our country are bought to book. I think I should be seen as a patriotic Nigerian and not a man representing a political party. Yes, the party is the vehicle through which you come to power but it shall not supersede national interest. In bringing up issues of national interest, especially the issue of how the EFCC carries out is duties which has been criticised in some quarters, with regard to how some people who are believed to have stolen a lot of money are not brought to justice. They have not been jailed. So, to this extent, we have to tighten the laws governing EFCC. I am not afraid. I pray that I will not fall short of the level I am. Today, we are talking about the change mantra and this bill is the real change. It’s not about mouthing change but making laws that will lead to this change and this bill is the movement to such laws.
But how would you assess the EFCC under the Buhari administration. Do you agree with your party that the agency’s anti-corruption war has been one sided with the PDP at the receiving end?
I look at things from a nationalistic angle. I look at Nigeria. I don’t look at political parties. All the political parties in Nigeria lack ideology, we therefore find ourselves in any available political party. This (no existent party ideology) is one issue I have worked on as part of the research work for my PhD. I have looked at all the political parties in Nigeria and I have found out that they lack ideology.
There have been harsh criticisms against the EFCC for detaining suspects beyond 48 hours without trial. The PDP is most vocal in pointing to this even as some members of the party have asked that those accused of corruption clear their names and leave the party out of their problems. What is your take?
I don’t want to join issues with my political party. More importantly, such criticism of the commission is what my bill intends to cure. To start with, when you have a review committee which has eminent Nigerians advising the commission, it goes to show that this bill knows what Nigerians have been complaining about even outside the PDP. When I first presented this bill , the PDP wasn’t complaining. Some of the issues complained about with regard to the commission were raised even under the PDP government. So you can see that this bill is nationalistic. There are even other innovations in the bill like the Witness Unit and Detention Unit that is being created. The Bill also seeks that if a Court gives an order on recovered funds and a Managing-Director or branch manager of a bank refuses to release the money to the EFCC, he/she will be punished with a three year jail term.
The House Leader also raised the issue of fines which he opined that the amount you suggested was on the high side.
Again, if I had the right of reply I would have explained. It’s very simple. He (Gbajabiamila) thinks I am talking about plea bargain. But what I am actually saying is that whereby the EFCC has investigated and discovered all the property acquired through corrupt means, and the person returns all that was acquired with stolen wealth, there will be a lesser charge. Let’s say if the charges would have led to a life sentence, if they are lessened, the person can get ten years since all he made from corruption has been relinquished to the EFCC. It is not that you will be freed, no. Such persons will still face the music, but with lesser charges. This is done all over the world, even in Britain. He also didn’t take into cognizance, the issue of Victim Compensation. A situation where an individual is defrauded, he should be refunded his money when the case is settled. I am moving for an amendment of the EFCC Act to say that by the pronouncement of the Court, a victim’s money should be refunded to him. What the Act currently says is that the money be returned to the federation account and I am trying to amend this.
As is it is now, the persons who head the EFCC are lower in rank to an Assistant Inspector-General of Police. You are interested in dealing with the issue of the rank of the person that heads the EFCC….
My position on this is contained in the first amendment in Section 2 (1) (a) (ii), \ to the extent that I said that a serving officer is not the ideal to head the commission. I am saying a retired senior police officer , a former I.G or A.I.G should head the EFCC. It could even be a retired army officer or any other of the security agencies but of similar ranks to a retired I.G or A.I.G. You can see that this bill is the real change people are looking for, not the issue of body language. Body language does not cure anything, rather what is the cure is a bill that is enacted by the National Assembly and signed into law by the president.
The issue of members reworking bills and motions to represent them on the floor has been raised, with ranking lawmakers being pointed at as the main culprits. As a ranking member and chairman of the Ethics and Privileges Committee, what is your opinion on the issue of recycling bills and motions?
There are issues that you have to look at before pushing up a bill. You see, when you have someone who is not returning to the National Assembly, it is assumed that the bill he was pushing is dead. It doesn’t stop any other person from researching on the same issue and presenting a bill. So anyone that has researched a matter and brought it as a bill does not go against the codes of the House. It is okay as long as you are not taking a bill from a current member. Bills are like research work which anyone or body can work based on already existing knowledge. I presented 13 bills in the last assembly, three went in and I am returning about 10 to this assembly. I feel that the committees in the last assembly did not do much work and to that extent, many of these bills did not pass through. And because of this, I am representing 32 bills in this assembly. I am talking of about 13 of my bills that have gone through second reading and I encourage my colleagues to also work hard because that’s why we are here.
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