Chief Olisa Agbakoba,SAN, former President of Nigeria Bar Association has identified poor prosecutions, weak financial resources and increased animosity towards judges as some of the reasons the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is losing many corruption cases in courts.
He also said the anti-corruption war is suffering because many judges are poorly paid, leaving them vulnerable to sumptuous offers from looters and pointed out also that many judges that ordinarily should have been sympathetic to EFCC’s cases feel antagonised by the federal government.
The leading maritime lawyer, in an exclusive interview, warned that the EFCC will keep losing prominent corruption cases except it changes tactics and empower its prosecution teams. Blaming the EFCC prosecutions as shoddy, Agbakoba said: “How come the EFCC has poor charges that lawyers are able to get injunctions against them? How come the agency goes to the wrong courts many times for prosecution?
“They are the ones strengthening the lawyers and allowing them to get injunctions because of poor prosecution. So, they prepare their cases terribly badly. In fact, if you see a typical EFCC charge, you will almost weep. I don’t know who gave them the idea that their charges must be in hundreds. You just need one or two charges to make it easy.
He went on: “When cases go wrong, they start shouting not knowing the cases are badly framed, poorly investigated and badly prosecuted. That’s why cases are thrown out and we shout lawyers and judges.”
On why judges are increasingly throwing EFCC cases away, he said it could not be unrelated with the recent invasion of residences of judges. According to him: “The rule of laws dictates you don’t denigrate an institution in order to win a battle. You don’t have to go in the middle of the night to break into their residences. You know these guys. You can arrest them or even invite them. They can’t run because you know them well.
“Going after them in that way splits the Bar like I am against it and we now forget the issues to discuss how. The problem is the EFCC thinks it is above the laws, which is not true. That is why the anti-corruption war is not going well and needs to be corrected.”
He went on: “That is very wrong because you are not fighting with the rule of law yet you want the rule of law to assist you deal with looters. It is not going to work. The judges will be against you. They have their discretions to rule on your cases. You cannot force them to convict any person. You must bring the accused before them and if you have already antagonised the judges, how do you want to get prosecutions? They won’t be sympathetic to you because the judges also have their challenges.”
On the needs for increased financial empowerment of the anti-corruption agency, Agbakoba said: “EFCC needs resources to work well. If you go to their office in Ikoyi, you will be shocked with what they have. In fairness to them, they are doing more than they are paid. They are overworked, overburdened and overused. They don’t have forensics or any skills. So, they prepare their cases terribly. In fact, if you see a typical EFCC charge, you will almost weep.”
The Nation
