7th January, 2020
By Okafor Ofiebor
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has expressed optimism that cCourt cases barring it from investigating and prosecuting past and present officials of the Rivers State Government accused of corruption instituted about 13 years ago may finally be vacated by the Supreme Court.
The Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who expressed the optimism, while fielding questions from a Cross-section of Journalists at EFCC Zonal Office Port Harcourt, said “We are very optimistic about the Supreme Court vacating such encumbrances because in our view, such cases do no longer hold water as various court judgments have affirmed categorically that no court can stop EFCC and other security agencies from investigating anybody accused of corruption, not even Judges. We believe that the issues no longer hold water and overtaken by events.”
Magu assured Rivers people and Nigerians that immediately the legal bottlenecks are cleared by the Apex court, most of corruption cases involving past and present officials of Rivers State Government would be investigated and those found culpable would be prosecuted.
The EFCC boss said that next to Lagos State, Rivers State tops in corruption index in money Laundering and illegal oil bunkering among the cases under the radar of the anti-graft agency.
Giving an overview of performances of the Agency, Magu stated the in 2019, 1,245 convictions were successfully secured, including that of three former governors.
He said the convictions were unparalleled since the agency was established.