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VANGUARD, THURSDAY, November 16, 2017 — 23
Why EFCC lose good corruption cases -----Alabi
Mrs. Boma Alabi, a leading commercial lawyer and
seasoned litigator. former President of Commonwealth
Lawyers Association, CLA.
In this interview, she shares her views on the
challenges of law practice in the country, the fight
against corruption, globalization of legal services and
sundry issues.
Excerpts:
By Onozure Dania
What is your appraisal of the
anti-corruption war of the
Federal Government?
All said and done, it is
laudable and must be
supported,however, as the
saying goes, no pain no gain’
the Federal Government must
be ready to do the work to
achieve the result.
What do you mean by this?
That means painstaking
investigations, equipping
and training their personnel
in the anti graft agencies and
raising awareness amongst
the citizens to ensure their
buy-in and active cooperation.
Attempting to take
a short cut such as the recent
‘Ex Parte’ order forfeiting
funds belonging to
depositors without BVN, is an
example of a short cut that
will lead to an arid desert
which can never be fruitful.
How do you appropriate
monies belonging to citizens
because they have not
complied with a CBN
directive?
It simply beggars belief! I am
an administrator in an Estate
that has not been settled over
20 after. So, if there are bank
accounts belonging to the
deceased, the
beneficiaries will lose their
entitlement because they
could not wake up the dead
to be finger printed? What
about Nigerians in diaspora
with bank accounts in
Nigeria? Many are not in
touch with Nigeria and
unaware of these directives.
There are so many different
scenarios that can result in the
lack of a BVN on an account
through no fault of the bank
or the depositor.
There was public outcry
recently that the Economic
and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, lost
some high profile cases in
the anti corruption war, how
do you think we can
strengthen the war to ensure
victory over corruption?
The outcome shows that the
EFCC may have rushed to
Court without taking their
time to investigate and
prepare for the cases.
Strategic preparation is the
key to victory in any litigation,
including prosecution for
financial crimes. For instance,
the EFCC generally will
charge the accused with
numerous counts of various
offences at the same time. As
you well know, the onus is on
them to prove each and every
count but I would approach it
differently.
There have been calls for
States Attorneys- General
and other prosecutorial
agencies of states to take
overprosecution of corrupt
politicians while the EFCC
will focus on the prosecution
of those who commit
financial crimes as envisaged
by the EFCC Act. What is
your reaction to this?
Corrupt politicians are also
more often than not, accused
of financial crimes and
therefore come under the
purview of the EFCC, when,
as it invariably does, the
alleged act of corruption
involves money. I don’t think
the issue is who prosecutes,
rather it is how well they
prepare their cases before
rushing to Court. Presumably,
legal opinions are sought
prior to the decision to
prosecute. That’s usually the
case with prosecutions
initiated by the Attorney
General’s office, at least at
state level where I assist with
prosecution. If that is the case,
a lawyer from the Ministry of
Justice usually provides his
Legal Opinion. Naturally, the
MoJ lawyer is often not a
subject matter expert and
therefore, not fully conversant
with all the factual elements
required to succeed. It is
important that in complex
financial transactions, they
enlist the help of subject matter
experts beforehand.
You can be assured that the
defence, usually much better
funded, will have subject
matter experts working with
the lawyers as consultants and
also providing expert opinion
where necessary. Funding is
key to success. The EFCC has
to be better funded to enable
the agency pay counsel.
What do you consider to be
the greatest challenge facing
commercial law practitioners
in the country?
The greatest challenge is the
economy. We are not insulated
from the effects of the recession
as commercial lawyers. When
business slows down due to the
various factors that we know
led to this recession, it impacts
on the number of transactions
and therefore on the
transaction advisers too.
How do we strengthen the
whistle blowing policy to
For instance, the
EFCC generally
will charge the
accused with
numerous counts
of various
offences at the
same time
make it more efficient and
effective?
A robust whistle blower
protection scheme in addition
to the cash incentive will
increase confidence in the
system. And that’s what we
need! The British police get
some of the best results in the
world and that is due to the
confidence the citizens have
Mrs. Boma Alabi, former President of Commonwealth
Lawyers Association, CLA
in their local Bobby. They
know that he will not reveal
his sources and if need be,
will go to any length to
protect the whistle blower.
That confidence means that
people are eager to assist the
police if they are aware of
any criminal activity. This is
where we need to be, where
Nigerians feel confident
enough to approach the
police to report any criminal
activity around them, not just
corruption in high places.
How do you think we can
restructure Nigeria within the
ambit of the law?
Well, what is it that we wish to
restructure in the first place and
what do we mean by
restructuring? This is a new
buzz word for politicians and I
Onnoghen, Solanke set for Gadzama annual
public lecture
Chief Justice of Nigeria
Justice Walter Nkanu
Onnoghen, CJN, is set to
chair the 2017 edition of J-K
Gadzama LLP annual public
lecture while the first female
Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Chief Folake
Solanke, is expected to be
Law page Cartoon
really think we should examine
this very critically before jumping
on the band wagon. The three
tiers of government have a lot of
independence from each other, it
is up to each tier to protect its
constitutional powers from
encroachment by another, and we
will find if this is done, that what
we actually have in place at the
moment is more than sufficient.
Recently, Lagos state, regained
authority over its waterways from
the National Inland Water Ways
Authority (NIWA) by pursuing a
claim on behalf of citizens against
what was effectively double
taxation, this is an example of
what can be achieved within the
structure as it is. If we restructure,
whatever this means, and do not
implement, there still would not
be much progress.
the guest speaker at the event
which will hold on November
28, 2017, at the SMA Belgore
Hall, J-K Gadzama Court, FCT
Abuja by 11 a.m., prompt.The
theme for this year’s lecture is
“ Whistle blowing policy,
peoples power and corruption
in Nigeria.”
EDITORIAL
Innocent Anaba
( Head)
Wahab Abdulah
Ikechukwu
Nnochiri
Dayo Benson
(Supervising
Editor)
08056180119
dayobenson@yahoo.com