Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) officials will soon be subjected to integrity tests every six months, it was learnt yesterday.
The Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, said his number one priority is to cleanse the commission of bad eggs.
He will set up an Internal Affairs Department that will monitor lifestyles of its staff.
Lamorde spoke while receiving the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption, Mr. Victor Lar, and members of the committee.
He assured the committee that there will be no more media trial of suspects.
He said: “About the credibility rating of the commission that has gone down, we are happy that you have observed that there are serious integrity issues in the commission.
“The number one priority of my administration is to cleanse the commission from within so that people will continue to have confidence in it.
“We want to set up an Internal Affairs Department that will be solely responsible for monitoring the activities of staff, their lifestyle and ways of life.
“We want to subject staff, including myself, to polygraphic test every six months and any person who fails the test will be sent out.”
On the complaint of the committee against arrest of suspects and media frenzy which usually accompanies the exercise, Lamorde said: “I can assure you that with my leadership, such (media frenzy of suspects) is a thing of the past.
“Every law enforcement agent knows that the arrest of a subject of investigation should be the last part. Unfortunately, maybe, there are issues around that (arrest); we are going to address that.”
Regarding the few number of corrupt suspects that have been convicted, the Acting EFCC chairman said the commission cannot be blamed for the slow pace of trial.
Lamorde added: “It is true that the number of convictions may look small but there are a number of reasons why we cannot predict the number of convictions because of a number of variables.
“For instance, a former governor was charged to court in 2007 but we are still at the plea stage because he went to the Supreme Court based on preliminary objection. We have done one time at the apex court with this individual. We are right now for the second time at the Supreme Court.
“One thing that is very consoling is the promise by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, who will want all corruption cases to be concluded within six months.
“I know that the modality of how that will be done is being worked out.
“We are also mapping out strategies to give our in-house lawyers more training and improve our operatives. All cases will be taken to court based on the quality of investigation.”
Earlier, Lar asked the EFCC to stop media trial of suspects.
He also urged the anti-graft commission to address what he called its dwindling image.
Lar said: “You were here when the EFCC started; you became acting chairman; you left and you are back as acting chairman. I believe that you are a doyen of EFCC. You saw how it performed and how it nosedived. God has given you the opportunity to see how you can correct things or right the wrong.
“Arrest of suspects should be the last action of the agency. It should come after thorough investigation. What your commission is doing is that you try people on the pages of newspapers in the name of arrest. When the man goes home or he is discharged of all allegations, you don’t tell the press. You therefore leave innocent suspects with stigma and psychological trauma.
“The enthusiasm that accompanied EFCC has waned. We hope you will improve your investigation.
From your records, we also observed that you received over 2,000 petitions, over 1,000 cases taken to court and you secured 68 convictions. It is because your legal team does not work diligently.”
Lar repeatedly demanded for a breakdown of EFCC budget for 2011.
He said: “We want to see the budget because we have questions to ask. Arising from inspection of your projects, we will ask more questions.”
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