Rejigging the Anti- graft War
The outcomes of some of the anti-graft cases are clear indications that the federal government must embrace a review of its entire approach to the fight against graft, particularly its prosecutorial methodology, because its current modus is primed to fail, no matter how many times the agencies of government try.
To that extent, to rescue the anti-graft war, government must take another look at its modus operandi. To think that one of the grounds for the ineffectiveness of the anti-graft war is the 20-mem- ber committee called the National Prosecution Coordination Committee (NPCC) on high profile cases as against strengthening the existing agencies, is saddening.
That the suggestion was mooted at a time the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had begun to gradually find its feet exposed the inanity of the idea. Rather than assist EFCC and other sister agencies to function better, government opted for a duplicitous committee, the result of which is the evident ineptitude that has characterised the corruption war, in addition to the financial burden the NPCC comes onboard with and without any defining legal basis.
This is why government must review its current frame work in the fight against graft, stay away from politicising the process, avoid distractive media trials and ensure that all cases embrace investigation-driven prosecution, towards making sure that whatever case it brings forward for trial is sure to pass all legal tests. It is not until then that the fight against graft can be taken seriously.