Financial Crimes Commission Research Articles

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) As A Strategy For Managing Nigerian External Reserves For Sustainable Developmen

Good governance allows a responsible economic and financial management of a nation 's public and natural resources, for the purpose of growth and development. Nigeria 's ability to make remarkable progress in curbing corruption and instituting pragmatic/workable economic and public sector reforms in the system via anti-corruption activities will give her a chance to achieve sustainable growth and development in the management of external reserves. The mechanisms of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and due process have been very instrumental in this regard. An empirical survey on the performance of EFCC shows that the agency is a very key strategy in redeeming the battered image of the Nigeria and making her external reserves management skills a successful one in spite of the fact that criticisms have trailed the agency's activities. The paper concludes that on the overall, the realization of the laudable objectives of good external reserves management will be a mirage if leadership problems of lack of integrity, transparency, corruption, and a travesty/disregard for due process, continue to subsist due to an absence of a vehicle for accountability like the EFCC

Management Fraud and Global Competitiveness of Sub-Saharan Economies - Evidence from the Nigerian Banking Industry

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of management fraud on the global competitiveness of sub-Saharan economies with evidence from the Nigerian banking industry. Five fraud cases involving CEOs of Nigerian banks were studied to determine the effect of such deviant behaviour on the global competitiveness of the Nigerian economy via its effect on flow of foreign direct investment (FDI). A case study approach involving documentary analysis of archival materials from Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), newspaper reports as largely captured in Otusanya (2010), conference papers, and updates involving pending court cases was adopted for the purpose of this study. we found falsification of financial statements, contribution to the collapse of the Nigerian capital market and capital flight as items common to CEOs fraud in the Nigerian banking industry. All three factors impacted negatively on the flow of FDI into the Nigerian economy. The implication is that the global competitiveness of the Nigerian economy was thoroughly compromised. We recommend immediate introduction of whistle blowing legislation in Nigeria to encourage, reward and protect whistle blowers in the country. We also recommend a spirited and transparent fight against the cankerworm of corruption, graft and get rich quick attitude that has eaten deep into the socio-economic fabrics of the Nation. The political leadership of the country must of necessity be at the vanguard of this onslaught.

An Evaluation of Effectiveness of Economic and Financial Crime Commission ( EFCC ) in Checkmating Public Sector Accountants Operation in Nigeria

The study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the EFCC in checkmating the accountants in rendering accountability in the public sector. The population of the study was made up of 80 accountants from PPSSC and LGSC in Anambra State. The study is a survey design and adopted system theory. Purposive sampling technique was adopted. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated for the study. Twenty seven (27) item questionnaires were designed for data collection. Mean score and t-test statistical tools were used to analyze the data collected. The findings of the study revealed that the accountants are to enforce financial accountability. There are a lot of accounting and financial failures in the public sector hence an accountant is rated as one of the most perpetrators of crime. Therefore, EFCC plays a remarkable role in the public sector accountability. The paper concluded that positive changes in the accounting profession will impact largely to the success of the EFCC in Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the government should install good accountability control to avoid embezzlement or mis-management of funds in the public sector, and as well as a code of ethics to engender accountability and transparency in the conduct of the public office holders.

Imperial Presidency and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria

Political competition and participation are crucial to democratic consolidation. Legal and formal guarantees for political competition and participation are nullified by imperial exercise of presidential powers. This paper argues that the presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo fostered one-party domination and in effect derogated from political competition and participation. His instruments were party machinery, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and state agents of force. To achieve democratic consolidation in Nigeria, the independence of critical political structures and state agencies should be strengthened to enable them to discharge their constitutional duties without presidential interference.

Understanding Cybercrime Perpetrators and the Strategies They Employ in Nigeria

A lot has been written on cybercrime and its prevention, but the problem has proved particularly resilient to remedial action. Desperate and vulnerable individuals in every continent continue to fall into its trap. Despite this, there is dearth of descriptive study that attempts to unravel the strategies employed by the perpetrators in Nigeria, as an important precondition for workable and reliable policy direction to address the problem. This article has filled this gap by using data from 40 cybercrime perpetrators selected with snowballing technique. The findings revealed that most of the cybercrime perpetrators in Nigeria are between the age of 22 and 29 years who were undergraduates and have distinctive lifestyles from other youths. Their strategies include collaboration with security agents and bank officials, local and international networking, and the use of voodoo that is, traditional supernatural power. It was clear that most perpetrators of cybercrime were involved in on-line dating and buying and selling with fake identity among others. The article discussed the need for reorientation of Nigerian youths in higher institutions, and various methods as guiding principles for potential victims. It recommended a complete reorganization of the Nigerian Police Force and Economic and Financial Crime Commission, as some of the officers in the institutions aid and abet cybercrime. It finally suggested a review of the Nigerian law guiding the operations of banking, poster agencies, and various speed post services in the country, as these are necessary preconditions to effectively combat the problem.

Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and Political Corruption: Implication for the Consolidation of Democracy in Nigeria

This paper examines the connection between democratic consolidation and political corruption which is deeply entrenched in the Nigerian society. Although successive regimes had established various ...

Police and Torture in Nigeria

The Nigerian police force was set up by the British colonial government to deal with ‘unruly natives’, some of whom dared to question the right of the British occupier to issue commands to and make laws for the owners of the colonised territory. The police force was established to facilitate British administration and commerce within the colony, in other words, to make life easier for British administrators traders who had the ‘misfortune’ to encounter African natives in the course of their work or business, while inevitably making life harder for the locals. This was thus from the outset a top-to-bottom, we-and-they police force, condescending to discipline the ‘savage’ Africans. This psychological profile of the police as a ‘superior’, emotionally removed component of a foreign occupying force has not changed. It remains today the mindset of the police in Nigeria. So, although the colonial power has left, the police remains a colonial police. Nigerians still do not own it. The police force in Nigeria is a leprous, foreign imposition and people’s business is to do their utmost to avoid contact with them. My thesis is that to understand this topic, one must bear in mind the history and psychological profile of the police. Therefore, attempts to improve police behaviour by addressing structural variables and cognitive reorientation alone cannot work; attention must be paid to attitudinal variables and affective reorientation. Municipal, regional and international instruments forbidding torture are necessary and desirable, but without the softer, more informal and more foundational factors of shared humanity and ownership, the police will for a long time remain the pernicious and nefarious occupying army it has been for a century or so.In this presentation I often use the term ‘police’ to include other law enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). I justify this generalization as follows. In the first place, most of the personnel in such other outfits are drawn from the police, thus importing from the police into the allegedly new agencies the inbuilt deficiencies that bedevil law enforcement and security in this God’s own country. Secondly, and perhaps more insidiously, the other security or law enforcement agencies view the police as their template for organization, operations, and discipline (or lack of it).

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Accountability of Corrupt Foreign Actors in Nigeria

This article analyzes the record of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria with respect to the prosecution of the corrupt practices in Nigeria of foreign actors (individuals and corporations). The article seeks to extract from the analyses possibilities and implications for effective anti-corruption efforts in other parts of Africa.

The Global Practice of Plea Bargaining and the Nigerian Legal System

Plea bargaining is now a global feature in the administration of Criminal Justice the world over. The trend is of such a tsunamic force that nations whose Legal Systems hitherto does not recognize the concept of a plea in criminal prosecutions are now developing, evolving and coining various concepts to accommodate a form of lea bargaining in their legal system.Plea bargaining is a practice in a criminal proceeding whereby the accused is induced to plead guilty to a charge in return for a lesser sentence or dropping of some charges or both.The concept seems nouveau in the scope of principal Nigerian criminal legislations and case law. The practice is really gaining ground in the Nigerian criminal justice process in Lagos state and more especially, in the prosecution of financial crimes undertaken by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). This notwithstanding, the question however, how does the concept intend to socialize withe the Nigerian Legal System and the populace as a whole?The paper is an attempt to find a rendezvous between the concept of plea bargain and the Nigerian Legal System. This paper set forth the substance of the global concept and practice of plea bargaining from a perspective that is holistic and with an unbiased jurisprudential basis. It is hope to show that it is illuminating against the background of the Nigerian jurisprudential dynamics and hybrid legal system.

Global anti-corruption standard and enforcement: Implications for energy companies†

While every country has laws, usually of a criminal nature, prohibiting bribery – particularly in the public sector – until recently, laws prohibiting foreign bribery were relatively rare. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) stood for almost 20 years as the only transnational bribery statute in the world, focusing only on the ‘supply side’ of the bribery equation, and leaving the ‘demand side’ and lower-level corruption, to domestic enforcement. The last 10 years have, however, seen dramatic changes in this landscape. With the adoption of a series of international treaties, some highly targeted and others far-reaching, today dozens of countries have laws criminalizing the bribery of foreign public officials in international business. Some of these countries have extended their laws to purely commercial conduct as well. Moreover, these treaties create a legal infrastructure to facilitate cross-border investigations and enforcement. International financial institutions such as the World Bank, which previously turned a blind eye to corruption in projects they financed, are now investigating and sanctioning firms and their personnel found to have engaged in improper practices. As exemplified by the Siemens case, multijurisdictional investigations are on the rise, as are the penalties for violations, particularly where so-called ‘grand’ corruption is concerned. Although enforcement is still quite uneven across countries, where there is the political will and capacity to enforce, the level of enforcement activity is rising rapidly. In the United States, enforcement of the FCPA is at an all-time high, with cases focusing not only on grand corruption in the procurement or business development context, but in many cases on lower-level operational corruption, in dealings with customs, tax, immigration and other regulatory authorities. In the last year, the United Kingdom went from being an enforcement laggard to apparent aggressive regulator and enforcer engaged in close cooperation with the United States. And even on the ‘demand’ side in countries that are recipients of investment activity there are signs of a new era, whether from Lesotho’s prosecution of multinational engineering companies involved in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, to the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s activities, to Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission.

Plea Bargaining: A Trial Procedure that Negates Fundamental Rights of the Accused Person

The concept is alien in the scope of principal Nigerian criminal legislation. The practice is really gaining ground in the Global criminal justice process; especially its adoption in common law countries such as France, in the prosecution of financial crimes undertaken by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria and other prevalent adoption globally. This notwithstanding, the question however, is where does plea bargain fit into, under the Nigerian Criminal Law? Any hope for the respect for the rights of the Accused Persons?

Risk management and regulatory failures in banking: Reflections on the current banking crisis in Nigeria

Nigerians woke up on 14 August 2009 to the announcement by the new governor of the Central Bank sacking the chief executive officers and management of five banks. Three other banks similarly had their management removed at the conclusion of the special investigation into the banking system by the regulatory authorities. For effects, the dismissed bank chiefs were dragged before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the courts to account for their stewardship. What went wrong? How did banks touted as being rock-solid few months earlier by the same Central Bank come close to the precipice of failure? This article analyzes some of the salient microeconomic issues. It highlights the regulatory and risk management failures in the banking system and the urgent need for a fundamental reappraisal of the existing framework for bank regulation.

The war against corruption in Nigeria: a new role for the FIRS?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the implications which the recent Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act (FIRS Act), 2007 have for the ongoing war against corruption in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the relevant provisions of the Act, which confers on the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) some anti‐corruption‐related powers. It discusses how the FIRS may benefit from the existing third‐party information regime under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act (MLA), 2004, and the amendments that should be made to the MLA to make the information regime under it serve the FIRS' purposes.FindingsThe paper points out that the main anti‐corruption‐related power conferred on the FIRS, to investigate the symmetry between taxpayers' lifestyles and their declared incomes, is similar to that conferred on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It notes that declarations by certain categories of public officers to the Code of Conduct Bureau, which the Constitution (1999) contemplates, can provide the necessary base information for the FIRS in the discharge of its anti‐corruption‐related duties.Practical implicationsThe paper discusses the desirable amendments to the MLA, 2004 that could make the third‐party information regime under the Act useful for the FIRS in the discharge of its anti‐corruption responsibilities. It also discusses how the taxpayer identification number, which the FIRS Act empowers the FIRS to issue, may be used as income tracker and thus play the type of role which the social insurance number or the social security number plays in Canada and the USA, respectively.Originality/valueThe paper explores the possibility of alternative, and equally potent, institution to prosecute the anti‐corruption war in Nigeria. It is the first to examine how the FIRS, which the newly enacted FIRS Act, 2007 creates, may serve as that alternative. It argues that the power to investigate the symmetry between taxpayers' lifestyles and incomes, which the FIRS Act confers on the FIRS, reinforces a claim that the Act concedes to the FIRS some anti‐corruption‐related responsibilities.

An Appraisal of the Performance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria

This article examines how an anti-graft body, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), has fared in reducing the incidence of corruption in Nigeria, in particular, bank fraud, Internet scam, and bad governance. It first discusses the corruption situation in Nigeria by highlighting public office holders who have been associated with corruption charges. A Likert-type scale is used in designing the questionnaire for data collection. Descriptive and chi-square analyses are used, and results reveal that the performance of the EFCC has been affected by government interference (p < .05). However, although the anti-graft body has not been able to reduce the incidence of bank fraud (p > .05), bad governance and advance fee fraud have recorded appreciable reduction (p < .05). Areas of success as well as challenges that need to be addressed are identified. Specifically, it is recommended that the bill that established EFCC should be amended to reduce government interference and improve its manpower development, especially in the areas of fraud and Internet scam detection.

The politics of anti-corruption reform in Africa

ABSTRACTPrevious research on anti-corruption reform in Africa falls into two camps. The first explores ‘best practices’ and policy approaches to controlling corruption, while the second focuses on the politics of anti-corruption ‘reform’, arguing that official anti-corruption campaigns aim to mollify donors while using corruption charges instrumentally to undermine rivals and shore up personal loyalty to the president, and thus have no chance of controlling corruption. This paper suggests that, while the neopatrimonial context is a very significant limiting factor in anti-corruption reform, limited progress is possible. Examining the motivations and effects, intended and unintended, of anti-corruption reforms in Kenya and Nigeria, it finds that while the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission has indeed been politically marginalised and largely ineffectual, the more autonomous and activist, but politically instrumentalised, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria has had a measure of success. The analysis suggests that this is explained by the EFCC's independent prosecutorial powers and the institutionalisation strategies of its chairman.

Anti-Corruption Commissions in the African State: Burying the Problem or Addressing the Issue?

Endemic corruption is one the leading obstacles to political, economic and social development; corrupt acts not only undermine the rule of law but also hinder the effectiveness and sustainability of any reform programs. There is a recent trend, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, for governments to establish anti-corruption commissions - distinct, independent, national agencies charged with combating corruption. The multilateral development banks, aid agencies, and anti-corruption NGO's have all promoted the establishment of such bodies, claiming that they form an integral part of a country's National Integrity System (NIS). The recent UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) also makes specific provision for their establishment. However, anti-corruption commissions are costly to establish and to effectively run. Furthermore, they have often attracted criticism for being ineffective and politicized. The purpose of the paper is to undertake an institutional analysis of the value-added that independent anti-corruption bodies provide in an anti-corruption strategy, and identify the various models and factors that may make such bodies effective in the African state. This paper addresses the experiences of three established anti-corruption commissions in Africa, and assesses why they have proven to be successful or weak. These include:- Botswana's Directorate for Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC)- Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)- Kenya's Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC)The general arguments that frame the paper are that such bodies can play a critical role in the anti-corruption strategies of African states, provided they have certain structures and functions. Another objective of this paper is to inform those African states with newly established anti-corruption commissions or those that are in the process of establishing anti-corruption commissions, with some best practice guidelines.

Official corruption and the dynamics of money laundering in Nigeria

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the interface between official corruption and money laundering in Nigeria and suggest ways of curbing these crimes.Design/methodology/approachThe relevant laws dealing with these offences were examined to assess the adequacy or otherwise of the statutory provisions. The key provisions of the Criminal and Penal Codes were discussed in addition to the new enactments dealing with these crimes, namely, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, the Money Laundering Act as well as the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal provided for in the 1999 Constitution.FindingsIt was found that these recent enactments have gone much further than the earlier provisions dealing with these crimes. They contain some far‐reaching innovations such as the provision for the appointment of an Independent Counsel to investigate allegations of corruption against the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors. It was also found that a number of problems could, if not properly handled, hinder the effective enforcement of these enactments.Practical implicationsThe implication of these findings is that the aforesaid statutory provisions can only be effective if the identified problems of enforcement are adequately tackled and the monitoring mechanism strengthened.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates in a unique manner, the close relationship that exists between official corruption and money laundering and suggests a fundamental re‐structuring of the social and economic basis of the Nigerian society to minimize the temptation by public officers to engage in official corruption and money laundering.

In the shadows of the EFCC: is the ICPC still relevant?

PurposeTo demonstrate how the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) can sustain relevance in the bid to check corruption despite the encroaching regulatory intervention of the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachAn analytic approach; to make the case that the ICPC is still relevant in the regulatory scheme as a dedicated agency to corruption issues in Nigeria, the provisions of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2004 are reviewed and the structure of the ICPC is examined. The powers and functions of the ICPC are highlighted with the sole intent that the opportunities which exist for the ICPC to be relevant within the current regulatory scheme can be identified and analysed.FindingsWhilst the risk of competitive regulation persists, there is a persuasive case for retaining the ICPC as a separate agency dedicated to the fight against corruption.Practical implicationsTo challenge the ICPC to change the focus of its regulatory activity from prosecution to prevention through the adoption of forensic strategies that would strengthen private and public institutions and reduce opportunities for corruption.Originality/valueThis paper offers a measure of clarity on the regulatory scope of the EFCC and ICPC in the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes.

An appraisal of the legal and institutional framework for combating corruption in Nigeria

PurposeTo examine the adequacy or otherwise of the existing legal and institutional mechanisms for combating corruption in Nigeria and suggest useful strategies for achieving this.Design/methodology/approachThe pre‐existing statutory enactments, the Criminal and Penal Codes governing corruption in Nigeria were examined to assess their effectiveness in dealing with the crime of corruption. In addition, the two main enactments under the present civilian administration dealing with corruption, namely, the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000 and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004 were also X‐rayed.FindingsIt was found that the earlier statutory enactments have proved ineffective in combating corruption in contemporary Nigeria, hence the enactment of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000 and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004, with the objective of dealing with various aspects of corruption.Practical implicationsThe implication of this finding is that to be effective, legislative measures to tackle corruption must take cognizance of the multifarious nature of the menace coupled with the requisite political will to enforce the provisions of such statutory enactments.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates the great benefit of the use of additional legislative measures in tackling corruption in Nigeria. It suggests the strengthening of these mechanisms and a re‐orientation of social values as the best strategy for dealing with the corruption virus in the country.

Fraud as economic terrorism: the efficacy of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

Discusses Nigeria’s efforts, especially through its Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to meet the requirements of the global Financial Action Task Force on money laundering and other financial crimes; the paper updates an earlier one by A. C. Chukwuemerie. Reviews the related literature and outlines the magnitude of fraudulent activities in Nigeria. Describes the functional mechanisms for fighting fraud prior to the establishment of the EFCC, the functions and powers of the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2002, its offences and penalties, asset and property forfeiture, and declaration of assets and properties. Cites anecdotal evidence of the Commission’s and other agencies’ crackdown on fraud, and makes recommendations for strengthening the code of honour through a fraud prevention programme.