Buhari warns EFCC to resist temptation of being used by politicians

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Abuja urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to avoid being used to service the interests of politicians

The president gave the admonition at the unveiling of EFCC’s Standard Operating Procedures, Policies and Manuals, at the State House, urging the Commission to continue to be impersonal and fair in its operations.

“I must advise the leadership and operatives of this Commission to resist the temptation of being used for partisan politics or be dragged into personal disputes. Your job is to serve the nation in its efforts to entrench good governance.”

The president saluted the leadership of EFCC for securing 2,220 convictions in a period of one year and recovering over N152 Billion and $385 million.

“It is worthy of note that the war against corruption, which is one of the cardinal objectives of this administration, is being strengthened. This is being done through the institutionalisation of operational procedures particularly as they form the building blocks of transparency and accountability in administration and public expenditure,’’ he noted

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The president charged the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), especially law enforcement agencies, to work towards standardising their processes in the context of extant laws and regulations.

“We must continue to strive and deal decisively with matters in accordance with the rule of law.”

He stressed that the government would continue to accord all necessary support to MDAs in order to sustain the initiatives in progress to make the country free of corruption.

“Let me conclude by saying that the fight against economic and financial crimes in Nigeria is a collective responsibility of all Nigerians if we are to make meaningful progress as a nation.

“I invite you all to fight corruption in all its ramifications and join us to entrench good governance values and integrity within all our systems.

“As I have often said, “If we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us as a nation,” he added.

In his remarks earlier, the chairman of EFCC said the agency was undergoing various phases of reforms, including the production of the manual, to reposition it for the task of fighting financial crimes in the country.

He added that the Commission had a five-year (2021-2025) strategic plan with clear and measurable targets, based on five objectives.

He said that the objectives, which include improving public engagement to fight crimes, systems and processes for prevention, intelligence gathering, prosecution and law enforcement, were meant to make the agency the pride of Nigeria.

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