I have proved that economic crimes can be fought

The former chairmanof the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, on Monday, said that under her leadership, the commission witnessed startling results which proved conclusively that economic crimes could be fought successfully within the rule of law having successfully prosecuted about 1,600 cases with over 450 convictions.She also said that over $9 billion USD recovered in the last three and a half years were kept in a dedicated account with the Central Bank of Nigeria while some of the looted funds had been given to their owners.Waziri, who stated this at the commission's headquarters in Abuja while handing over to her successor, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde, added that she took the mantle of leadership of EFCC with a vision to build a world-class institution which would stand the test of time.The former EFCC chairman advised the acting chairman to re-present the proposal for enactment of the non-conviction based assets forfeiture legislation which failed to sail through the National Assembly, saying it would be a major boost to the war against corruption if it was passed to law.She further stated that in three and a half years, her leadership repositioned the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, commenced Project Eagle-Eye with a target of recoveries of N120 billion for the Federal Government, set up the commission's Monitoring and Intelligence Unit, and commenced work on the 10-storey permanent office complex for the commission among others.While responding, the acting chairman of EFCC, Lamorde, said he would make far more demands of professionalism, integrity and ethical conduct on the staff of the commission asking them to get back to work.The acting chairman, who said he would not accept any excuse for failure from any official of the agency, maintained that the challenges that stared the commission in the face were enormous.He called for the support of staff of the anti-corruption commission and goodwill of Nigerians to move the EFCC to a new level.Lamorde, was last Wednesday, directed to take over control of the EFCC after Waziri was unceremoniously relieved of her duties as its head.
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