Nigeria’s biggest fraudsters- mostly ex-governors and politicians-well known for evading justice, do so using their huge loots to lengthen cases filed against them, often repeating trips to the Supreme Court, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde said.

Mr. Lamorde rendered a frustrating narrative of the nation’s anti-corruption war on Thursday to the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes as he defended the commission’s budget.

Hardly offering unfamiliar details, the remarks again put on the spotlight the paradox of the nation’s anti-corruption war, which often punishes the lowly- somehow for lacking the resources to stage a good fight- while the mighty go free with their plunder.

This year alone, Mr. Lamorde said, over 200 convictions have been recorded. But nearly all involved the relatively low-scale pilferers, the 419 scammers, the Yahoo Yahoo boys and dubious bank officials.

But when it comes to multi-billion naira fraudsters, the stolen resources have been deployed to delay justice, with minor injunctions frequenting the Supreme Court.

“The truth is no case has been concluded,” the EFCC chairman said. “I don’t think it is correct to say that whether the charges framed are not properly done or the prosecution is not putting the case properly.”

“We have example of a case we charge to court in 2006; for this very case, we have gone to the Supreme Court twice on just interlocutory applications. They will file this, the judge will overrule them, they will go to Court of Appeal and lose there but they will still go to the Supreme Court,” he added.

When such cases are lost, he continued, the Supreme Court orders it be returned to the trial judge for continuation, then a fresh application will suddenly emerge anew.

“They will come with another application and certainly for lawyers among us we know how long it takes for a trial to go to Court of Appeal and get listed, then go to the Supreme Court get it listed and decided upon. This is the fate of most of the cases we have in court,” he said.

In the commission’s nearly-a-decade history, only a handful of high profile convictions have been recorded.

Several cases involving top politicians, accused of stealing public funds, have lingered for years after an initial public fanfare. Many of such cases, filed as early as 2005, remain unresolved, with some of the indicted officials still roaming the country as kingmakers, lawmakers, and political gladiators.

The EFCC in the past has blamed the law courts for the delays, clamouring for special anti-corruption courts to speed the process.

To block the frustration, Mr. Lamorde said the commission’s priority now is to forfeit the assets of the accused, to freeze the resources that would have been deployed in prolonging cases.

“The first thing we do now is that we try to recover and confiscate the assets of individuals that we are investigating because it is only when you deprive them of their resources that you will be able to force them to stand trial,” he said.

“Once they have access to their resources and asset, they will use it to continue to delay and drag some of these trials.”

Poor funding

Mr. Lamorde also presented a budget proposal of over N21 billion to the lawmakers.

The breakdown of the proposed budget shows that Capital Expenditure is N11 billion; Personnel Cost,N6 billion; and Overhead Cost, N3 billion.

Mr. Lamorde pointed out that the commission’s proposal of N21 billion against the N9.3 billion approved by the Budget Office of the Federation leaves a gap of N11.3 billion which could impact adversely on the operation of the agency.

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/108229-why-nigeria-big-thieves-evade-conviction-efcc.html

Our judiciary is just a camouflage for corrupt politicians.
The three arms of goverment are just thesame,even the said judiciary in itself is corrupt.

Nigeria is a failed state,so is our judiciary.

This is the only country I know of that the masses celebrates thieves.

Almost all our politicians and political office holders are glorified thieves.

For the first time I think I will agree with those clamouring for a revolution,as it stands only a revolution will save this nation.
The three arms of goverment needs to be wipe out for Nigeria to move forward

Big thieves... Them get small thief?

This post was hidden but has been unlocked

Duh! Several adjournments spread over a lifetime ensure that justice isn't served in many cases. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

Nigeria is a joke

The entire Judicial system needs to be reworked.

Sometimes I wonder if we have a sort of "Power Imbalance" amongst sectors of the Nigerian Government.

A committee will be required to seee to this pronto!

He was saying this infront of the Senate commitee, populated by men who are EFCC's potential customers. He just gave them expo, they now also know what to do to delay justice, when they steal funds and are caught.

asdf:jkl ha ha :
Nigeria is a joke

. More than a joke, baby, a curse for humanity! That's more like the word

Am Ashamed of My Country called NIGERIA!!!!!

people steal billions of naira,they ar celebrated nd confered wt the biggest awards in the land while petty thieves are condemned sharply.not justifying anyone o.what a pity.

OWN YOUR PRIVATE ISP NOW
http://privateispbiz..com/

Poor man Wey thief Maggi omo Dem go show him face for crime fighter, rich man Wey thief baskets of tomatoes Ɣ☺Ʊ no go see him face...

asdf:jkl ha ha :
Nigeria is a joke

u deserve an e-slap for this comment

Simply put Nigerian courts themselves are corrupt. Don't be suprised the judges have been paid by the thieves and are colluding with them to delay cases. Afterall it's a known fact Nigerian police supply guns to armed robbers. Corruption is a way of life in Nigeria!.

Lamorde is incompetent! He's only justifyin dat. Sefini.

Is not about shouting "nigeria is a joke", who do you guyz think is nigeria? Nigeria is nothing without it's inhabitants. Nigeria is just a name of a place, if we all want a better nigeria, it simply starts by doing the very basic right thing. Simply things like not throwing sachets on the streets after using them would go along way. Change for good, starts by first doing the basic right things. if nigeria is a joke, it means you and I are the very source of it's pristine comedy.

Who is the fraudulent judge or corrupt politician, or the thieving business man, did he fall from the moon. The leaders we produce are a reflection of the society. If we didn't think/ do corrupt or coup or fraud, we won't produce leaders who do them. We first have to change our mentality as a nation.


To the topic, for this administration or any administration to be able to reduce violent crime, terrorism, corruption or just crime in general the judiciary must be seen to work in tandem with the executive arm of government. However this is not the case. As the judiciary has been the major drawback to any success recorded by the security services.

The EFCC is corrupt wit the biggest thieves as there officials, so they should shut up and stop deceiving us

this is a act of irresponsibility, when will our government & her agencies start taking responsibilities for their misdeeds, Mr. EFCC Sir, please pardon me to say before your arrival there has being two other chairmen, one of them was an anti-corruption Icon & a national hero, while the other one is seen as a taboo, a criminal & a disguising creature. So mr. chairman sir, please stop all these your silly excuses & being man enough to resign your position if you are not up to challenge, perhaps you have being in system long enough to know how the system works.

mrrock: Simply put Nigerian courts themselves are corrupt. Don't be suprised the judges have been paid by the thieves and are colluding with them to delay cases. Afterall it's a known fact Nigerian police supply guns to armed robbers. Corruption is a way of life in Nigeria!.

Nigeria is a lawless country.Only the very poor are judged in nigeria.If there is law in nigeria,gej wont be the president of nigeria with all the financial atrocities he is commiting.Animals like obj,anenih,tinubu,bakole,kalu and co would have long be shot or locked up for eternity

PortHarcourtBoy: This post was hidden but has been unlocked

You will soon be banned for derailing the thread.

Henry120: Is not about shouting "nigeria is a joke", who do you guyz think is nigeria? Nigeria is nothing without it's inhabitants. Nigeria is just a name of a place, if we all want a better nigeria, it simply starts by doing the very basic right thing. Simply things like not throwing sachets on the streets after using them would go along way. Change for good, starts by first doing the basic right things. if nigeria is a joke, it means you and I are the very source of it's pristine comedy.
Who is the fraudulent judge or corrupt politician, or the thieving business man, did he fall from the moon. The leaders we produce are a reflection of the society. If we didn't think/ do corrupt or coup or fraud, we won't produce leaders who do them. We first have to change our mentality as a nation.

101% correct.
1million likes
like this poster said Nigeria=inhabitants. if u say nigeria is a failed state it is the inhabitants that have actually failed. Corrupt Lawyers, lawmakers, policemen, judges, minister president etc. are all products of the society they didnt fall from d sky. The rot going on in government is also happening in all other facets of our society. Everybody is guity of our current sorry state.

Henry120: Is not about shouting "nigeria is a joke", who do you guyz think is nigeria? Nigeria is nothing without it's inhabitants. Nigeria is just a name of a place, if we all want a better nigeria, it simply starts by doing the very basic right thing. Simply things like not throwing sachets on the streets after using them would go along way. Change for good, starts by first doing the basic right things. if nigeria is a joke, it means you and I are the very source of it's pristine comedy.
Who is the fraudulent judge or corrupt politician, or the thieving business man, did he fall from the moon. The leaders we produce are a reflection of the society. If we didn't think/ do corrupt or coup or fraud, we won't produce leaders who do them. We first have to change our mentality as a nation.

101% correct.
1million likes
like this poster said Nigeria=inhabitants. if u say nigeria is a failed state it is the inhabitants that have actually failed. Corrupt Lawyers, lawmakers, policemen, judges, minister president etc. are all products of the society they didnt fall from d sky. The rot going on in government is also happening in all other facets of our society. Everybody is guity of our current sorry state.

Just ask d CJN to appoint Special Judges for Corruptn Cases Or keep complaining

Rubbish excuse!!

At least EFCC should show what attempts they have made to prosecute the likes of Obasanjo and Babangida.

Besides on criminal matters, nobody should be able to delay the process with lawyers, only in civil cases this excuse may be possible.

The real reason, is because Nigeria is run by the big criminals and there is no real law and order. The PDP is criminal organisation govt

Good. Very good. I wish Mrs Clinton would read fhis. She never gave Mrs Waziri a chance when the courts were frustrating her. Now it turns out that her successor has failed to secure a single high profile conviction after one year in office.Shame on those who derided her and threw her out of office.

If those that the people have give their mandate as lawmakers see these legal loopholes normally invoked by these thieves to get away ,what are they doing there to make laws not to block it?