Kayode Ajulo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) stated on Monday, January 22, 2024, that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission appears to have lost its purpose and is now only being used as a political instrument.

Additionally, he reiterated his demand that President Bola Tinubu form a Presidential Task Team to expose the EFCC officers engaged in corrupt activities.

Ola Olukoyede, the head of the anti-graft agency, had warned staff members about the commission’s investigators’ penchant for instant satisfaction and bribery in his New Year’s message.

Nonetheless, the attorney, in an interview on Monday, January 22, 2024, claimed it was unexpected that the Head of the EFCC simply acknowledged that a few of his investigators are accepting bribes without appropriately discarding such individuals.

According to him, the President needs to take decisive action and form a task group to do integrity assessments on the EFCC, given its inability to purify itself.

“You say your operators are demanding bribes and you’ve seen some people, so the next step is to go after them, expose them, and get them off the hook,” Ajulo remarked.

However, Olukoyede may lack strength. The EFCC may be unable to purify itself. The correct thing to do would be to acknowledge that the EFCC is an essential institution in our nation and that we cannot allow it to fail, even if it is unable to purify itself. To make sure that the proper thing is done, perhaps the president needs to form a Presidential Task Team.

“The corrupt inclinations, power, and principalities that have prevented the EFCC from operating must be cleaned out and removed. The task force’s core values are not intended to last forever. Essentially, it functions more like an integrity test and audit to identify such individuals (corrupt officials) and return the EFCC to its original purpose.”

“The EFCC operated effectively in its early years. It is becoming increasingly evident that the EFCC has already abandoned its duties, and that the organization’s basic purpose has been forgotten, especially by its managers.”

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“Looking into, questioning, and analyzing what happened in many cases these days reveals that it was all political in nature. It appears that the EFCC has now become a political instrument, and this has to stop.

He went on to say that Nigerians have lost faith in the nation’s premier anti-graft organization as a result of the purported regression.”

The SAN said, “As a lawyer, there are occasions when your client would say, ‘I want my problem to go to the EFCC,’ because they are 100% certain that they will have recourse and that, in any case, their complaint will be addressed.

“But these days, they will strongly encourage you to return to the Police if the issue is not politically charged or if the parties involved are not politically exposed.”