The Amnesty International Secretariat London, has called for the independence of the anti-graft agencies in Nigeria, to enable them effectively combat corruption.
The Legal Adviser of the body, Dr Kolawole Olaniyan, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos.
He advised that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, be removed from the control of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF.
According to him, the independence of the anti-corruption agencies is important to their existence and operations.
“The office of the AGF has no business in making any regulations for anti-corruption agencies.
“Section 43 of the EFCC Act, which empowers the AGF to make regulations for the commission should be removed because it is clearly inconsistent and incompatible with international standards.
“What is needed is for the principal anti-corruption agencies — the ICPC, the EFCC — and other agencies like the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct Tribunal to be truly independent of executive control.
“Another solution is to amend Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution to explicitly remove or limit the powers of the AGF from entering a nolle prosequi(do not wish to proceed) in corruption matters,” he argued.
He, however, urged the president to reform the anti-graft agencies and free them from excessive governmental controls.
Mr Olaniyan added that the National Assembly should, without delay, repeal the country’s outdated anti-corruption laws to conform with international standards.
He said that the reform would improve the independence and freedom of the anti-corruption agencies.
The legal adviser stated that the reform would also rebuild the crumbling justice system in the country and sufficiently address conflicts of interest.
“It will empower victims of corruption to take action in corruption and asset recovery matters.
“It will also improve judicial independence and ensure that assets declaration by public officials is constitutionally mandatory.
“But the real change will not happen unless the judiciary is totally free from political influence,” Olaniyan stated.
He suggested that the reforms should include legislation which would offer adequate protection to those who exposed corrupt practices.
He urged the president to consistently enforce the existing laws which made some practices illegal.
He also advised the government to ensure that court judgments were obeyed.
Mr Olaniyan urged government to publish details of how recovered stolen assets were spent.
NAN
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