Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill for a second reading that will change the EFCC establishment act to give the EFCC additional capacity to do its job in light of recent events.
Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, the bill’s sponsor, led the debate. He said that the bill’s goal is to make the EFCC more effective at fighting the growing complexity of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria by strengthening its institutional independence, operational efficiency, and accountability framework.
Gagdi, who is in charge of the House Committee on the Navy, said that when the EFCC Act was passed in 2004, it gave Nigeria a new legal framework to fight corruption and financial crimes. However, he said that the way financial crimes are committed has changed a lot since then, according to The Nation.
He claimed, “Cybercrime, manipulating cryptocurrencies, moving money illegally, funding terrorism, and laundering money through real estate have all become common.” But the EFCC still works under old rules that don’t do a good job of dealing with these new situations.
He said that the current law doesn’t do enough to protect the Commission’s independence, leaving it open to outside influence and political interference.
“This Bill is a big step toward making Nigeria’s anti-corruption system stronger. It wants to make sure that the EFCC is an autonomous, professional, and open organization that can deal with modern financial crimes.
“This change will not only improve Nigeria’s reputation around the world, but it will also support good governance, economic stability, and public trust in the fight against corruption.”
The bill, which was sent to the House Committee on Financial Crimes, passed without any debate.
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