CHAIRMAN of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has canvassed through psychiatric tests for all aspiring public office holders.
According to her, most of the negative character traits exhibited by public officers in the country, especially massive looting of the treasury, are symptoms of mental illness.
Waziri also accused Western nations, especially the United Kingdom (UK) of aiding graft in Africa by making it easy for stolen funds to be lodged in their banks.
She spoke during a visit by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), to the commission in Abuja to seek its collaboration in fighting corruption.
She said: “I told the Met (Metropolitan) Police out there that ‘you are creating the avenues for our monies to be taken here. Take a resolution to the United Nations that anybody coming out of Africa to fix money in your banks, they should be cross checked from the home country, otherwise you don’t open the account.'”
If conditions are provided in opening accounts with the banks in these places, it would have gone a long way at curbing the act of corruption by African leaders, she said, adding:
“But the situation is that there are so many off-shore accounts and sometimes, when the account holders die, the money go to the countries unknown to many. These are the areas we are working on.”
Waziri declared that her vision was to eradicate corruption, economic crimes and other crimes in the country and remove Nigeria from the most corrupt countries of the world to the best, non- corrupt country.
Besides, she proposed that a mental medical screening be included before granting appointment to public office holders to enable the country ascertain their mental health. According to her, massive stealing by public officers are symptoms of mental illness.
According to her, if an appointment were to be done, maybe, besides the security report, there was a need for mental medical report of people because of the primitive accumulation of wealth that some individuals engage in.
“You know, if you are stealing what you need, it is a different thing but if you are grabbing left right and centre through out, then your character should be called to question.”
This, she said, is necessary to help many Nigerians who cannot even raise a voice against some of these practices. “They can not feed three square meal while those who occupy public offices through elections, return to their villages, demolish their shanties and replace them with paradise with no regard for their neighbours who can not feed. This is merciless,” she added.
She disclosed that the Commission will soon launch its anti-corruption revolution policy, a first of its kinds where most Nigerians will come to work with the EFCC.
On the reason for his visit, Agbakoba said that the present EFCC law was too narrow to accommodate the heavy work it is doing to fight corruption.
He stressed that the ongoing probe at the National Assembly had to be dealt with care to avoid ridiculing the government itself.
He said while the probes are necessary, the media should endeavour not to raise a frenzy out of it like in the case of the transport minister because in my opinion she had done nothing wrong.
His words: “I will urge the media not take a frenzy out of this like in the case of Minister of Transport, Deziane Madueke. I did not see anything wrong in what she did because if am a Minister I must disburse funds. But if at anytime I disburse funds and it becomes an object of probe you wont get anybody again working for the government.
“So it is important to understand, if there are genuine probes those probes, needs to be dealt with, but to now make every money the government spends a matter for probe ridicules the government.
“Right now there is no government. Everybody at the National Assembly from NNPC to mint, name it all and is also affecting government work. The probes are necessary as the oversight function of the National Assembly, but they must be done very carefully and for a very good reason. Otherwise, it will become a joke, I will ask a question: ” what has happened to the first probe on Petroleum Technology development Fund.”
He proposed to Waziri a Crime Act that will be a wider law and provide enough latitude to catch the perpetrators of corruption, unlike the present one that is a bit narrower and specific.
On the assessment the Nigerian Bar Association is conducting on EFCC operation, he said he was happy that things are turning out bright because the commission is institutionalizing itself.
“The EFCC works, I see in three phases, the investigation, prosecution and recovery. The collaboration will enhance speedy trials and prosecution.
The quality of lawyers, method of prosecution by the commission needs to be upgraded and the charge sheet also has to be reduced to avoid complexity in the cases to achieve positive result, he advised.
He said: “I have always wondered why EFCC will charge a person with 300 count and come with five volumes of evidence whereas if you charge him on two count and ten pages of charge sheet you can win. Clever lawyers are entitled to do their job to make this more complex getting conviction and injunctions keep coming. But if you have a two count charge and put the man in prison for 20 years, it is enough deterrent. So those are the areas I hope EFCC will change-making the charges less, evidence less. Then you get your conviction quicker.”
Also speaking in Ibadan, at the 4th Justice Muri Okunola Memorial lecture organised by the National Association of Muslim Law students, Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, tasked African leaders to shun corruption by offering accountable leadership. He also admonishes citizens to also ask their leaders to give account of their stewardship.
Fashola, who was represented on the occasion by his Special Adviser on Religious Matters, Mr. Hakeem Kosoko said, “The general principle of leadership is to uphold justice while leaders should see themselves as servants and reform the citizens morally, politically, intellectually and economically.”