Nigeria’s Anti-graft Agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has recorded 2,210 convictions from January to August 5th, 2022.
The Executive Chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa stated this while declaring open a workshop on effective reporting of Economic and Crimes for Journalists in Abuja.
Declaring the workshop opened, the EFCC Chairman said the commission attaches importance to the role of the media in the fight against economic and financial crimes, and corruption.
Bawa noted that this necessitated the Commission to improve the capacity of Journalist reporting financial crimes to inform the society better.
Fair Reporting
He urged media practitioners to put the interest of the Country at heart by reporting corrupt tendencies in all sectors fairly as doing so would help the commission in the fight against corruption.
“As a worthy, dependable and reliable ally, I want to use this opportunity to further urge media practitioners to put the interest of our Country at heart, particularly as it relates to a conscientious effort not to celebrate the corrupt in our midst, but to expose them on the pages of your newspapers, screens of television or our various online platforms,” the Chairman stated.
He said the war against corruption is a worthy fight for the soul of Nigeria, and for the future generation which should not be left to the EFCC alone.
Bawa also explained the intervention made by the commission in the Forex market that led to the appreciation of the Naira to less than seven hundred naira to a Dollar.
He explains that, “One achievement which most of you may not easily recognise is the impact which EFCC’s intervention in the Forex market has had on the value of the Naira. From well over N710 to the Dollar, following the Commission’s intervention, the Naira has appreciated significantly against the Dollar in the Parallel market, and we are not relenting in our efforts to check harmful speculative activities in the sector.”
Also, the Commission’s head of legal and prosecution unit, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, discussed on the challenges of prosecuting economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.
He advocated for need to amend the evidence act, the administration of criminal justice act to accommodate the technological challenges of fighting corruption.
Mr. Dele Oyewale also discussed on best practices in financial crime reporting.
He advised journalists to be more professional, more courageous and engage in investigative reporting as well as avoid beats associations to achieve better results in reporting financial crimes.
Also, a paper on cybercrimes enforcement in Nigeria, phenomena, trends and challenges was presented by head of cybercrimes section of the commission Mr. Nuru, Buhari.
It is expected that journalists in Nigeria continue to provide enlightenment on the ills of corruption to society.
Confidence Okwuchi
