EFCC: TIME TO SACK, PROSECUTE LAMORDE (2)
In continuation of our previous publication on the Subject, our attention has been drawn to Sun newspaper of Tuesday 26th May, 2015 attributing EFCC poor performance to poor funding by the last administration captioned “Jonathan starved EFCC of funds - Lamorde".
Nigerians, Lamorde and his corrupt team during 2015 budget defense at the National Assembly early this year reported that the Commission received all funds as budgeted in 2014. It is no news that the employees cried out for nonpayment of allowances; subsequently the National Assembly graciously approved additional N1billion Naira to enable Mr. Lamorde pay his staff allowances. Lamorde who denied not owing staff earlier through the EFCC spokesperson, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren made a part payment of about 30% of their hazard allowance, leaving 70% unpaid, despite the fact that this allowance was appropriated in the 2014 budget, approved and fully disbursed. Series of publications from staff have it that funds for their allowances were donated for certain political party's campaign and sponsorship of a gubernatorial candidate who was an ex- boss of one of the anti-grafts agencies. Till date, staff are still being owed 70% of their hazard allowance, overtime and dressing allowances.
Non remittance of statutory deductions like pension is a financial malpractice punishable by law. In EFCC, Larmorde and his Director of Accounts, Mr. Bukkar Abba places pension deductions on time deposits for interest. Remittance is done whenever they are satisfied, denying staff several months’ interest they will earn from their pension administrators. This has earned Mr. Bukkar (notable for his exotic cars of ten million naira and above) a query from the Commission's Secretary amidst other financial engineering to cover up misuse of funds as it is a violation of the provisions of the Pension act.
Over the years, since Lamorde assumed office as EFCC boss, relationship with the National Assembly has been characterized by late submission of annual reports. As published by Sahara reporters on Sunday October, 28, 2011, titled “EFCC: From Hope to Hogwash”, Lamorde’s failure to submit the report was indicative that the EFCC Chief Executive is as much a fraud as the people he is pretending to be chasing about.
Mr. Lamorde, in a management meeting early this year is reported to have briefed that the immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan called him to find out if he has any challenges and he said “none at all”. However, he enjoined him to do his work to show case the administration’s efforts in fighting corruption in a bid for his re-election.
Rather than doing his work as instructed, Mr. Larmode published a list of convictions of mainly cyber crime offences and continued his suppression and negotiation on pension fraud and oil subsidy cases.
Till date, EFCC has no conviction on numerous notorious oil subsidy cases and crude oil theft. Mr. Lamode set up Extractives Industry Investigation Unit and flooded the unit with Police Officers and loyal operatives who only negotiate with the bunkerers. An international investigation report by the United States on stolen crude from Nigeria involving Saltpond Oil (though still inconclusive) has claims by the Oil Company that it legally bought confiscated crude oil from EFCC. EFCC again through its spokesman Wilson Uwujaren gave a shallow brief denying this allegation and started dramatizing with the arrest of Mr. Tenebe’s Fenix Impex Nigeria another involved Nigerian. EFCC owes Nigerians concrete explanations as regards their involvement in this dirty deal. What happens to the Nigerian image EFCC claims to be redeeming?
No wonder, in less than two years after assumption of office as EFCC boss, Mr. Lamorde relocated his entire family abroad and has blown out of proportion.
A caption of Vanguard Newspaper of 23rd March 2012 from an article “Corruption in EFCC shocking – Lamorde” credited these statements to him:
“By the time I returned to the EFCC at the instance of the President, I was profoundly shocked to find that many of those I was supposed to send out to carry out the Commission’s mandate on certain individuals were themselves enmeshed in corruption.”
“The patriotism and even idealism of 2003 (when the EFCC was established) had succumbed to the unrelenting onslaught of corruption; an undue dose of atavistic acquisitiveness and other personal interests had been injected into the war that it was inevitable for the anti-corruption effort to flounder so noticeably.”
“EFCC had to do some introspection and we realized that we could ill-afford to raise a finger against the behemoth of corruption if we did not first put our house in order.”
“We needed to tell ourselves the bitter truth, which is that the corruption we had been set up to fight, amongst other economic and financial crimes had permeated the very fabric of the EFCC!”
“Lamorde made the disclosure at a two-day Public-Private Sector Workshop on Corruption, organized by the United Nations Global Compact, UNGC, and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, in Abuja, expressing dismay that the commission had succumbed to the “determination of grand patrons of corruption to foist their nefarious ways of life on the rest of us.”
Today, the same Police Officers Lamorde was referring to are heading key departments and all the zonal offices which had turned to another police station where cases are negotiated across the counter. Most of these Police men are grade level 12/13 officers and have regular grade level 14 EFCC operatives working as their subordinates. Most of them had served beyond the maximum 4 years secondment term stipulated in public service but are still with the Commission.
Mr. Lamorde assigned fictitious grade levels to them, aided by his corporate mistress who heads the human resources unit. The fictitious grade levels apply only in EFCC for undeserved remunerations, benefits and positions. She refutes instructions from her direct bosses, the Director of Organization Support and the Commission’s Secretary and is being used for irregular recruitment (of which she is a product), promotion denial, witch hunting and dismissal as in the cases of Mike Nzekwe, Gabriel Aduda, Juliet Ibekaku, among others. She entered the Commission at a higher level than her contemporaries without any aptitude test, interview or experience and was later drafted to head the human resources with no requisite experience. A recruitment error the immediate past chairman Farida Waziri moved to amend but for the intervention of her executive boyfriends. According to staff report, she determines whom to recruit, promote or sack. A case of recent promotion examination has it that she failed officers who scored more than she did in her own promotion exams and even penciled down names for sack. Notable for her multiple standards; recruitment, promotion, posting, study leave and foreign training depends on relationship with her or the executive. Such welfare scheme designed to motivate hardworking staff with long service years are for their associates, children of the big political name even before they are confirmed who has been used to flood the commission.
Also notable is the Director of Organization Support, a grade level 13 police officer placed on grade level 15 in EFCC to award supplies and procurements to companies and fronts of police chiefs. He has spent over 4 years on secondment in EFCC so also the Director of Operations.
The trusted and trained hands are either frustrated to exit or rendered redundant. Nigeria Police with its numerous deficiencies has stigmatized the EFCC. It is time to reshape and reposition EFCC for positive change and prosecute Lamorde and his team to serve as a deterrent for future executives of the Commission.
To be continued!