The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has said Nigeria will not survive if its overhauled as call for its scraping intensifies.
There has been clamour by the Nigerian Governors Forum for the anti-graft agency to be declared illegal.
Sixteen state governments had filed a suit before the Supreme Court challenging the legality of EFCC. The suit was initiated by the Kogi State government and joined by the Ondo, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, and Nasarawa state governments, among others.
Expressing dismay over the campaign against its operations, EFCC through its Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, on Monday, October 21 said those pushing for it to be banned are “feeling the heat of the work” of the commission.
While speaking on a TV programme Uwujaren said the EFCC is crucial to the continued existence of Nigeria.
“We are really shocked by what is happening. Nigerians should see through this shenanigan and oppose it because I don’t see how this country can survive without the EFCC, given the kind of corruption problem that we have. Nigeria cannot do without the EFCC.
“I am worried that, with the kind of problem we have with corruption in this country, some people would go to court to challenge the legality of the EFCC. For citizens in their states, I am not sure that the EFCC is their greatest problem. I doubt that this is the case. What you see playing out is simply people who are feeling the heat of the work of the EFCC and who want to derail what is going on within the EFCC.
“They see the EFCC as a threat, and purely that is what is playing out. I think Nigerians can see through the gimmick of those who are behind the challenge to the legality of the commission,” Uwujaren said.
“So, people who are concerned about transparency and accountability will wish for the EFCC to be ‘killed’. Let me use the word ‘killed’ because that is the agenda.
“They simply want to derail the fight against corruption because they don’t want accountability in their domains,” he said.