Without EFCC, Nigeria will crumble under corruption- Uwujaren
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has warned against calls for the scrapping of the anti-graft agency.
About 16 governors are in court challenging the legality of the establishment of the EFCC.
But the EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs Wilson Uwujaren has defended the agency, saying without the anti-graft commission, Nigeria will crumble under corruption.
“We are really shocked by what is happening,” Uwujaren said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast show The Morning Brief.
“Nigerians should see through this shenanigan and oppose it because I don’t see how this country can survive without the EFCC with the kind of corruption problem that we have. Nigeria cannot do without the EFCC.”
Uwujaren claimed those behind the challenge are “feeling the heat” of EFCC’s work and do not want to be held accountable.
“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 EFCC,” he said.
“Those who are doing this, I am not sure that for citizens in their states, the EFCC is their greatest problem. I doubt if that is the case. What you see playing out is simply people who are feeling the heat of the work of the EFCC and they 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 of the legality of the commission.”
According to him, the establishment of the EFCC is backed by the country’s laws and as such challenging its legality is purely to derail the fight against corruption.
“So, people who are concerned about transparency and accountability will wish 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,” Uwujaren said.