The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to amend the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, to confer institutional independence on the anti-corruption agency.
The resolution of the House followed the consideration of a bill sponsored by Plateau State lawmaker, Yusuf Gagdi, during Thursday’s plenary.
Among other provisions, the proposed legislation seeks to insulate the EFCC from political control and align its operations with global anti-corruption best practices.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill at a session presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, Gagdi said the amendment aims to modernise the EFCC’s legal framework to enable it to respond to the multi-layered patterns of financial and economic crimes across the country.
Since the enactment of the EFCC Act in 2004, he noted, the scope of financial crimes has expanded to include cybercrime, cryptocurrency manipulation, illicit financial flows, terrorism financing, and real estate-based money laundering.
Under the existing Act, the President does not require the approval of the National Assembly to remove the Chairman of the anti-graft body.
One of the proposed amendments seeks to curtail the President’s power to remove the EFCC Chairman, which under the current law can be done at the President’s sole discretion.
In his contribution, Abia lawmaker and Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Crimes, Ginger Onwusibe, described the amendment as long overdue, noting that many contemporary financial crimes were not captured in the principal Act.
The bill was unanimously passed for second reading and referred to the relevant House committee for further legislative action.
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