The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has lamented its inability to achieve convictions in high-profile corruption cases.
In an interview with journalists in Kaduna State, EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwajaren highlighted some of the problems impeding the prosecution of corruption cases and obtaining convictions.
He attributes the losses to, among other things, frivolous court decisions based on technicalities rather than facts and national interest, as well as arbitrary delay of corruption proceedings.
Uwajaren, who spoke at a one-day course for media practitioners on Effective Reporting of EFCC Activities in Kaduna state, also revealed that the commission secured over 7,700 convictions across the country in 2022.
In his remarks, the acting Chairman of the commission, Abdulkarim Chukkol, expressed concern over the rising Internet-related fraud among the youth in Kaduna State.
The EFCC boss, who was represented by the acting Zonal Commander in the state, Aisha Abubakar, lamented that the active involvement of youths in Internet-related fraud had the tendency to smear the image of the country and consequently discourage hard work and legitimate means of livelihood.
He urged the media to beam its searchlight on the menace of Internet crimes and adequately inform the public about the activities of such criminal elements in order to safeguard them from falling victim to fraud.
Chukkol also restated the “unwavering” commitment of the EFCC towards eradicating all forms of economic and financial crimes in the country, noting that such efforts had led to the conviction of over 100 financial crime offenders in the Kaduna zonal office alone.