Senate mulling amendment of EFCC Act to investigate, prosecute corrupt military officers
The Senate has said that it would embark on a constitutional amendment that would empower the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to investigate and prosecute military officers indicted for corruption and other financial crimes.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Emmanuel Udende, revealed this on Monday when members of the committee visited the headquarters of the anti-graft agency in Abuja.
According to the Senate committee chairman, most of the challenges faced by EFCC could be addressed through the constitution and budgetary process.
He decried a situation where the agency can only investigate and prosecute serving military personnel only after a court martial.
“The situation where a court rules that a military man cannot be investigated and prosecuted unless he goes to a court-martial, we think, runs counter to the EFCC Act. We thought that we would do that by amendment of the EFCC law itself so that they will have the powers to do the investigation and do the prosecution,” the lawmaker said.
Meanwhile, Udende stated that the committee would ensure an increase in the budget of the commission, going by its remarkable achievements under the current chairman, Ola Olukoyede
