The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly launched investigations into the conduct of at least 28 serving governors and their deputies as part of a broad range of investigations into corruption and financial crimes. Some governors and deputies are set to lose their constitutional immunity from prosecution when their terms expire. According to a memo obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, EFCC has requested assets declaration forms submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) at the beginning and end of current tenures. Though the exact details of the cases against the officials are unknown, the anti-graft agency stated that it needs the assets documents to facilitate ongoing investigations, noting that persons listed in the attached schedule featured. Citizens and advocacy groups are calling for thorough investigations and transparency in the investigations to bring sanity to governance in Nigeria.
The Nigerian constitution grants immunity from criminal prosecution to serving presidents, vice-presidents, governors, and deputy governors. A number of former governors who completed their tenures in previous years remain under investigation for alleged corruption, but convictions are rare. The daily funding of elections and extravagant lifestyles have triggered intense suspicions of corruption among many governors. In a Transparency International’s annual survey, Nigeria was lowly rated in terms of corruption. The anti-corruption agencies will only be able to carry out limited investigations of the officials while they are in office.
The EFCC has focused on multiple governors even though convictions on corruption-related offences are rare. Former governors, such as Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and Jolly Nyame of Taraba State, who governed their states between 1999 and 2007, were jailed for stealing public funds in 2018, but controversial pardons were granted to them by President Muhammadu Buhari. Last week, the EFCC publicly disclosed that it is investigating the outgoing governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State for allegedly divesting N70 billion from the state’s treasury. Moreover, Matawalle and his deputy are among the 28 governors that EFCC is investigating.
