SCRAPPING EFCC: CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS, ARGUMENT AND FACTS
By Yakubu Musa
Kano
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) captioned the ‘Implementation of treaties which reads: “
(1) No treaty between the federation and any other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.
(2) The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect to matters not included in the Exclusive Legislative List for the purpose of implementing a treaty.
(3) A bill for an Act of the National Assembly passed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall not be presented to the President for assent, and shall not be enacted unless it is ratified by a majority of all the Houses of Assembly in the Federation.”
It is imperative to look into some key words such as Treaty, National Assembly, Exclusive legislative list, Enacted, Act, Ratified, Majority, House of Assembly, and Federation.
Our argument is to ask the following burning issues.
1) Is EFCC a treaty?
2) Was the act enacted by the National Assembly?
3) Was it ratified by the Majority of House of Assembly?
FACTS TO CONSIDER
1) The EFCC is an act that was enacted pursuant to a treaty known as United Nations convention against corruption ( UNCAC) which was brought into force by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 58/4 of 31st of October, 2003 when Kofi Anan the then United Nations Secretary General at the said convention noted that the convention introduces a comprehensive set of standards, measures and rules that all countries can apply in order to strengthen their legal and regulatory regime to fight corruption.
2) The EFCC, was established by an Act of the National Assembly on 12th December, 2002 by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. It act was enacted by the National Assembly in 2004.
Following the appointment and confirmation by the Senate, of the pioneer Executive Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and other administrative officers, the operational activities of the Commission commenced on April 13, 2003.
The establishment of the Commission was partly in response to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Money Laundering, also known by its French name, Grouped’actionfinancière (GAFI).
GAFI is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 (Group of Seven), an inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America to develop policies to combat money laundering. Due to identified inadequacies in the 2002 Establishment Act, the national Assembly repealed it and re-enacted the 2004 Establishment Act was signed into law on 4th June 2004 by President Obasanjo.
3) All background check done and all consultations made with various statute books and gazette yielded no results as to where and when the majority of all the Houses of Assembly ratified the ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (ESTABLISHMENT BILL) prior to when same was presented to the President who signed same into law as EFCC Act, 2004 within the contemplation and intendment Section 12 (3) of the Constitution.
WAY FORWARD
Section 1 (2) states that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
“Section 1 sub section (3) State that If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void. Our emphasis is on the supremacy doctrine and the doctrine of inconsistencies as enshrined in the Constitution.
“Undoubtedly and from the foregoing, the EFCC Act, 2004 is bereft of Constitutional validity same having been enacted in deference to Section 12 sub section (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
“By the above constitutional provisions, EFCC Act, of 2004 is void from the beginning .
We however call on the supreme court whose members and colleagues have been victims of this illegality to save the nation of further embarrassment.
