Petitioning To EFCC (Economic & Financial Crimes Commission)

PETITIONING TO EFCC (ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION)

By Tuebi S.O Egbuson Esq

Associate, Bezaleel Chambers International

www.bezaleelchambers.com

tuebisolomon@gmail.com / +234 701 229 0819

INTRODUCTION

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is a federal government agency, created by law in June 2004 as the Financial Intelligence Unit in Nigeria, authorized to combat money laundering and to enforce all laws dealing with economic and financial crimes in Nigeria. When you have a complaint that is of the nature of a financial crime and are intending of submitting said complaint to EFCC, it is to be done by way of petition. This excerpt will analyse the steps of making a petition to EFCC and adopting a petition at EFCC.

There is a common misconception as to monetary threshold of EFCC complaints. For a detailed synopsis on that topic, I implore you to read https://sabilaw.org/the-minimum-financial-threshold-for-efcc-cases/

However, the specific relevant functions of the EFCC, as stated by its establishing law, are;

1. “The investigation of ALL financial crimes including advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of negotiable instruments, computer credit card fraud and contract scam”;
2. “The co-ordination and enforcement of ALL economic and financial crimes laws and enforcement functions conferred on any other person or authority”; as well as
3. “The examination and investigation of ALL reported cases of economic and financial crimes with a view to identifying individuals, corporate bodies or groups involved”.

The common word “all” shows that there is no limitation as to the financial cases EFCC may entertain!

MAKING THE PETITION

1. Contact a LAWYER! You will need a lawyer to guide you through the legal intricacies concerning the petition, as well as someone to ensure that the petition is cohesive and concise.

2. Address; there are about 14 zonal offices nationwide and a Headquarters, therefore the petition should be properly addressed to the particular zonal office it is being submitted to.

3. Facts of petition: your lawyer should appropriately title your petition and aver the facts in a cohesive and concise manner. Ensuring no pertinent information is left out and also ensuring irrelevant information is excluded.

4. Evidence to support the petition: all relevant evidence that supports the petition should be attached. It is a serious offence to make baseless or unfounded petitions against someone. Not only could it lead to conviction, but you may also be sued by the respondent (person petition is against) for the tort of malicious falsehood or defamation as the case may be.

Once this has been achieved, submit the petition and wait for adoption of said petition.

ADOPTING THE PETITION

After following the steps of making and submitting the petition, you will then be invited to EFCC to adopt the petition. On the day you are invited to adopt your petition endeavour to go with a full stomach! Yes, you’ll need to be well fed and nourished because it will be a long and busy day. You have to understand that the EFCC deals with a whole lot of cases and as such are never idle so waiting will definitely be on the itinerary. Furthermore, try to only go with absolutely necessary items as you will be asked to drop your bags, phones or other electronic devices even smart watches for security reasons.

Having been invited for adoption, you will be asked to make a written statement. Such statement must be in line with petition earlier submitted, but you may add new findings (if any) to the statement. You will then be asked further questions for clarifications. Finally, if your petition/case is deemed not to be frivolous or is not lacking in evidence then EFCC will commence their investigations. The outcome of their investigations will determine whether they prosecute or not.

For further enquiries or clarifications, contact on “what’s app” +234 701 229 0819 or email tuebisolomon@gmail.com.

MY AUTHORITIES

1. Sections 1, 2, 6, 7, 46 and 47 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004.
2. Onyekachi Umah ‘The Minimum Financial Threshold for EFCC Cases’ https://sabilaw.org/the-minimum-financial-threshold-for-efcc-cases/ 1^st September, 2020 (Accessed 23^rd November, 2021).
3. Umar, Samsudin and Mohamad, “Ascertaining the effectiveness of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in tackling corruptions in Nigeria” (2018) 25(7) Journal of Financial Crime. 1, 9. <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326564312_Ascertaining_the_effectiveness_of_Economic_and_Financial_Crimes_Commission_EFCC_in_tackling_corruptions_in_Nigeria> (Accessed 23^rd November, 2021)