Acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde has vowed to cleanse the anti-graft agency by setting up internal affairs department within the Commission.
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Lamorde twice made the promise to cleanse the Augean stable of the Commission on Monday December 12, 2011, during a courtesy visit by officials of the United States Embassy in Nigeria and members of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes who were on oversight tour of the EFCC facilities.
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Addressing the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, led by its Chairman, Senator Victor Lar, the EFCC boss said he holds the visit in very high esteem. “This is the most important visit this year.
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“This is so because the senate is the legislative body that created the EFCC in 2002. We owe our existence to you, the Committee is the bridge between the EFCC and the senate of Nigeria, the confirmation of the EFCC chairman and other board members of the Commission are made possible by the Senate, the senate, through the committee had always appropriated money for us since inception. We thank you so much for assisting us all these years”, Lamorde said.
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The EFCC boss stated that the only way the Commission can make a meaningful impact in the fight against corruption is for the staff to be cleansed from within. He promised that under his administration, staff will undergo a lie test every six months.
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“For us to really move forward, the Commission needs internal cleansing. Things have really gone wrong. We must deal with ourselves before we can deal with others outside. We have to look into the lifestyle of our personnel. We are going to embark on polygraph assessment of staff periodically,” Lamorde had explained to the visiting law makers.
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Earlier, the Committee chairman, Senator Victor Lar, said the visit was for the Committee members to ascertain how the 2011 budget was spent and what the budget for 2012 looks like. The senator also observed that anybody who followed the establishment of EFCC will know that things have not been the same, “your credibility ratings have fallen”, he said.
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