Loss of court cases will not dampen fight against corruption – Presidency

The Presidency says loss of court cases by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against some suspected corrupt Nigerians will not deter it from continuing its anti-corruption fight.

Sen. Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Members (Senate), made this known at a Forum in Abuja.

Enang said that the Executive had begun putting measures in place to skilfully prosecute all corruption cases, and urged other arms of government to play their role in ridding the country of the vice.

“I agree that may be, some not-so-skilful handling of processes may be responsible for the loss of the cases on the part of the executive.

“I will, however, not say we should blame the executive or the judiciary because the judiciary will decide cases on the basis of evidence before them.

“So, if you do not properly lead the evidence, it is one thing for the investigative team to carry out their investigation and another thing for the prosecuting team to prosecute well.

“So, I do not want us to blame the court and I do not want us to blame the executive, but sometimes, you may have a case under a law and you charge under a wrong law.

“In this case, the court will say `I am bound by the processes before me and I am only to try the person on the basis of the charge before me and cannot go out to look for an appropriate charge’,’’ he said.

The presidential aide disclosed that the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) had started a process of putting together a special prosecuting team for corruption matters.

According to him, activating the process will lead to success in the prosecution of cases relating to corruption in the country.