Constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor Mike Ozekhome SAN, has stated that under the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other government organs, including ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), lack the power to donate public funds under their custody without following due process.
Ozekhome made this statement in response to reports that the EFCC donated ₦50 billion from recovered proceeds of crime to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). The anti-graft agency has clarified that it did not donate the money to the fund.
NELFUND Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, had on Tuesday hinted at the injection of the ₦50 billion by the EFCC during a management delegation’s courtesy visit to the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
Sawyerr, during the visit, said, “We are aware of the funds from the proceeds of crime extended to NELFUND. We are here to express our gratitude for the gesture. We also want the EFCC to exercise oversight on what we are doing.”
In response, Ozekhome told Tribune Online that the commission and other government parastatals are not permitted by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to use public money in their custody without following budgetary processes.
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According to Ozekhome, the provisions of Section 80(1), (2), (3), and (4) of the Constitution stipulate that money paid into the Federation Account through the EFCC can only be withdrawn from the said Federation Account by the commission and paid to another body through an Appropriation Bill.
“The Constitution does not permit the EFCC or any organ of government, whether MDAs or statutory bodies, to simply use public money in their custody without following budgetary procedures and processes.
“Sections 80(1), (2), (3), and (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, provide as follows:
“80.(1) All revenues or other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form part of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
“(2) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the Fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Appropriation Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act, or an Act passed in pursuance of Section 81 of this Constitution.
“(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Act of the National Assembly.
“(4) No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.
“This means that monies paid into the Federation Account through the EFCC can only be withdrawn from the said Federation Account by the EFCC and paid to another body, such as NELFUND, through an Appropriation Bill that must be passed into law by the National Assembly before such monies can be expended.
“This must first pass through the budgetary process to prevent corruption and the mismanagement of funds,” Ozekhome said.
The anti-graft agency, while refuting reports of donating the ₦50 billion to NELFUND, stated that the money was part of recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the Federal Government.
EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale stated in a release that the decision to inject the ₦50 billion into NELFUND was made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, adding that it was not within the Commission’s purview to determine where the government would commit proceeds of crime.
According to him, “The said fund was not a donation by the Commission but part of recovered proceeds of crime remitted to the government.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in furtherance of his social intervention policy for the most vulnerable segments of the population, decided in his wisdom to allocate the money to fund the critically acclaimed loan scheme.
“It is not the place of the Commission to determine where the government commits recovered proceeds of crime. However, the student loan scheme is a commendable initiative with the potential to reduce youth involvement in criminality.”
