BY OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI
ABUJA— Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has refuted media reports credited to Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Orkura, that the commission has never submitted its audited accounts to his office in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.

EFCC, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Babafemi, noted that “since its inception in 2003, it has never failed to submit its audited accounts to the appropriate government agencies, as stipulated in its Establishment Act, 2004.”

It noted that based on the provisions of sections of the EFCC Establishment Act, the commission has been diligently keeping faith with these requirements.

He said: “The Act only requires the commission’s accounts submitted to external auditors recommended by the AGF for auditing so as to make them ready for submission to the National Assembly and this has been the standard practice since the inception of the commission.

“Specifically, EFCC has been submitting its audited accounts to the Senate President, Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes as well as the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives and the House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes.”

Babafemi stressed that, nevertheless, when in 2008, the Auditor-General requested for copies of the Commission’s previous financial statements, copies were sent to him accordingly. “In February 2011, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts also wrote to the Commission informing it of the AGF’s complaint that the Commission violated Section 585 of the Constitution by refusing to forward its audited statements to his office.

“In response, the Commission informed the Committee that all audited accounts had been submitted to the National Assembly and that it was in full compliance with the Constitution and the EFCC Act. “We therefore call on the AGF to withdraw the statement credited to him in so far as it concerns the EFCC.

“We wish to reiterate the fact that, as a responsible law enforcement agency, the EFCC will never fail to comply with statutory regulations and requirements, as it is its culture not only to be law-abiding but to be publicly seen to be so. We remain committed to the observance of the spirit and letter of the rule of law at all times.”