BY  JIMITOTA ONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT— CHAIRMAN of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, has appealed for cooperation between the public and the commission in the fight against corruption.

Lamorde,  yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the opening of a workshop on Effective Reporting of Economic and Financial Crimes for Journalists in the South South Region, noted that the collaboration was necessary for the commission to succeed in the anti- graft war.

He said: “Permit me to also re-emphasise that the fight against financial corruption and economic crimes is not a task that the commission can surmount single handedly. All stakeholders, particularly the media, must collaborate with us to make the fight a success.”

Lamorde, who spoke through the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, of the Commission, Mr. Osita Nwaja, said that some crimes could have been prevented if timely and right information were available.

He said the workshop was to raise capacity and improve public consciousness in the anti-graft crusade, adding that  117 convictions were secured by the commission on corruption related cases last year, while there could be increase in the figure this year.

He said that most of those arrested for financial crimes last year were already being prosecuted at various courts, adding that valuables were recovered from them.
On oil theft and other related crimes, Lamorde said that the commission was reviewing its strategy to achieve greater result in the fight.

“We recognise the fact that there is still a lot that we need to do. Consequently, we are reviewing strategies and recalibrating our processes to meet the challenges of the environment in which we operate,” he said.