President Buhari instructs EFCC to take over the Case of Arrested Judges

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take over the case of arrested judges due to poor performance of Department of State Services (DSS).

The decision is said to have followed weeks of reviewing the evidence assembled by DSS, as well as the statements made by the judges involved. The president is said to be insisting that the investigations must be more professionally handled.

A Presidency source said the President, as well as the office of the Vice President which also reviewed the cases, decided that multi-agency collaboration was needed to strengthen the cases before they go to court.

The DSS was initially mandated to work with the EFCC to do thorough investigations before a raid was carried out, but sources said that due to intra-agency rivalry, the DSS refused to hand over case information to the EFCC and hid their plans from the anti-corruption agency, preferring to work with the Nigeria police.

Police officers invited on the raid, in turn, leaked the plans to the judges involved. In the case of Rivers State, for instance, the police tipped off the state Governor, Nyeson Wike, who then mobilized, with the support of the state Commissioner of Police, to personally stop the arrest of a federal judge.

Another reason adduced for the action of the DSS was said to be the desire by the Director-General of the agency, Lawal Daura, to warm himself into the heart of the President.

President Buhari has now ordered him to work with the EFCC and ensure that future investigations are properly done. Given the size of the anti-corruption challenge, however, it is unclear if, in the absence of outright rebukes or personnel changes, the President’s scheme might not be subverted.