Funmi Ogundare
A professor of Forensic Accounting at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Samurai Dada, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to enhance the investigation of corruption cases by equipping its forensic accounting unit.
Dada, who said this while delivering the institution’s 41st inaugural lecture, titled, ‘The Forensic Accountant in a Global World of Corruption and Stunted Economic Growth’, recommended the engagement of trained experts with attractive remuneration to facilitate investigation of corruption cases or the use of forensic accounting experts from professional accounting firms to serve as investigators and expert witnesses.
He noted that this would assist the court in concluding corruption cases without delay.
The don also called for strengthening the legal framework to ensure that courts apply section 19 sub-section 2 of the EFCC Act, 2004, for the accelerated trial of corruption cases and the non-interference in corruption cases by the government.
Apart from attractive pay, he attributes the success of the anti-corruption campaign in Hong Kong to the country’s anti-corruption agency’s independence from political interference and separation from the police force and the civil service.
He urged the judiciary not to use technicalities to dismiss cases of corruption as in the case of former governor of Delta, James Ibori, whose case was dismissed by a Nigerian court but convicted by a court in London, which led to a 13-year jail term for the former governor and embarrassment for the Nigerian judicial system.
He stated that including ethics and forensic accounting in the curricula of tertiary educational institutions would ensure effective professional training and create a stronger awareness of its value to enhance societal moral values.
