From Joseph Inokotong, Abuja
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has reiterated the Commission’s commitment to partner with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the areas of training and intelligence sharing.
He gave the assurance when he received the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Dr Ahmad Abubakar Audi, at the Commission’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja.
The EFCC boss promised to assist the NSCDC in the training of its officers while also expressing the Commission’s desire to have some of its officers trained by the NSCDC in their areas of core competence.
‘We are always willing and happy to train your officers, our doors are open to training and we believe that NSCDC will have a role to play in our training in the future,’ Bawa said.
The EFCC boss emphasised the need for both agencies to designate liaison officers for seamless cooperation.
‘There is need to have a liaison officer to curtail bureaucratic delays. In the areas of information sharing, we have to strengthen that. We don’t have offices across the federation but you do; you can share those information through a liaison officer. We request that such intelligence are shared.’
Bawa commended the NSCDC’s role in securing the Commission’s forfeited assets scattered all over the country.
‘We hope and pray that the relationship will be maintained. We are also thankful for the role you have played in handing over cases to us,’ he said.
Bawa assured that the Commission will do its best in ensuring that the NSCDC is represented on the board of the Commission, saying: ‘We don’t know why you are not a board member, but we hope and pray that when the National Assembly decides to amend the EFCC Act, we will see that NSCDC is among the board members.’
Speaking earlier, Commandant-General Audi expressed delight at the level of cooperation between his agency and the EFCC.
‘I have seen the synergy between the Corps and the EFCC; and that is what stimulated me to pay a visit to the EFCC,’ he said.
Recalling the history of the Corps as an institution that was nurtured by nearly all the security organisations in the country, including the EFCC, the NSCDC boss expressed his desire to have the EFCC train his officers particularly in the area of prosecution.
Dr Audi said the NSCDC, against all odds, has emerged as the elite agency for the protection of critical national assets.