Thank you to the author for reminding us all about our civic duties to stand up and be counted. Now what do we do? First, the EFCC has a contact us page where one could send emails to the Commission. We could all [and get others to] send emails to the EFCC to deliver the report within the next, say, 14 days. Second, we write a 'letter before action' (called Pre-Action Protocol letter in the UK) and send it straight to the Chairman of the EFCC, demanding the statutory report be presented forthwith. A copy of the letter will be sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives [in whom I am personally disappointed for lack of pro-activity, seeing that he belongs to our generation] and the leader of the Senate [in whom I do not expect much for obvious reasons; he's not a democrat and will never be one!). We could take a full-spread advert in one of the dailies. Third, as an alternative to the first two suggestions, we could instruct a firm of Legal Practitioners in Nigeria to commence action at the Federal High Court Abuja for an Order of Mandamus to compel the EFCC to deliver the aforementioned statutory report to the National Assembly, as stipulated by law. Seyi Olu Awofeso, if you are reading this, are you in a position to help please? If so, could you let us know how much the most effective strategy will cost? As the proponent, I will lead the donation train.
The author has done more than his fair share, Villagers who are in a position to actualise some proactive action should please respond with better ideas and generally the best way forward. We need to act as quickly as possible to compel the EFCC to deliver the statutory report.
PS
Reproduced below is a copy of the email that I have sent to the EFCC Chairman. The email address I sent email to is:
info@efccnigeria.org. If anyone knows her official email address, please use it and cc the info email address too.
Chief Mrs. Farida Mzamber Waziri (AIG rtd.)
Executive Chairman
The Economic & Financial Crimes Commission
No5 Fomella Street, Off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent
Wuse II Abuja.
Nigeria
Dear Mrs Waziri,
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (ESTABLISHMENT) ACT 2004
As a concerned citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I write pursuant to section 37 of the EFCC (Establishment) Act 2004 (the EFCC Act) which mandates you to deliver a report to the National Assembly no later than 30th September in each year.
I note with concern that the statutory report required of you is yet to be delivered to the National Assembly as required by law. In furtherance of my civic duties as a citizen of Nigeria therefore, I now invite you to submit the annual report detailing the activities of the EFCC in the preceding year and as required by law without further delay.
With respect, I believe the delivery of your report is not discretionary but mandatory and it is a matter of regret that the EFCC Act may have been breached by your non-compliance with the provisions relation to delivery of annual reports. Finally, I should like to state that, as a lawyer and officer of the court, you have additional professional responsibility to ensure compliance with all extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
I, and the whole nation, look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Yours sincerely
Abdul-Aziz B Jimoh