The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has said the anti-graft agency is set to file 800 new corruption cases in court and vowed to prosecute former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu all over again.
It would be recalled that Kalu was set free by the Supreme Court on technicalities after being convicted of stealing billions of Naira from the Abia State government treasury when he served as governor between 1999 and 2007.
Without addressing the substance of the case, the Supreme Court ruled that the trial judge that found Kalu guilty had been elevated to the Appeal Court and should not have ruled on the matter.
Giving an update on the performance of the EFCC under his watch, Bawa told State House reporters in Abuja that the 800 cases to be filed will border on public corruption and cybercrime. The cases were delayed largely because of the strike by judiciary workers who shut down courts in Nigeria for over two months and only suspended the strike this week.
“We have prosecuted a number of people within this period, secured 185 convictions and you are aware that for two months, the courts have been on strike. We have filed 367 cases and as I said within this week, we are going to file 800 cases in court on public corruption as well as cybercrime,” Bawa said.