Olukoyede: Lawyers aiding illicit financial flows… helping politicians to evade tax

Ola Olukoyede, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), says the judiciary should address the issue of senior lawyers receiving “obscene legal fees” from political officeholders.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday at the opening of the 6th annual criminal law review conference, Olukoyede said how the lawyers collect such fees “conflicts with existing statutes”.

“If a lawyer would not care about the source from which a sitting governor or any other public servant pays him millions of naira to defend him in the electoral tribunal, the lawyer must necessarily be mindful of the fact that the only proper way to collect such humongous amounts is through the financial system,” NAN quoted the EFCC chairman to have said.

“Aside from violating money laundering regulations, hauling millions of naira of professional fees from public office holders in liquid cash as senior lawyers do is only aimed at tax evasion.

“It is needless to stress that the best act of mentoring from leaders of the bar to the younger generation of lawyers is by living out the ethical demands of the profession.”

The EFCC chairman also alleged that lawyers are aiding illicit financial flows into offshore accounts.

“The most traumatic discovery of the EFCC in recent years was the subjugation of national interest and wellbeing to personal interest by lawyers who aided briefcase foreign investors to fleece the nation in dubious transactions,” he added.

“The P&ID scam, the Mambilla power project, and Sunrise issues are cases in point.”

He said while the anti-graft agency had had cause to prosecute judicial officers and senior lawyers and earned conviction, his respect for the bench and senior members of the bar remained undiminished.

“However, based on the unique experiences of the EFCC in the prosecution of corruption cases, I am particularly interested in systemic reforms in our justice delivery system that capture the process for the discipline and regulation of judicial officers.

“The regulation and discipline of legal practitioners. Ethics, values, and standards of legal practice.

“These are essential to me because the job of the EFCC is ensuring that the corrupt does not find space in our national life. And when they do, to make them pay for their deeds.”