REFOCUSING THE IMPEDIMENTS TO EFFECTIVE PROSECUTION OF ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Economic and financial crimes are those offences that are committed in the course of either legitimate or illegitimate duties or transactions which has negative impact on the economy of Nigeria. Prosecution of such offences like bribery, embezzlement of public funds, over invoicing and money laundering among others has often been described as a difficult undertaking with rare accomplishment. The factors associated with this reasoning include lack of political will and government interference with prosecution, unavailability of information, weak judicial system and absence of strong legal and institutional framework among others. This paper examined these challenges visa vis the prosecution of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria. It concluded that the success or otherwise of the prosecution of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria will largely depend on several factors, such as absence of government interference in the prosecution of such offence and ethnicity among others. The paper recommended skillful investigation of cases, elimination of excessive political interferences and proactiveness of the judiciary, coupled with effective prosecuting mechanism as factors that will enhance the prosecution of economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.