He warned that some of the very institutions expected to pursue corruption suspects are themselves compromised. In a stunning declaration that raises serious questions about his confidence in the country's established investigative and prosecutorial machinery, Boko has effectively placed his faith in a special investigative task force. Rather than relying exclusively on the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to pursue the P33 billion forensic audit findings, the task force will do the job, according to Boko.
Boko suggested that handing sensitive forensic audit findings to existing institutions could compromise investigations, warning that some of the agencies ordinarily responsible for investigating wrongdoing are themselves tainted. His remarks offer the clearest indication yet of why the state has withheld detailed forensic audit reports from the DCEC and other relevant agencies more than six months after the findings were presented to him. Boko’s comments amount to an extraordinary vote of limited confidence in the existing anti-corruption machinery. He argued that the magnitude and sensitivity of the suspected wrongdoing require a specialised investigative mechanism capable of operating beyond the limitations of traditional institutions.
