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    The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, has accused banks of aiding corruption in Nigeria.

He said it was unfortunate that some banks encourage looting by creating an "enabling environment"� for it.

"The banking sector is creating a fertile ground for corruption,"� Magu said in Lagos on Tuesday during an interactive session with the commission's external lawyers and civil society organisations.

According to him, it appears the banks were telling looters: "Go and steal and we'll hide it for you,"� which he said, must stop.

"We'll zoom in on the banks. We need to stop them from creating an enabling environment for corruption to thrive,"� he said.
Speaking with newsmen on whether the commission would invite the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, for questioning over the $15,591,700 she claims belongs to her, Magu said investigation was ongoing.

"We are on it. You see, we work for the long term. We must complete out preliminary investigations before we come out with anything,"� he said.

Magu told the forum that EFCC sometimes spends nine months investigating a case before inviting suspects for questioning, adding that no one who has stolen public funds would be spared.

"We'll not spare anybody. We can't protect anyone from answering to the people. Determination is key. I believe we'll go a long way, and that our tomorrow will be better than our today,"� he said.

The EFCC chairman said the commission did not characterise all lawyers as "rogues"�, saying the statement was misinterpreted.
According to him, just as there were bad eggs within the EFCC, there were also corrupt lawyers. "We can't just come out and condemn people,"� he said.

Magu said EFCC has begun an in-house cleansing to weed out corrupt staff.