[JURIST] The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) [official website] made good on earlier promises to investigate high-ranking governmental officials on Wednesday by formally launching an investigation into former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo [BBC profile]. An EFCC spokesperson advised the public to be patient with the pace of the investigation, which he said will take time to produce results.

The EFCC was formed in 2002 as part of an anti-corruption push by Obasanjo, who in 2007 was indicted for corruption [JURIST report]. The Commission is currently prosecuting five former state governors. Former state governor Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha was sentenced [JURIST report] in July to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of corruption and money laundering. A Human Rights Watch report issued last year warned that corruption in Nigeria [JURIST news archive] has reached a crisis level and said that government could be compared to a criminal organization [HRW report; JURIST report]. From Lagos, the Vanguard has more.