Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), on Wednesday, warned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), under the leadership of Ola Olukoyede, to refrain from allowing “cankerworms of the previous management left in the system” rubbish his credentials as the head of the Commission.
The over 300 anti-corruption activists, under seven broad frontline organisations noted that it was pertinent for them to sound an early note of warning in view of the fact that the alleged misuse of the EFCC by political gladiators, as a veritable tool of victimisation and score-settling, which they thought had been tackled, was suddenly rearing its ugly head again.
They spoke in a statement jointly signed and released to journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.
The anti-corruption CSOs, therefore, advised the EFCC boss to sit up and stop the Commission from being accessed by “political miscreants who think EFCC is an extension of their political structures to be manipulated at will.”
They specifically referred to the Kogi State Government’s press statement, which was released on Tuesday, alerting the public to an alleged fresh move by the Commission to witch-hunt the immediate-past governor of the State, Yahaya Bello, with spurious claims for political reasons.
The activists pointed out that the crux of the alleged latest persecution, going by the EFCC’s amended charge sheet, which featured ex-Governor Bello’s name, showed a clear case of desperation for spurious claims to whip up public sentiment against the target, adding that any litigation on corruption founded on political conspiracy would always have no merits to pursue it.
“While we stand solidly behind any credible anticorruption drive, we, however, oppose and condemn unequivocally any and all corruption allegations with the trappings and trademarks of political victimization as this Kogi case clearly seems to be,” they declared.
They described the latest amended charge as extremely embarrassing, saying, “A Court document at our disposal submitted to the Court by EFCC is alleging that the former Governor and his nephew, one Alli Bello, converted Kogi State’s money to the tune of over Eighty Billion Naira since September 2015!
“This looks like a hurriedly prepared amendment targeted at an individual without paying much attention whatsoever to facts. Except the Commission is able to prove before the court that the duo had been involved in financial transactions with Kogi State money before Yahaya Bello assumed office in January 2016 as Kogi State Governor, then they have a lot of questions to answer Nigerians.”
“This is always how bad-intentioned and politically motivated allegations are exposed and it smacks of a profound dearth of professionalism on the part of the EFCC. If they come up with a nebulous excuse of typographical error, this further exposes their lack of professionalism and calls to question the competency of the EFCC leadership and legal team/department,” the activists noted.
They vowed to expose political actors behind the incessant EFCC political victimization, stating, “We are working with others across the country and we are ready to expose those behind this witch hunting and also expose their dirty dealings which have continued to undermine the current administration’s efforts at economic revitalisation, to the public.”
While referring to a recent statement by Olukoyede against the conduct of some EFCC officials, the anti-corruption activists said, “If the EFCC chairman doesn’t want the embarrassing public image he personally painted and actually known to all Nigerians to continue, he should sit up and get rid of all politically motivated allegations and stop the EFCC from being accessed by political miscreants who think EFCC is an extension of their political structures to be manipulated at will.”
They stated, “After two decades of its establishment, we believe that the EFCC should have garnered enough experience to be strictly professional. But, alas, that doesn’t seem to be the case now. The Commission commits unforgivable legal and procedural faux pas that makes it lose considerable percentage of its cases in Court. For one, the Commission’s agents don’t seem to be thorough enough in their investigations especially in cases that have political undertones.
“Due to lack of merits in those cases, oftentimes, the Commission exposes itself to unnecessary public ridicules and embarrasses itself in Court. Any litigation on corruption founded on political conspiracy will always have no merits to pursue it because the Courts won’t ever be convinced otherwise.”
