CIVIL Society Organisations and human rights lawyers have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to save the image of Nigeria by not prioritising political battles that are counterproductive to the robust anti-corruption policy of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The scores of acitivists and lawyers, under the broad umbrella of the Committee for The Defence of Democracy and Rule of Law, particularly noted that the seeming fixation of the anti-graft agency on particular targets, fierce media trial and the network of opposition figures publicly displaying their affinity with the Commission on particular matters easily reflected political hatchet jobs that must be discouraged.
The Co-Convener of the Committee, Barrister Kayode Mogbojuri, who spoke on behalf of the over 100 CSOs at a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, said the EFCC could not afford to become a tool of political witch-hunt in the hands of every disgruntled politician seeking political retribution against opponents or perceived enemies and advised the helmsman, Ola Olukoyede, to shut out real enemies of the Commission.
“For instance, the way it (the EFCC) is handling the current corruption allegations against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, is becoming a case of clear political witch-hunt by his political opponents for whom the EFCC seems to be a ready tool to be manipulated into fighting their proxy wars.
“In every country that the fight against corruption has been politicized, corruption has not only thrived but also imploded. Politics and law enforcement should be water and oil that cannot mix,” he stated.
The activists said the fact that the amended charge read that the former Governor committed the said offence sometime in September 2015, when he had not even become Governor, also showed that it was a hurried attempt to nail him without due diligence, adding that saying it was an error would only compound the embarrassment this had earned for the nation’s anti-corruption struggle.
The CSOs also made particular reference to the EFCC’s statement that the former Governor was at large, stating that it was the greatest evidence of political persecution, considering the fact that there had been no prior publication that he had been invited.
