TheCable

Some anti-corruption civil society organisations (CSOs) have continued the protest calling for the sack of Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over contempt of court.

Last week, R.O. Ayoola, the presiding judge of a high court sitting in Kogi state, ordered that Bawa should be arrested and sent to the Kuje correctional centre for two weeks without any delay over contempt.

He ordered the inspector-general of police (IGP) to ensure the committal order is executed, just as he awarded N10 million against the EFCC.

Also, on November 8, Chizoba Oji, the presiding judge of a federal capital territory (FCT) high court, ordered the remand of the EFCC boss over contempt.

Speaking during a protest on Monday, in Lagos, the CSOs said they would not fold their arms and watch the country’s global anti-corruption outlook slip into a mess.

The protesters, were led on Monday by Debo Adeniran, the chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership; Kolawole Sanchez-Jude, executive director, Zero Graft Centre; Toyin Raheem, chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance; Olufemi Lawson, executive director, Centre for Public Accountability; Ayodeji Ologun, spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group; Declan Ihehaire, director, Activists for Good Governance; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern.

Adeniran said Bawa must be sacked because a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society.

“We are not only asking him (Bawa) to quit, we are asking the authorities to remove him because he has become an embarrassment to the fight against corruption,” Adeniran said.

“Any act of dishonesty is corruption. Anything that is against the law, that is deliberately done with impunity is corruption. It doesn’t matter how you feel about a case. Even if it is a drunken judge that gives a verdict on any issue taken to the court, you are bound to obey the court order.

“For several years, we have criticised the military regimes and civilian administrations that have ruled us with impunity. Impunity comes when the court is no longer seen as an arbiter between the people and the provisions of the extant laws. We rely on the courts to adjudicate in matters of conflict between the people and the system. And anytime anyone runs against the system, it is also the court that will adjudicate.

“A situation whereby somebody is so powerful, somebody is so influential, somebody sees that he has a larger than life image and decides that he is not going to respect our law courts or the laws of the land, it is against the rule of natural justice, it is against the ethos of democratic practice, it is against the principles of human rights. So, definitely, a serial violator of court order is not fit to be the Head of an agency that is supposed to sanitise the society.”

Olufemi Lawson said: “You can’t run to the same courts you disrespect to get judgment for your cases. And you can’t also choose which court judgement to obey. If Bawa has been committed to prison, he has no business being in office right now. And someone who has flouted the order of the court on several occasions cannot head an agency as sensitive as EFCC.”