TheCable

Some activists have faulted the move of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the finances of the Kogi state government.

The group of activists, in a statement on Tuesday, described the move of the anti-graft agency as “political”.

BACKGROUND

On December 15, EFCC arraigned Ali Bello, identified as a nephew of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, and one Dauda Suleiman on a 10-count charge bordering on alleged misappropriation and money laundering.

The anti-graft body claimed the duo, alongside one Abdulsalami Hudu, a cashier at the Kogi state house who is now at large, withdrew N10.2 billion from the state’s treasury for personal use.

Reacting to the development on Monday, Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the EFCC has no constitutional right to probe how a state spends its money.

Agbakoba said only the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and state assemblies have the responsibility to probe state expenditure.

Responding to Agbakoba’s comment, EFCC said the views of the SAN on the probe on the finances of Kogi state are erroneous.

The commission also said Agbakoba is casting aspersion on the commission’s commitment to tackling corruption.

‘POLITICAL INTERESTS USING EFCC’

In a statement titled: ‘EFCC Must Stop Acting Like a Compromised Political Tool’, the activists backed Agbakoba’s position.

The activists, who signed the statement on behalf of their various organisations, are Debo Adeniran, executive chairman, Centre For Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL); Abiodun Sowunmi, executive director, Africa Labour Research Centre; and Mark Adebayo, chairman, Secureworld and Liberty Initiative for Peace.

Others include: Olufemi Lawson, executive director, Centre For Public Accountability; Toyin Raheem, chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, (CACOBAG); Akinbiyi Omoleye, secretary, Zero Corruption Movement (ZECOM); Ishola Adeshina of Kill Corruption Coalition, and Emeka Igwe, a legal practitioner.

“We unequivocally stand with Barrister Olisa Agbakoba in his observations and call on the EFCC to review its operational methods in a way that will not compromise its founding principle,” the statement reads.

“It must eschew every manner of political patronage and manipulation which are bound to destroy its public perception locally and internationally.

“The Kogi issue that Dr. Agbakoba alluded to is one case too many. There is a strong suspicion that EFCC has a particular interest to cause chaos in Kogi state by its unnecessary and reprehensible fixation on the state and its affairs.

“As the legal luminary stated, it is not among the constitutional mandates of the EFCC to dictate to the country’s subnationals – the states – what their priorities in terms of fiscal application of their resources should be.

“That qualifies the commission as a meddlesome interloper which has lost focus by shading shadows while the substance of its mandate escapes justice.

“There are numerous instances where the commission has shown itself to be outrageously selective in its investigations, arrests and prosecutions.

“We call on the EFCC to shed its political toga and concentrate on its constitutional mandate of fighting corruption and leave politics to politicians.

“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the EFCC to order before it destroys the impressive achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari in the area of fighting corruption which is acknowledged as unprecedented even by his most vehement critics.”

Meanwhile, Agbakoba has said he will file a case in court seeking a declaration on “the exact scope of powers of the EFCC”.