Frontline anti-corruption civil society organisations (CSOs) have ended a seven-day protest in Lagos with s town hall meeting and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sanitise the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to preserve its integrity.
The week-long protest against was tagged: “Politicisation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Disobedience of Court Orders and Infringement on Human Rights of Nigerians” under the leadership of Abdulrasheed Bawa.
The protesters gave the Inspector-General of Police a seven-day ultimatum to effect the court order that committed Bawa to prison for contempt, noting that the EFCC’s alleged recruitment of “counter-CSOs” would not help the commission. They said though the first phase of the protest ended yesterday, the CSOs would jointly and individually petition relevant international agencies, demanding sanctions against Bawa.
The spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun, insisted that the EFCC boss could not appeal the contempt ruling without first obeying the order, saying the Nigerian authorities were dangerously toeing the path of anarchy with the incessant disobedience of court orders, especially by an agency set up to stamp out corruption.
He said the politicisation of the EFCC was evident in the slant of its operations, noting that while series of petitions were piled up unattended at the EFCC offices on monumental corruption across Nigeria, the Commission’s boss had allegedly demonstrated that his task was mainly political vendetta.
The activists kicked strongly against the EFCC’s statement that they were hired CSOs, saying those on the struggle had been at the forefront of the fight against corruption for years and were well known for their doggedness and patriotism.
“When Bawa was still learning to wear his pants, or hiding in his parents’ home, many of us here were already at the barricades fighting for democracy and the office he is enjoying today. Back then, nobody paid us to fight for justice. Whoever is saying we were paid to do this must be thoroughly examined. We are strictly activists, not political jobbers,” Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire, said.
“We are saying President Buhari should sack Bawa and if he doesn’t sack him, we are sure that whoever is coming on board, come May 29, 2023, will listen to us and have Bawa sacked,” he added.
The CSOs accused the EFCC of greater corruption and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately put machineries in motion to sanitise the Commission so that the war against criminals and corrupt elements in Nigeria would make a meaning.
“Go to EFCC office today, there won’t be parking space. Most of them, who are police officers, drive different types of exotic cars that their colleagues who don’t work with EFCC cannot afford,” Spokesperson for the Coalition of Anti-corruption Organisations, Olufemi Lawson, said.
Reviewing the protests so far, he stated, “For one week, we have, as a coalition, embarked on a sustained agitation for the removal of Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The coalition, comprising of over 120 active organisations, has been able to sustain this, despite sponsored blackmail, intimidation and campaign of calumny by agents of the embattled EFCC Chairman, Mr Bawa.”
