The executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has charged defence counsels in the commission’s cases to be guided by the ethics of their profession in the discharge of their duties to their clients.
Olukoyede gave the charge through the Ibadan zonal director of the EFCC, Assistant Commander Hauwa Garba Ringim, when the executive Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ibadan branch, led by its chairman, Ibrahim Lawal, paid her a courtesy visit.
“It is disheartening how a reasonable number of lawyers come into EFCC premises and begin to display unprofessionalism, trying to interfere in investigation activities and pushing to get things done their way, outside the standard operating procedure of the EFCC.
“Why would a lawyer walk into the EFCC office to see his client and tell the investigating officer that he or she ought to have concluded the investigation on his or her client and that if the officer does not conclude the investigation within his stipulated time, he will frustrate the efforts of the investigating officer? This is appalling,” he said.
While emphasising the need for consistent stakeholders’ engagement between the Bar and EFCC towards effective service delivery, Olukoyede frowned at the situation in which lawyers now roam EFCC premises, “Hunting for clients without considering the decency of their profession.”
The EFCC boss, however, assured lawyers in the country of the commission’s collaboration, noting that it was critical to the commission’s law enforcement activities.
Responding, Lawal thanked Ringim for the warm reception accorded the delegation, stressing that effective collaboration between the EFCC and the Bar is essential for more tremendous success in the fight against corruption.
The Ibadan NBA chair, who condemned lawyer touting, disclosed that his branch had set up an “Anti-touting Committee,” which was charged with investigating and sanctioning lawyers who deviated from professional ethics.
While supporting the commission’s prohibition on lawyers standing as sureties in any EFCC case, he maintained that doing so was “Reprehensible and unacceptable to the Bar.”
However, he requested an official and effective line of communication between the EFCC and the Bar to ensure adequate information sharing and address lawyers’ enquiries.
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