Over 40 anti-corruption and Civil Society Organisations have protested what they described as the incessant disobedience of court orders by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission under Abdulrasheed Bawa.
The anti-corruption CSOs who spoke at a news conference in Lagos, alleged the EFCC, under Mr. Bawa of politicizing the activities of the commission.
According to them the EFCC is now known for brazenly disobeying orders of courts in way that undermine Nigeria’s democracy and contradicts the anti-corruption agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
They called for the immediate sack of Mr. Bawa for the Commission to recover its past glory.
They said It is not for EFCC and its leadership to pick and choose which court orders to obey or disregard.
The bodies, led by the Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem among others spoke at a press conference, themed: “EFCC’s Consistent Disobedience of Court Orders is a Recipe for Anarchy; A Call For The Immediate Sack of Mr. AbdulRasheed Bawa”.
Other leaders include Ologun Ayodeji, Transparency and Accountability Group; Declan Ihehaire, Activists for Good Governance; and Ochiaga Jude, Centre for Ethics and Good Governance, among others.
According to the anti-graft bodies, aside from the EFCC’s penchant for disobedience of court orders, the situation has reached an embarrassing height where the Commission’s boss, Bawa, has been committed to prison more than once within two months for clear breach of the extant orders of the Court.
They said, “EFCC’s Gestapo-style regime of disobeying court orders must stop. Nigeria is not a banana republic. Attempts by institutions of state to ridicule the country and make it seem like a lawless fiefdom must be resisted by all. The EFCC seems to be allowing itself to be used as an instrument of political witch-hunt as it targets some individuals more than many others.
