Keen observers of the fight against corruption in the country must have watched with indignation the embarrassing dance of shame by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Kogi State.
Though the anti-graft body, established by an Act in 2002 has never been entirely short of controversies, including allegations of monumental graft against some of its previous chairmen, its activities in recent time in the Confluence State, and, particularly as it affects the immediate past Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Adoza Bello, CON, has left so much to be desired.
It would seem, from all indications, that the agency has increasingly grown to become a willing and ready tool for people to deploy in fighting their political battles and doing that in a most unabashed manner.
But while the EFCC thought it can fool the people sometimes, it certainly forgot that it cannot fool all the people all the time.
During the week, precisely on Wednesday, a thoroughly unimpressed group of Civil Society Organisations numbering over 300, felt they have had enough of the shenanigans of the EFCC and its so-called anti-graft crusade in Kogi State. The CSOs called out the EFCC over what they considered to be the vulnerability of the Commission to be misused by political gladiators as a veritable tool of victimization and score-settling, a problem they thought had long been vanquished only to discover the it has raised its ugly head again in the instant case involve a former governor of the Kogi State.
The activists drew the attention of the public to a Press Release, the previous day, by the Kogi State Government wherein it pointed out the recent moves by the EFCC to witch hunt the Ex- Governor, tarnish his image and bring his name to disrepute through spurious claims in the name of amended-charge. The CSOs agreed with the State that it was a clear case of political victimization. Hear them:
“While we stand solidly behind any credible anti-corruption drive, we, however, oppose and condemn unequivocally any and all use of corruption allegations with trappings and trademarks of political victimization as this Kogi State clearly seems to be”, they declared.
The thoroughly bemused Civil Society Organisations described what the EFCC is parading as an amended charge as “extremely embarrassing”, adding that: “A court document at our disposal submitted to the court by the EFCC is alleging that the former Governor and his nephew, one Alli Bello, converted Kogi’s money to the time of Eighty Billion Naira since September 2015.
“This looks like a hurriedly prepared amendment targeted at an individual without paying much attention whatsoever to the facts. Excepts the Commission is able to prove before the Court that the duo had been involved in financial transactions with Kogi State money before Yahaya Bello assumed office in January 2016 as Kogi State Governor, then they have a lot of questions to answer Nigerians.
“This is how bad-intentioned and politically motivated allegations are exposed and it smacks of profound dearth of professionalism on the part of the EFCC. If they come up with nebulous excuse of a typographical error, this further exposes their professionalism and calls to question the competency of the EFCC leadership and legal team/department,” the activists declared.
We agree altogether with those who have raised eyebrows about the way and manner the EFCC has gone about its crusade in Kogi State. The anti-graft agency can do its work of thorough investigation and prosecution of offenders of economic and financial crimes without attracting the kind of noise it has attracted to itself recently. Its every step has been dogged by controversies. Many Nigerians are yet to see the rationale and justification for declaring the ex governor, who just handed over to his successor less that 60 hours as being “at large”.
It is either the EFCC failed to do enough spade work before amending the charge or it simply took instructions from somewhere.
Claiming that a man was already involved in corrupt practices in an office he was yet to be sworn into is not only laughable but actually portrays the EFCC as an unserious body populated by jokers.
At a time when Nigerians were still relishing the marginal gain announced by Transparency International recently, the anti-graft agency’s showing in Kogi, regrettably, comes across as blight and a relentless pursuit of a hidden agenda against an individual whose only sin is being the governor of Kogi State.
The previous case of 2021 is still fresh in the memory. Then, the EFCC in a desperate bid to embarrass the Government of Kogi State then under the leadership of His Excellency Alh. Yahaya Bello, came out with a false claim that it had uncovered over N20 billion Naira of the state’s bail out fund in a Fixed Deposit Account in Sterling Bank.
But like every innocent corporate body, the Kogi State Government boldly wrote a letter to Sterling Bank for clarifications.
“The Bank came out with a clean bill of heath for the Confluence State, saying that the State Government had no such account with it, rubbishing the blatant falsehood of the EFCC in a manner that was so embarrassing to the people and Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The new leadership of the EFCC led by Ola Olukoyede as Executive Chairman, must steer the ship of the anti-graft agency away from controversies that tend to impugn its integrity and distract its leadership. It must not yield to pressure that will not serve the interest of the larger Nigerian society. It must end this embarrassing dance of shame in Kogi State. The perception of the majority of Nigerians, from what is happenings in Kogi State, is that there’s no more war against corruption but a clear case of hired gun approach to hack down political opponents by certain elements within and outside the anti graft agency. This narrative must not be allowed to thrive any further for the simple reason that it’s at variance with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Stop the dance of shame. Enough is enough.
