Roland Iwuchukwu
The Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC), has risen in defence of the role played by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, calling on present and in-coming administration to ignore those in the vanguard of the campaign.
The group, at a media engagement in Lagos on Monday, identified with the strategic role the EFCC in the campaign against corruption, adding that though the agency may not be perfect, however, Nigerians cannot pretend that gains have been recorded by the organization over the years.
It said concerted effort should be geared towards rejiging of the national economy which should be backed by determined fight against corruption.
Speaking at the event, Popoola Ajayi, Secretary Public Affairs of the group, said, “We are worried about the campaign by some politicians to scrap the EFCC, reduce its powers or even remove the current Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
” These are very worrisome steps. We do not think this will serve the interest of Nigerians. We are aware that there are many pending corruption cases against some politicians some of who enjoy immunity. We are aware that the EFCC has said it will not hands off these high profile cases. The EFCC Chairman, Abdulrahsheed Bawa said last week that the agency is going ahead to probe two ministries and some public officials linked to scam contracts in the range of N4bn.
“This is a welcome development. We are aware some state governors are also under criminal investigation.”
Ajayi, noted that corruption has unleashed unprecedented misery on Nigerians irrespective of religion, ethnicity, creed or colour and therefore the in-coming should muster the political will to address the scourge of corruption.
He said that Nigerians must unite around the need to free the people from corruption pandemic, irrespective of their differences and should see the fight against corruption as a common denominator.
“Corruption remains one of the major problems at the root of Nigerian problems. We are here to raise our voices with one theme: Nigerians Must Compel The President Elect, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and other Newly Elected State Governors, National and State Lawmakers to fight corruption decisively if not, Nigeria risks going into pieces.” he said.
The group urged that all identified fraudulent cases should not be swept under the carpet, stating that the EFCC under Bawa has made tremendous success in identifying serving politicians inspite of their desperation to cover up their crimes especially those in the ruling party and also those in opposition who are hiding under the immunity clause.
He said, “These politicians in the new dispensation would love to see a new EFCC Chairman that they can manipulate. They would wish to see the EFCC restructured to cut the wings of the agency and pave the way for their unfettered access to public wealth. This plot, Nigerians must resist.
” These politicians have been calling for the restructuring of the EFCC including the removal of the EFCC Chairman, Bawa with the hope that the anti-corruption agency will dance to the dictates of political interests.” Ajayi added.
The group further warned that removing the EFCC Chairman at this time is dangerous to the fight against corruption, stating, “We are worried that each time a new administration comes on stream, the next thing is to remove the EFCC Chairman. This time, Nigerians must mobilize against any such move especially since the current EFCC Chairman has worked diligently without favour to people in the ruling party and those in the opposition.”
According to him, the politicians have infact been insisting that the EFCC Chairman be removed, but noted that if the incoming administration is committed to fighting corruption, it will be suspicious if it falls into the hands of EFCC detractors. “While we recognize the shortcomings of the EFCC, we are also conscious of the intervention and the historic intervention of the anti-graft agency in promoting transparency and accountability in Nigeria.” Ajayi noted.