The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against
Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), says he is afraid that the Attorney-General
of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), will interfere in the duties of the
new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed
Bawa, and prevent him from succeeding.
Sagay said this during an interview with The PUNCH on
Wednesday while reacting to Bawa’s confirmation by the Senate.
The PACAC chairman, who was a staunch supporter of former
acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said Malami is a politician and must
not be allowed to directly control the activities of the EFCC as this could
derail the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government.
The senior advocate, who had in 2019 led a delegation to the Senate to push for Magu’s confirmation, stated that Malami had become too powerful.
On the independence of the EFCC, Sagay said, “This issue is
a very big question because I noticed that that they both come from the same
state of Kebbi and they may even be related. For me, that is not a very healthy
thing because the chairman of the EFCC and the EFCC are supposed to be
independent.
“They are not politicians, they are trained security
officers. The attorney-general is a politician who has all the weaknesses and
loads of a politician. He has people he is obliged to. He has people who are
close to him. Some of them may be criminals who might have committed crimes. In
fact, some of them may deliberately do things because they think they know the
attorney-general.
“So, in such a situation, if Bawa is related to the
attorney-general, then there will be a problem because he will not be able to
do his job freely because the attorney-general will certainly interfere. He has
already indicated his tendency to interfere in both the EFCC and the ICPC with
the regulations he purported to make months ago. So, I am not comfortable at
all that the possibility that they might be related.”
The PACAC chairman maintained that Malami had never been
inclined to support the independence of anti-graft agencies.
Sagay argued that he had made his position known several
times but unfortunately, Malami’s powers had continued to increase.
“Malami has never been inclined to allow the anti-corruption
agencies to operate freely. He is always sitting on their neck one way or the
other. I have complained about that several times and nothing has happened. In
fact, he has become more powerful. So, I will not be comfortable if they are
related. I don’t want any outside influence on the EFCC or the ICPC.”
While admitting that he did not know Bawa personally, Sagay
said he was impressed by his curriculum vitae and background.
He said since Magu had been removed, it was time for all
parties to move on and ensure that Bawa succeeds.
Sagay stated, “I don’t really know him. I have just read what
has been said about him and he seems to have impressive credentials and a
fairly good record from what I read apart from this issue of trucks which the
EFCC has denied on his behalf.
“So, inasmuch as the removal of Magu to me looks
unsatisfactory, we have to move on and if he is as good as his credentials
indicate, then I think the future looks promising for the EFCC.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com