Human rights advocates took to the streets of Lagos yesterday to denounce what they called the Federal Government’s unjust use of state power and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s antidemocratic attitude to law enforcement.
The groups, numbering in the hundreds, claimed that the government’s actions in the ongoing confrontation between the EFCC and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello—which took an ugly turn this past week—suggested that the crux of the issue went beyond the anti-graft agency carrying out its constitutional mandate.
They claim that based on the information and records they have obtained on the case, the EFCC never invited former Governor Bello in writing.
They said that as a result, the problem of avoiding arrest did not exist.
“It is impossible to say that someone who was never invited and who has a legitimate court order prohibiting his arrest and harassment until the outcome of the legal matter is avoiding arrest. They claimed that the purpose of the purposeful disinformation was to incite opposition against the governor.
Human rights advocates and anti-corruption campaigners particularly denounced the EFCC lawyer’s warning of military action, stating that it “was a violation of the sanctity of the courtroom” to make such a threat in front of a judge.
Leading other protestors on Saturday, Debo Adeniran, the Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, or CACOL, pointed out that Yahaya Bello was not the only one affected by the continued disrespect for the law.
He declared, “We have no idea who will be the next victim.”
We will rally a far greater number of Nigerians to join this pro-democracy movement if the FG persists in its heinous approach of subverting our judicial system and trampled on the rule of law. We don’t know who the next victim might be, hence it worries all Nigerians,” Adeniran stated.
He urged the administration to follow all court rulings before taking any further action in court and to remove them in accordance with the established legal procedures.
It makes no sense to put anyone’s life at danger needlessly because that’s what we think Yahaya Bello is doing right now. The activist warned that if the government doesn’t handle this issue correctly, it would shoot itself in the foot and do harm to all Nigerians collectively.
The demonstrators emphasised that democracy is ruled by the rule of law, not the rule of force, and they cautioned against the government causing chaos.
Some of them, they pointed out, had been in the trenches for more than forty years without surrendering their belief in justice.
“We organised to oppose the military’s annulment of the June 12 election by General Ibrahim Babangida’s junta thirty-one years ago, mostly for the sake of justice.
“We received no compensation for planning the 1989 anti-SAP demonstrations, which almost brought down the government.”
The EFCC and the immediate former governor of Kogi State are involved in an ongoing but preventable tension. The anti-graft CSOs declared, “Our intervention today is to ensure that each side in this ongoing but avoidable tension gets the justice that is deserved – both the agency and the suspect.”
“We believe that threatening military action in a civil case was completely unjustified because, as the EFCC’s attorney has warned, it might snowball out of control and have disastrous, even unintentional, effects.
“We have learned that some Kogi State residents have already stated that the FG will be held accountable if something unfortunate were to happen to their former governor.”
“It is preferable that the FG give the military back control so that we are aware that we are starting over from scratch if they are determined to ask the military to get involved in a civil issue involving a citizen. It is now abundantly evident to all Nigerians that corruption has nothing to do with Yahaya Bello’s story. Actually, how do you charge someone with theft when its IGR plus federal allotment for the previous two years don’t even come close to that amount? Why is the FG fishing in a river for chicken? Gbenga Soloki, a prominent campaigner in Nigeria, stated that the entity doesn’t reside there.
“Anyone who has any doubts about our resolve to pursue justice in this case should wake up and smell the coffee.” Until justice in Yahaya Bello’s case is not only served but also manifested, we will not back down. Olufemi Lawson, a representative for the Coalition of Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisations, continued, “We won’t stop.”
Comrade Debo Adeniran, Executive Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL); Sina Loremikan, Campaign Against Impunity; Declan Ihekhaire, Activists for Good Governance; Gbenga Soloki, CADOV; Ochiaga Ohaneze, Ohaneze Youth Council; Funmi Jolade, Women Democratic Vanguard; Kola Abe, Centre for Socioeconomic Rights; Ologun Ayodeji, Transparency and Accountability Group; Femi Lawson, Centre for Public Accountability; and Gbenga Ganzallo, Media Rights Campaign, are among those present.
Yahaya Bello: Anti-corruption CSOs condemn ‘unjust’ application of state power
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