President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, have been called to fire and imprison the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa.
According to news reports, the appeal was made by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Friday during a town hall meeting in Lagos.
The group, which reportedly included more than 120 front-line anti-corruption organizations, ended their week-long demonstration on Friday.
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The demonstrators handed the IGP a seven-day deadline to overturn the Court judgment that sentenced Bawa to prison for contempt, claiming that the EFCC’s purported frantic recruiting to counter CSOs would not benefit the Commission.
The CSOs pledged to petition relevant international authorities jointly and individually to demand sanctions on Bawa until he becomes law-abiding and serves his prison term.
Ayodeji Ologun, speaking on behalf of the Transparency and Accountability Group, insisted that the EFCC boss could not appeal the contempt ruling without first obeying the order, saying that the Nigerian authorities were dangerously treading the path of anarchy with the incessant disobedience of court orders, particularly by an agency set up to combat corruption.
He claimed that the EFCC’s politicization was visible in the slant of its operations, stating that as a slew of petitions on massive corruption in Nigeria stacked up ignored at the EFCC offices, the Commission’s boss purportedly demonstrated that his duty was mainly political vendetta.
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The activists objected to the EFCC’s claim that they were hired CSOs, claiming that individuals involved in the campaign had been at the forefront of the fight against corruption for years and were widely renowned for their tenacity and patriotism.
“When Bawa was still learning to wear his pants or hiding in his parents’ home, many of us here were already at the barricades fighting for democracy and the office he is enjoying today. Back then, nobody paid us to fight for justice. Whoever is saying we were paid to do this must be thoroughly examined. We are strictly activists, not political jobbers,” Director, of Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire, said.
“We are saying President Buhari should sack Bawa and if he doesn’t sack him, we are sure that whoever is coming on board, come May 29, 2023, will listen to us and have Bawa sacked,” he added.
The civil society organizations accused the EFCC of even more corruption and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately put machinery in motion to clean up the Commission so that Nigeria’s battle on criminals and corrupt elements would have substance.
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“Go to the EFCC office today; parking space won’t exist. Most of them, who are police officers, drive different types of exotic cars that their colleagues who don’t work with EFCC cannot afford,” Spokesperson for the Coalition of Anti-corruption Organisations, Olufemi Lawson, said.
Reviewing the protests so far, he stated, “For one week, we have, as a coalition, embarked on a sustained agitation for the removal of Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The Coalition, comprising of over 120 active organisations, has been able to sustain this, despite sponsored blackmail, intimidation and campaign of calumny by agents of the embattled EFCC Chairman, Mr Bawa.
“Today, we have invited selected leaders of our various organizations to press home further our demand under an atmosphere of engagement with some more stakeholders, whom we have also invited to be part of us today.
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“As frontline Anti-corruption activists, we wish to restate our uncompromising demand for President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately relieve Mr Bawa of the position of the Chairman of the EFCC. Mr Bawa has lost the moral capacity to continually preside over such an important law enforcement agency, having become a signpost for disobedience to the rule of law, particularly express orders of our courts.”
Lawson, who is also the Executive Director, the Centre for Public Accountability, added, “This is just the first phase. We will be submitting petitions to relevant international agencies and embassies demanding sanctions against Bawa until he becomes law-abiding. We can’t allow our Judiciary be rubbished by anyone.
“We are by this medium, giving a seven-day ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari, in line with the mood of the nation currently, to direct the Inspector General of Police to effect the arrest order on Bawa and commit him to prison, as ordered by the court, after which our nationwide protests would resume.”
He saluted the courage of various leaders and groups who had been part of the sustained agitation for Bawa to be sacked on account of the disobedience of court orders and had refused to be intimidated even in the face of obvious threats.
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The ‘Bawa Must Go’ protests, which started a week ago, were led by CACOL Chairman, Debo Adeniran; Executive Director, Zero Graft Centre, Kolawole Sanchez-Jude; Chairman, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Toyin Raheem; Executive Director, Centre for Public Accountability, Olufemi Lawson; Spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun; Director, Activists for Good Governance, Declan Ihehaire; and Ahmed Balogun of Media Rights Concern, among over 100 notable leaders of Anti-corruption CSOs.
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