The leadership of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has frowned on what it called the “selective media trial” of northerners by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The national president of the group, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, in a statement issued Sunday in Kaduna, said the action amounted to “a deliberate policy of intimidation.”
- Why FG may not implement Orosanye Report before 2023
- Police raid cultists’ hideout in Bayelsa, arrest 2
It said it was closely monitoring the actions of the EFCC towards Zamfara State Governor, Mohammed Bello Matawalle.
Recall that the EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust recently stated that the three governors were planning to make table payments to workers in their states in a bid to dispose of illegal cash through dubious means.
While he did not name the governors, a report by Sahara Reporters had said Bawa was referring to governors of Kano, Rivers and Zamfara states.
In a response on Thursday, Matawalle in a statement issued in Gusau by the state Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, offered to allow the EFCC to search the property where it alleged to have discovered a “humongous amount of money for laundering through cash payment of salaries.”
Shettima cautioned the EFCC to operate within the limits of the law and avoid embarrassing situations.
“This is a very worrisome standard and the current leadership of the agency must fasten its belt and stop this downward slide in operational standards,” he said.