The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission yesterday fired back at a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba, for criticising over what he described as an unwarranted media trial of the Kogi State Government over the fresh case against Governor Yahaya Bello’s nephew and the previous N20bn bailout controversy.
Agbakoba had in Lagos on Sunday said the EFCC has no constitutional right to probe how a state spends its money claiming that only the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and state assemblies have such a right.
EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, described Agbakoba’s claim as utterly irresponsible.
He said, “In all his tirades, no evidence was presented to support his claim that the EFCC has been lawless, nor did he mention any law which the commission’s investigation of the finances of the Kogi state government violated.”
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Meanwhile, some anti-corruption groups yesterday backed Agbakoba. They include Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Centre for Public Accountability, Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance, Africa Labour Research Centre and Secureworld and Liberty Initiative for Peace.
In a statement, they said: “We unequivocally stand with Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, in his observations and call on the EFCC to review its operational methods in a way that will not compromise its founding principle.
“It must eschew every manner of political patronage and manipulation, which are bound to destroy its public perception locally and internationally.”
