For the umpteenth time, the Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) calls attention to the unending serial damaging actions from the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, which are capable of eroding the modest gains made in the fight against corruption. The latest in this long line of embarrassing missteps, which have undermined the fight against corruption, is the recent query issued to the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami.
Curiously, the AGF’s grouse, which elicited the query to Mr. Magu is that the EFCC has gone ahead to charge the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Justice Umar, who had earlier been exonerated by the Commission in 2015. For us, it is quite disturbing that the AGF has increasingly created the impression that his role is to harass and breathe down the neck of the Acting EFCC Chair at the slightest pretext. To our mind, even if the EFCC had earlier cleared the CCT Chair of any wrongdoing, but now has evidence to support his prosecution, we see no reason why the supposed Chief Law Officer would be miffed about it. CHRICED rejects the notion that there are sacred cows on the basis of their position or professional affiliations. If anybody, no matter how highly placed, has a case to answer, he/she should be allowed to face the due process of the law.
To our mind therefore, it is either the AGF is not on top his game or he is deliberately taking certain strange actions to expose the anti-corruption fight to ridicule. Similarly, other developments emanating from the office of the AGF under the leadership of Mr. Malami have left much to be desired. The embarrassment precipitated by the reinstatement of the fugitive former Chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reform, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina to the civil service, and his enigmatic return to the country before public outcry forced the government’s hand to sack him, is still fresh in the memory of Nigerians. As the Chief Law Officer that knows the worth of his office, Mr. Malami should ordinarily have weighed in to advise the government about the implications of the recent recall of the earlier suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). It is however clear from his body language that the AGF may have well been one of the chief supporters of the volte face by the government.
What the petty squabbles with the EFCC shows is that the AGF is not exactly elated by the efforts being made by the anti-corruption agency to recover stolen monies and assets. If this were not so, one wonders why an Acting EFCC Chair, whose work has been consistently applauded by the international community, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) would be subjected to incessant harassment by the AGF.
CHRICED therefore call on President Muhammadu Buhari to take bold steps to rescue the anti-corruption war from close appointees who seem to be unhappy with the milestones that have been recorded thus far. It is clear to us that an AGF who is constantly irritated by the bold steps being taken by the EFCC to fight corruption, is not on the same page with his principal, the President. The earlier the President shows these kinds of people the exit door from his cabinet, the better for the cause of ridding the nation of the cankerworm of corruption.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Signed
Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi
Executive Director
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