Group warns EFCC against media lawsuits

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission headed by Abdulrasheed Bawa to end the trial of the suspects by the media.

Young people claimed the EFCC standard was falling, urging the agency to focus and stop the decline in its operational standards.

The forum's national chairman, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, said so in a statement made available to journalists in Kaduna on Saturday.

He said: "We have closely followed the hasty moves of the EFCC to nail another Northern Governor, Bello Matawall.

“We feel duly concerned to call on the EFCC, led by Bawa, to give up this repeated embarrassment of starting what it cannot finish. The EFCC, as a crucial public service institution for clean up Nigeria, should not be reversed by the actions of one man.

"The forum rejects the media trial strategy because it not only degrades the agency's operational standards, but amounts to a deliberate policy of intimidation."

“The EFCC is meant to be an uncompromising standards agency which should reflect our national and international image in the fight against corruption.”

The statement added that it was on record that Governor Matawall had been able to stabilize Zamfara State more than his predecessors due to his altered security tactics.

He asked if the EFCC was deliberately trying to undermine these laudable achievements by launching a media lawsuit in broad daylight, questioning why the Belsha printing press that Matawalle established before he even became state governor is closed now.

"What kind of law gave the agency the power to shut down a private company before the owner took over as governor? That's really distracting for a governor giving Zamfara its best shot," said the young people.

The young people noted that it was interesting to know why the people targeted by the media lawsuits were northerners and why this selective approach is found in an agency that is supposed to have a national perspective.

The forum urged the chairman, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Ret'd), to call the EFCC chairman to order and prevent him from undermining the administration's image current.

"We thought the recent court judgment ordering his remand in custody would serve as a warning for his series of actions that amounted to contempt of court. In other countries, where the courts are really serious, nothing wouldn't have stopped the EFCC president from going to jail as a result of such a verdict.

"Credible intelligence available to us has shown that there are no less than 3,000 contempt cases hanging around the neck of the EFCC due to the President's approach to the issues. It's getting out of hand.

“Most importantly, Nigeria is not a banana republic and the President of the EFCC should take this into account. Let the world know that we, as citizens and activists, monitor the activities of the EFCC and evaluate their performance as a public service institution,” the statement explained.

He added: "Our advice to the EFCC is that it should strive to project its original image of an agency dedicated to fighting corruption using the instrument of the law, in a democratic atmosphere. The agency should always do their homework before making their media presence on any topic."

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