Chimed Treasure
ELDER Statesman, Dr. Chike Obidigbo has decried trial of former Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stressing that the trial smacks of political persecution rather than fight against corruption.
He regretted that the anti-graft agency seems to have become willing tools in the hands of desperate politicians and malicious businessmen that have axe to grind with their opponents, adding that for EFCC to keep losing many court cases shows that all is not well with its standard operating mechanism.
The immediate past Anambra State governor is standing trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on charges framed against him by EFCC, for allegedly stealing the state’s security votes amounting to N4bn while in office as governor from March 2014 through March 2022.
But, in a statement to media organisations made available to reporters on Thursday, Obidigbo argued that the idea of trying state governors after their tenure runs counter to the spirit and letters of the Nigeria’s constitution.
He argued that there is no way the same constitution that grants immunity to state chief executives would empower an external organ to subject them to post-service inquisition, noting that the EFCC should stop overstepping its constitutional bounds by elevating itself as a superior organ to the state House of Assembly.
He said: “A lot of things are going topsy-turvy in this country. The harassment of state governors after their tour of duty is in total violation of the constitutional provisions. In the presidential democracy which we pretend to practice, the legislature is the main organ of oversight on the activities of the executive.
“In recent times, EFCC has transformed itself as attack dogs, going after former governors in search of what is not missing. Governors are elected to serve the people as such the people are better placed to police the governors through the members of the legislature.
“Security votes have been rendered opaque by the constitution, which categorised same as funds in a blind budget. If the constitution empowers state governors to implement the blind budget how best they deem fit, EFCC should have no business searching for departed sums.”
The elder statesman remarked that Obiano’s predicament is quite touchy not only on account of the amount of money being investigated, but also because the former governor is being punished by those who believe that Anambra north senatorial district where hails have nobody to come to his aid.
While reminding EFCC and its sponsors not to forget there’s God, Obidigbo remarked: “There is no way a former governor should be dragged up and down in the name of fighting corruption without the input of his home state. It is based on this reality of political witch-hunt that I have decided to urge EFCC to leave Obiano alone immediately.
“Why should Nigerian authorities derive pleasure in punishing her citizens, particularly Ndigbo. Obiano should be allowed to enjoy his deserved rest and take care of his health. He served his people to the best of his ability. As an elder, I am very concerned that the first governor to emerge from my zone should be subjected to this demeaning treatment.
“After all, how does N4b compare to the hundreds of billions stolen by other governors. If after eight years as a state governor, all he could not account for in EFCC’s reckoning is mere N4b in today’s Nigeria, Obiano should be congratulated as a Saint, rather than persecuted. He should therefore be left alone to enjoy his liberty after a very stressful eight-year tenure.”
He wondered why former Presidents that enjoy same constitutional immunity as state governors are not subjected to the ordeal of after service inquisition, even as he called on the National Assembly to ensure that the EFCC does not become an emerging danger to Nigeria’s democracy.
The elder statesman noted that instead of serving as deterrence, investigation of former governors after their years in office by EFCC helps to expand the circle of corruption as operatives extort, blackmail and use faceless individuals and groups to intimidate suspects.
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