Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to charge Olisa Metuh, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, to court if it is sure of evidences of fraud against.
The Governor accused the commission of operating a "system in which an accused person is first arrested, detained endlessly while the anti-corruption agency goes about looking for evidence.”
While declaring his support for a genuine anti-corruption fight, Fayose said the activities of the EFCC is lawless and pure desperation of silent the PDP.
The Governor spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, on Friday, Jan. 8.
Fayose said: “In saner climes, you don’t arrest people for alleged fraud and start to look for evidence to prosecute them. Rather, before you arrest anyone for fraud, anti-corruption agencies must have established a prima facie case and arresting the suspect will only be to enable for his or her arraignment in court.
“However, what we are witnessing in Nigeria today is a situation whereby the EFCC will arrest PDP leaders, humiliate them by subjecting them to media trial, detain them for weeks in the process of trying to force them to make statements during which the commission will be looking for evidence.
“For instance, in the case of Metuh, we are being told that the EFCC is insisting that he must write statements and one begins to wonder if it has now become mandatory for an accused to write statements in law enforcement agent’s custody. Shouldn’t the EFCC have simply charged Metuh to court based on its own evidence? Or is Metuh’s statement the evidence the EFCC requires to prosecute him?
“The international community, especially the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and others are put on notice on this condemnable act of arresting and detaining opposition leaders by agents of the Buhari-led government before fishing for evidence.”
He challenged Buhari extend his anti-corruption fight to those who sponsored his election.
The governor added: “If President Buhari did not wait for any petition to move against PDP chieftains, asking people to come forward with allegations of corruption against APC chieftains, especially those who sponsored President Buhari’s election is clearly hypocritical.
“Most importantly, that the EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu even said the commission do not have any petition against APC chieftains when indeed there are loads of petitions against ministers serving in Buhari’s government and other notable APC chieftains goes to show the hypocrisy of the fight against corruption.
“It is even more hypocritical and anti-democratic for the President to have turned himself to the accuser, prosecutor and judge, carrying on as if those he accused of corruption have already been convicted.”
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