Sam Omatseye, the Editorial Chairman of the Nation Newspaper, and a foremost Aide to the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has condemned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for its continued detention of the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki, for almost a year without following due process.
Omatseye, in an explosive article titled, “Of Rogues and Ventures”, published at the back page of Tinubu’s owned Newspaper on Monday, September 12, exposed the weakness of the anti-graft agency in the “fight for financial sanity.”
Few months ago, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution, revealed that Dasuki was still in detention, because of multiple charges against him.
Obono-Obla, who said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja, had explained that a media propaganda was being staged, to give the impression that the Federal Government has refused to release him.
Reacting, Omatseye said: “…Who are the defendants running to for defence? The EFCC has its weaknesses in the fight for financial sanity. It has looked for the law to keep some people in detention without due process, including former NSA, Dasuki. It had to find the law and Lawyers to justify its position”.
He further aligned himself with the Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, who had earlier called for the stripping of the prosecutorial powers of the EFCC.
He wrote: “I accept with thanks Mahmud’s suggestion, that EFCC should not prosecute and investigate. That is scratching the surface, though. It works in England with the Serious Fraud Office.“It is the battle between rational choice and institutionalism at play. When we have the right values, you don’t need to bicker over conflict of interest, because the larger morality of the society will work the law to check excesses.“In the United States, the Attorney-General can prosecute anybody, including the President.
“Hence, Janet Reno, appointed Kenneth Starr, a Republican, to investigate Bill Clinton’s sexual peccadilloes. In Nigeria, the EFCC prosecutorial powers can be checked by the Attorney-General. Aondoakaa did it to Ribadu, under Yar-Adua”.
Taking a swipe at both the EFCC and the Lawyers who he accused of being corrupt, he added: “I must note though that Magu’s EFCC has had to contend with the charge of impunity, but who advised the EFCC, and who defended the EFCC? Of course, the Lawyers. So, we cannot pretend that the Lawyers, not all, but many prominent ones, are in the kitchen sink of corruption”.
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