Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption chairman, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has expressed fear that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), might now allow the new Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, to freely do his job.
The Nigerian Senate, during its plenary on Wednesday, confirmed Bawa as the substantive chairman of the anti-graft agency.
But responding to the development in an interview with The Punch, Sagay said, “This issue is a very big question because I noticed that they (Bawa and Malami) both come from the same state of Kebbi and they may even be related. For me, that is not a very healthy thing because the chairman of the EFCC and the EFCC are supposed to be independent.
“They are not politicians; they are trained, security officers. The attorney-general is a politician who has all the weaknesses and loads of a politician. He has people he is obliged to. He has people who are close to him. Some of them may be criminals who might have committed crimes. In fact, some of them may deliberately do things because they think they know the attorney-general.
“So, in such a situation, if Bawa is related to the attorney-general, then there will be a problem because he will not be able to do his job freely because the attorney-general will certainly interfere. He has already indicated his tendency to interfere in both the EFCC and the ICPC with the regulations he purported to make months ago. So, I am not comfortable at all that the possibility that they might be related.”
He added, “Malami has never been inclined to allow the anti-corruption agencies to operate freely. He is always sitting on their neck one way or the other. I have complained about that several times and nothing has happened. In fact, he has become more powerful. So, I will not be comfortable if they are related. I don’t want any outside influence on the EFCC or the ICPC.”
Sagay were among Nigerians who rooted for the former EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu, who was accused of corruption and later dismissed.
Malami is believed to have been behind the allegation against Magu that saw him thrown out ignominiously as the EFCC boss.