Arewa Group Warns EFCC On Media Trials Of Suspects, Says Standard Dropping Drastically

By Akinwale Kasali

A Northern Youth Group, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, has lamented   that the standard of the anti graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is dropping astronomically.

Yerima Shettima, the National President of the Group said the Abdulrasheed Bawa-led EFCC is having a downward slide in its operational standards.

He also urged the Commission to stop media trials of suspects which he said has now become the norm of the EFCC.

Shettima who spoke in Kaduna Saturday, November 11th, 2022,  said the Group has been following closely the EFCC’s hasty moves to nail Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.

The statement reads, “We feel duly concerned to call out the EFCC, led by Bawa, to desist from this repeated embarrassment of starting what it cannot finish. The EFCC as an institution of public service that is crucial to sanitising Nigeria should not be pulled down by the actions of one man.

“The forum rejects the strategy of media trial because it downgrades not just the operational standards of the agency but it amounts to deliberate policy of intimidation.

“The EFCC is meant to be an agency of uncompromising standards that should be a reflection of our domestic and international image in the fight against corruption.”

Yerima said that Governor Matawalle had been able to stabilise Zamfara State more than his predecessors due to his modified security tactics.

It stressed that the EFCC is, allegedly, deliberately trying to undermine the laudable achievements by launching a media trial in broad daylight, wondering why Belsha Printing Press that Matawalle established before he even became the State Governor should be shut down now.

“What kind of law gave the agency the powers to shut down a private business that predates the owner’s emergence as governor? This is really distractive for a governor giving Zamfara his best shot,” the Group said.

The Group added that it is surprising why those targeted for media trial were Northerners and why this selective approach should be seen in an agency that is supposed to be national in outlook.

He called on  President Muhammadu Buhari to call the EFCC chairman to order and stop him from undermining the image of the current administration.

“We thought the recent court judgement that ordered he should be remanded in prison would serve as a warning for his series of actions that amounted to court’s contempt. In other countries, where courts really mean business, nothing would have stopped the EFCC Chairman from going to prison following such a court’s verdict.

“Credible intelligence at our disposal has shown that there are no fewer than 3,000 contempt cases hanging on the neck of the EFCC because of the Chairman’s approach to issues. This is getting out of hand.

“Most importantly, Nigeria is not a Banana Republic and the EFCC Chairman should bear this in mind. Let the world know that we are, as citizens and activists, watching the activities of the EFCC and rating their performance as an institution of public service,” the statement explained.

It added, “Our advice to the EFCC is that it should strive to project its original image of an agency meant to fight corruption using the instrumentality of the law, under a democratic atmosphere. The agency should always do their homework well before making their presence in the media on any matter”, the statement reads.