Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have protested the alleged disobedience of court orders by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, demanding the sack of the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

 

The aggrieved members of the CSOs carried various placards with several inscriptions like ‘Bawa must go,’ ‘EFCC needs a respecter of the law,’ ‘Bawa, obey court orders’ to register their displeasure during a protest in Lagos on Saturday.

Leaders of the group said their week-long protest is against the alleged politicisation of the EFCC, disobedience of court orders and the infringment of human rights of Nigerians by the anti-graft agency.

 

Spokesperson of the anti-corruption group, Ayodeji Ologun, said they cannot watch the country’s legal system be bastardised.

“We are here today because we are beginning to see anti-democratic elements within the democratic process who are daily drawing us back in the fight against corruption. This is a coalition of different civil society organisations against corruption,” Ologun said.

“For a while now, we have observed the EFCC Chairman flagrantly disobeying court orders. And we believe that he who will come to equity must come with clean hands. If you are the head of an anti-graft body and you find it difficult to obey court ruling, such a person is a law breaker. You cannot be in charge of arresting people that are drawing the country backward in terms of corruption and you yourself would be a culprit of disobeying court order.

“One of the essence of leadership is obeying the tenets of democracy and the rule of law and key to that is court ruling. If Bawa has consistently, in the last few months disobeyed court orders, he is unfit to sit at the helm of that body and we are calling for his sack.”

The protest followed Monday’s ruling by Justice R.O. Ayoola of the Kogi State High Court sitting, ordering that Bawa should be arrested and sent to the Kuje correctional centre for two weeks without any delay over contempt.

 

He ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba to ensure the committal order is executed, just as he awarded N10 million against the EFCC.

But the anti-graft agency said on Thursday that it has appealed the ruling of the Kogi state high court that ordered Bawa’s remand.