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Civil society organizations have denounced what they see as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's anti-democratic methods of handling legal matters involving Yahaya Bello, a former governor of Kogi.
It also denounced the Federal Government's unfair use of state power.
Following an EFCC notice stating that Bello was sought for offenses "in connection with an alleged case of money laundering to the tune of N80.2bn," the former governor was added to the Nigerian Immigration Service's watch list, and Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun withdrew any police officers who were associated with him.
However, the CSOs, numbering over 120, along with their members and supporters who hit the streets of Lagos on Saturday, faulted the actions of the Federal Government in the ongoing face-off between the EFCC and the former governor.
The press conference was led by the Chairman of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran; Sina Loremikan (Campaign Against Impunity), Declan Ihekhaire (Activists for Good Governance), Gbenga Soloki (CADOV), Ochiaga Ohaneze (Ohaneze Youth Council) and Funmi Jolade (Women Democratic Vanguard).
Others present were Kola Abe (Centre for Socioeconomic Rights), Ologun Ayodeji (Transparency and Accountability Group), Femi Lawson (Centre for Public Accountability), and Gbenga Ganzallo (Media Rights Campaign), among others.
Speaking on the issue, Adeniran pointed out that the EFCC did not send a letter of invitation to Bello, thus the allegation that he evaded an arrest does not exist.
“Someone who was never invited, who has a valid court order restraining his arrest and harassment, among other reliefs, until the determination of the court case, could not be said to be evading arrest. It is deliberate misinformation to turn the public against the governor.
“If the FG continues in its iniquitous way of trampling on the rule of law by undermining our judicial system, we will mobilise a much larger number of Nigerians to join this pro-democracy struggle. It concerns all Nigerians because we don’t know who the next victim may be,” Adeniran noted.
The activist also called on the Federal Government to first obey all the court orders preceding their actions in court and then go ahead to vacate them through due process of law.
