•Malami and EFCC logo
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has taken the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the cleaner over the revocation of the bail initially granted to the former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami.
The party, which said that politicising the fight against corruption is corruption, described the revocation of Malami’s bail by the anti-graft agency as partisan politics and not law enforcement, reports Sunday Independent.
The ADC reiterated the party’s support for the EFCC and any other anti-corruption agency to pursue its mandate of investigating crimes, but warns that selective investigation or weaponising investigations against opposition leaders ultimately undermines the genuine fight against corruption in the country and renders anti-corruption agencies complicit in the government’s suppression of opposition and dissent.
ADC, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said that from all available evidence, the former Attorney-General did not violate any of the legal conditions attached to his initial bail.
“Therefore, revoking his bail, especially after he attended a political rally in his home state of Kebbi, could create the inexorable impression that the action was taken to curtail his politics rather than to pursue justice,” the party said.
ADC, which viewed the revocation of Malami’s bail by EFCC as politically motivated, added that “from all available evidence, Malami did not violate any of the legal conditions attached to his initial bail. As a senior lawyer and former number one law officer in the country, he understands what it means to violate bail conditions. However, what he probably did not understand was that attending a political gathering in furtherance of his governorship ambition in his home state of Kebbi could be the basis for revoking his bail by the EFCC, even though he has cooperated fully with the agency’s investigators.
“For the avoidance of doubt, ADC regards corruption as one of the most dangerous threats to the very survival of our country. Therefore, we fully support any genuine efforts to hold public officers accountable. However, we are deeply concerned that some of the actions and inactions of the EFCC give the impression that the agency is a gladiator in the political arena rather than an impartial warrior against financial malpractice.
“Revoking Malami’s bail only after he had attended a political event makes one question the EFCC’s motive, and wonder on which side of the political divide the agency is fighting, and whether it is not violating the very same laws it purports to defend.
“By barring a citizen from political activity, the EFCC arrogates to itself powers it does not possess under the Constitution. No agency of government has the power to suspend political rights, redraw political boundaries, or determine where a citizen’s political interest may or may not be exercised. That this restriction applied only to Kebbi State leaves one with an inescapable conclusion that the EFCC’s real agenda is to cripple his political ambition in the state.”
