EFCC restates mission to prosecute, not persecute criminals

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stated that it would prosecute anybody suspected of having committed financial crimes and not persecute.

The commission says the laws of the land must prevail in any circumstance relating to embezzlement of public funds.
Wahab Shittu, lead counsel to EFCC in the multi-million naira suit filed by the commission against the immediate past Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje, said this at the Federal High Court, Gombe, during the resumed hearing of the case.

Speaking with journalists, Shittu said contrary to the belief in some quarters that Goje was being persecuted for no cause, the former governor actually committed financial crimes and the EFCC would ensure he faces the music because the law would always have its way.

Shittu said: “Our case is not political at all. What the EFCC is doing is a yeo-man’s job on behalf of the prosecution, the defence, the court and the society in general. Whatever anybody does, he cannot disrupt the process or destroy the institution. Those who are in EFCC are highly professionalised people of immense integrity. Why do we need to persecute Goje who is a statesman? He certainly has questions to answer.”

Commenting on the documents frontloaded by the EFCC, which the defence counsel tendered and used in cross-examining the prosecution witness, Shittu expressed confidence in the ability of the court to dispense justice.

He said the anti-graft agency deliberately presented the documents for a purpose, which would soon be seen and the court would at the end of the day give an opinion on them.

The defence counsel, Chris Uche, said his team was able to elicit a lot of evidence under cross-examination using the documents frontloaded by the prosecution counsel.

He said there was no basis to prosecute Goje in the matter because the contract in question was properly awarded following due process as required by law.

“Using the documents from EFCC, we were able to establish that the contract was awarded in a manner that complied with due process. So, we are very happy with the development and this confirms what we have been saying that this is only a political case and that Senator Goje who did so much for this state should not be persecuted in this manner. There is nothing in this case”, Uche said.