Protect your legacy, let Bawa go, CSOs tell Buhari

One legacy President Muhammadu Buhari would bequeath to Nigerians as his administration winds down is to listen to Nigerians and let the embattled Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdurasheed Bawa, go.

About 158 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), faith-based groups, youth and community-based organisations, who gathered in Abuja for national conference, yesterday, said the anti-corruption efforts of the Buhari administration would eventually be assessed by the conduct of key officials, especially those saddled with the responsibility of taming corruption in the country.

After exhaustive deliberations by the expanded gathering with keynote address by the Dean, Faculty of Arts, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), Ekiti State, Prof. Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli, and presentations from the Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, among others, the conference raised a communiqué, which specifically expressed concerns that EFCC under the leadership of Abdulrasheed Bawa had allegedly become a cesspool of internal sleaze, among other diverse issues.

While congratulating Nigerians on the outcome of the various elections, the organisations faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for not keeping strictly to the promises it made to Nigerians.

They, however, condemned the various attempts by some politicians and vested interests towards pushing the country dangerously to the edge of the slope, particularly the promotion of ethnic and religious divisions.

According to the communiqué, in line with genuine concerns among informed Nigerians, “Conference restates that Mr. Bawa, reportedly convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction,
which has not been vacated, cannot continue to preside over an important law enforcement agency like the EFCC established to fight corruption.”

Delegates from the 158 organisations also alleged that Bawa’s actions as a public officer had been high-handed, prejudicial, contemptuous of Nigerian courts and oppressive to the rights of persons under the EFCC investigation, while also condemning, in its entirety, his deliberate disobedience of court orders.

“Conference expressed gross dissatisfaction with the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which, in the last three months, has crippled economic activities and put citizens under unprecedented untold hardship due to the scarcity of the local currency, as well as the incessant failure of the online banking system,” the communiqué reads, adding that there must be consequences for the needless hardship Nigerians were made to contend with in the face of a policy that was not well thought-out.

On anti-corruption efforts, the communiqué noted: “Corruption undermines growth, erodes trust in governments, fuels support for extremism and hinders the fight against poverty and inequality. Therefore, we as Nigerians, have a responsibility to prevent, detect and expose any form of corruption. In fighting corruption, we cannot, but also be mindful of the dictates of our laws, as a country under a democracy.

“The war against corruption in the country, particularly under the administration of Buhari, has its milestones, prospects and challenges; hence, the need for us to consciously review same, while also setting agenda for the incoming administration in the country. The subject of corruption and the war against it is of crucial importance to us, as stakeholders, in the Nigerian project.”