The Coalition of Northwest Anti-corruption Civil Society Organisations has called on the Inspector General of Police to “immediately begin investigation of civil society organisations (CSOs) seeking the removal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, AbdulRasheed Bawa.”
The Coalition, an umbrella body of all anti-corruption CSOs in the North-west, made the call while addressing a press conference in Kaduna Friday.
It stated that the CSOs seeking the EFCC boss’ removal were being sponsored by “corrupt public officials, hence the need to investigate and bring them to justice.”
The Coalition’s leader and executive chairman of Corruption Tracker Initiative, Comrade Hamza Abidin, said the group had investigated and discovered that CSOs demanding Bawa’s removal lacked any form of evidence against the EFCC boss.
He said, “A protest led by a CSO calling for the removal of the current EFCC chairman to tarnish his good image is not what the civil society organization stood for, but to adhere to the rule of law and the constitution is our utmost goal and objective. The EFCC chairman has a constitutional duty to perform, please we urge the CSO to challenge authority based on rule of law and constitutional provisions.
“The corruption tracker initiative has been collaborating with EFCC in the fight against the common enemy called corruption. We urge other civil society organisations to tread on that part of honour. The Northwest coalition of anti-corruption wishes to categorically state as follows: We call on President Muhammadu Buhari as a matter of urgency to direct the attorney-general, security chiefs and other relevant authorities to give the EFCC every necessary legal support to do their work without intimidation or blackmail.
“We call on the inspector-general of police to swing into action with immediate effect to unravel those corrupt public officials behind this campaign of blackmail and such persons should face the wrath of the law.
“In 2004, Abdulrasheed Bawa began working for the EFCC as an Assistant Detective Superintendent (ADS). He was chosen in October 2015 to lead the Commission’s inquiries against Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former minister of petroleum resources, and her accomplices. He has participated in the prosecution of offences such as money laundering, bank fraud, official corruption, and advance fee fraud.”