As reactions continue to trail the recent blocking of the personal account of Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a human rights activist and Executive Chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sualiman has warned President Muhammadu Buhari, against returning the country back to the era of his despotic military rule of 1984 to 1985 where the government was almighty.
Comrade Sulaiman who doubles as Chairman, Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEOS), also declared that the anti-graft agency lacks the power and right to freeze any sitting governor’s Bank Account, saying that Section 308 of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria covers the sitting President/Vice-President and Governor/Deputy Governor from criminal offences, adding that the action of the anti-graft agency was political witch-hunt of opponent of President Buhari.
A statement issued by the CHRSJ’s Directorate of Media and Research, which was made available to newsmen on Tuesday, maintained that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has cleared the air on section 308 in the case of Gani Fawehinmi vs. IGP & Ors over Bola Ahmed Tinubu Chicagogate forgery saga in (2002) 7 NWLR (pt 767) pg. 606 where it contended that the immunity did not cover any Executive President/Vice-President and Executive Governor/Deputy-Governor from investigation but covers them from any prosecution, stressing that EFCC has gone beyond their bound on this matter.
The CHRSJ Chief who described the action of EFCC as illegal, anathema, abomination, unconstitutional, undemocratic, evil, ungodly, satanic and crime against God and humanity, requested the EFCC to tender unreserved public apology to Governor Fayose over the trauma they (EFCC) made him to pass through in the last 48 hours.
He stressed that many governors, including Fayose were not saints as all of them have soiled their hands with public funds in one way or the other, noting that if EFCC had criminal charges against Fayose, they should have worked on their intelligence gathering of information and gotten all the documents relating to the matter and kept till the end of his tenure.
According to Sulaiman, “the EFCC should be apolitical in their functions. In a civilized society like ours, this development does not portray the anti-graft agency well as a respecter of law of the land. The EFCC should not take orders from President Buhari in the course of performing its constitutional duties.”