EFCC, Saraki’s probe coincidental – Lawyer

Former commissioner of justice and attorney-general of Ekiti State, Wale Fapohunda, has described the ongoing probe of the EFCC by the Senate and the probe of Senate president’s wife, Toyin Saraki, by the EFCC as coincidental.

Fapohunda stated this in an interview with Daily Trust, during the closing ceremony of the 55th Annual General Conference (AGC) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) which took place in Abuja.

On July 23, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) grilled the Senate president’s wife, Toyin Saraki, over her alleged involvement in shady contracts during her husband’s tenure as governor of Kwara State.

The Senate has announced a probe of the EFCC and its chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, over the alleged diversion of at least N1 trillion recovered in cash and assets from corrupt officials.

The Senate investigation, following a petition, fuelled allegations that the lawmakers may be seeking ways of getting back at the anti-graft agency.

Fapohunda said that the EFCC, in its activities, must be seen to be transparent, adding: “One of the key issues, while we should fight corruption with all the tools at our disposal, is that we should affirm the rule of law in our quest to fight corruption, as there is the tendency to go overboard.”

While insisting that both probes were coincidental and not vendetta, he added that apart from the Senate, other organizations, such as the NHRC, can also investigate the EFCC.

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has denied ulterior motive behind the Senate’s decision to invite the chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, saying that the EFCC was not the only government agency facing a Senate probe.