Frank chides EFCC over arrest of Atiku’s lawyer
FORMER deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has described the arrest of Mr. Uyiekpen Giwa-osagie, counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as politically-motivated.
Frank stated yesterday that the development was a clear proof that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was a tool in the hands of President Muhammadu Buhari to witch-hunt members of the opposition.
The Bayelsa State-born political activist said the arrest of Giwa-osagie a few weeks after Tunde Ayeni, former chairman of Skye Bank (now Polaris Bank), was picked up and detained in similar fashion, showed APC’S desperation to starve the opposition of critical funding necessary for its campaign.
He called on the international community to list Ibrahim Magu among those to be placed on visa ban following his overt use of the EFCC to detain key opposition figures to dampen their chances in the coming elections, to the overall benefit of Buhari and the APC.
Frank said: “Magu cannot claim to be fighting corruption when the only people he finds to be allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities are key members of the opposition. This is a witch-hunt and highly selective.” According to him, there is nowhere in the Electoral Act that opposition political parties are banned from funding their elections to prescribed limits.
His words: “However, the EFCC has continued to clamp down on legitimate businessmen with the belief that any money in their possession is meant for Atiku’s campaign.
“Today, the EFCC is clearly an arm of the APC. No thanks to Magu, who has officially pledged his support for Buhari by wearing his re-election campaign brooch on his suit lapel.”
AFEDERAL Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has set aside an earlier order it granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to remand former chairman of the defunct Skye Bank, Tunde Ayeni, for 14 days.
The court, while vacating the order yesterday, held that the anti-graft agency misled it into granting the application on account of suppressed fact.
Justice Yusuf Halilu consequently ordered his immediate release from EFCC custody.
The ruling followed an enforcement of fundamental rights suit filed by Ayeni seeking his freedom.
The agency had last week approached the court through an ex-parte application.
The commission had hinged the request for a remand on the need to investigate a petition sub- mitted by the office of the Vice President in respect of Ayeni’s alleged role as chair of the financial institution.
The applicant however approached the court to challenge the order, praying for it to be set aside.
In his argument, the Ayeni, through his lawyer, Ahmed Raji (SAN), submitted that the application was to challenge the jurisdiction of the court and EFCC’S action.
The lawyer informed the court that there was a pending suit before the Federal High Court against the applicant on same subject matter, and that the trial judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, had admitted him to bail, whose conditions he had perfected
Raji told the court that the detention of the applicant was a breach of his fundamental human rights considering that he went to the EFCC upon invitation.