Northern lawyers urge Buhari to probe EFCC

ALawyers Progressives Forum ( ALPF) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the Economic Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) under the leadership of Abdurasheed Bawa.

It alleged that the antigraft commission is enmeshed in selective trial and politics.

Besides, the lawyers urged Buhari to sanitise the activities of EFCC and save it from deviating from its mission to rid the country of corruption.

Say commission is biased, politicised

The Coordinator of ALPF, Abubakar Kurawa, stated, yesterday: “It is no longer news that EFCC, an agency established by law to investigate and prosecute economic and financial criminals, has, in recent times, veered into political persecution, media trial and selective treatment of cases.

“Time without number, the agency tended to pursue cases not with the aim of nipping corruption in the bud, but to score cheap political points, to the exclusion of serious cases, which, if diligently investigated, would have unravelled huge cases of financial crimes against the state. So, many allegations of economic sabotage and embezzlement, which, under normal circumstances, deserves the strong searchlight of the commission, are ignored for trivial matters targeted at some individuals.”

Kurawa cited the case of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA), where an allegation is made against the Director- General ( DG) for diverting humongous amounts of money.