With the way the EFCC, DSS, AGF and the Federal Government are losing cases against alleged corrupt people, it seems corruption is fighting back.
In the past two weeks, the all out war on corruption embarked by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari suffered serious blows with the Federal Government, the office of the Attorney General, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), being trounced roundly in the courts.
The first to defeat the government was the radical lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) who had his account containing the sum of N75 million allegedly paid to him by Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose in legal fees, unfrozen by the court.
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Next to come was the case involving Justice Adeniyi Ademola, his wife Olabowale and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joe Agi, as a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Maitama struck out the 18-count corruption charge the Federal Government preferred against them.
The court held that government failed to prove any of the allegations it leveled against the former Abuja Division Judge.
As if that was not enough, a Federal High Court in Lagos vacated its order which froze a Skye Bank account with a balance of $5.9 million belonging to wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience Jonathan.
Worried by these losses and a dent on his anti-corruption war, President Buhari came out with all guns blazing, telling the EFCC and other agencies to sit up and stop losing cases in courts or else, the war would be seen as ineffectual.
Other prominent Nigerians have lent their voices to the string of losses and judgemental upheavals, with many believing that the EFCC and other prosecuting bodies did not do their home work well before taking the cases to the courts.
They believe that a judge will only give judgment on what is presented by the prosecution and the defense and the one with superior arguments often carry the day.
But instead of the anti-graft bodies doing their home works well and presenting watertight cases, they have been very comfortable conducting media trials of the accused, making them look guilty even before trials and as such, giving them the ammunition to fight.
The EFCC for instance, only arrest suspects, put out every detail on the pages of newspapers before they actually begin investigations because there is no reason they should be made to look as upstarts in the business whenever they take the cases to the courts.
Many Nigerians are not comfortable with the way the EFCC, AGF, DSS, ICPC and other agents of the FG are bungling the chances to recover their stolen funds.
In the words of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the EFCC was losing cases because it failed to engage 'staunch ogbologbo lawyers' instead of employing greenhorns who do not do their jobs thoroughly enough.
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Is it that the EFCC and the other bodies have too many cases that they can't be diligent in prosecuting them?
Is the justice system in the country so corrupt and warped that they can easily be bought over by the money bags who have these cases before them?
Or is this the real fight back of corruption?
from pulse.ng - Gist http://ift.tt/2o2YfD2
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