Prof Itse Sagay who is the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has warned that the fight against corruption would suffer a set back if the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is allowed to exert undue influence on the activities of the newly confirmed chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa.
According to Prof Sagay, Malami commands too much influence that must be put in check for anti-corruption agencies to function independently.
Recall that Bawa was confirmed as substantive chairman of the EFCC by the Senate on Tuesday.
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Sagay, who described Malami as a politician, said the power of the AGF must be checked so as not to control the activities of the anti-graft agency.
He faulted the fact that Malami and Bawa come from the same state, adding that both might even be related.
According to him: ‘This issue is a very big question because I noticed that they both come from the same state of Kebbi and they may even be related.
‘For me, that is not a very healthy thing because the chairman of the EFCC and the EFCC are supposed to be independent.
‘They are not politicians, they are trained, security officers. The attorney-general is a politician who has all the weaknesses and loads of a politician.
‘He has people he is obliged to. He has people who are close to him. Some of them may be criminals who might have committed crimes. In fact, some of them may deliberately do things because they think they know the attorney-general.
‘So, in such a situation, if Bawa is related to the attorney-general, then there will be a problem because he will not be able to do his job freely because the attorney-general will certainly interfere.’
He added: ‘He has already indicated his tendency to interfere in both the EFCC and the ICPC with the regulations he purported to make months ago. So, I am not comfortable at all that the possibility that they might be related.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
