By Roseline Agbebaku, reporting from Lagos.
A Coalition of Civil Societies comprising the Network of Advocacy for Positive Impact Initiatives and Committee for Good Governance has heaped praises on the performance of Ola Olukoyede the current Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chairman for his administrative brilliance. The Coalition speaking through their leaders Comrades Williams Bassey Smith and Clement Obasuyi said they were satisfied that the EFCC Chair was steering the Commission towards the right direction based on the new approach of investigation before arrest. “We have watched and studied the new trend of Mr. Olukoyede who incidentally happened to be a man of God and we are happy that he is law-abiding”, the comrades announced.
Speaking further, they admitted that the uproar that used to accompany the arrest of suspected Nigerians and the public humiliation that followed has completely died down. “You can see that EFCC has deviated from the television show to real legal procedures and everyone is happy”, noted the comrades. They observed that, unlike previous leadership, the EFCC has deviated from its brutal, inhumane approach and prosecution of suspects to the detriment of their human rights. “Now, suspects are purely respected and treated with dignity; that’s how this thing works” agreed the comrades. The EFCC has lately been involved in secret investigations and prosecutions of Nigerians who have been indicted for one crime or another; the discreet approach has increased Nigerians’ confidence in the formerly dreaded agency.
‘When the name EFCC is mentioned before, usually fear and trepidation follow; you immediately have the impression of harrowing treatment from its agents. “All that is gone with Ola Olukoyede’s administration. “The man looks simple and the good news is that he has distanced himself from tribalism”, said the comrades. The EFCC in the past had assumed the coloration of a tribal outfit with people from certain parts of the country riding sway. The indiscriminate arrest and detention of Yahoo boys also did not go down well with the Nigerian youths.
But with the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that garment seemed to have been thrown out with more and more balanced distribution of promotions and appointments. “We urge the chairman not to look back and build up on this direction”, they stated. Pledging to support him all through his administration, the coalition called on other government appointees to toe the line of the EFCC Chair to bring the country back to sanity and called on Nigerians to come out in support of this new trend. They also urged the EFCC Chair to be cautious in dealing with youths arrested on the flimsy excuse of being Yahoo suspects.
