{"id":2174,"date":"2016-08-29T16:19:52","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T16:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dnllegalandstyle.com\/?p=2174"},"modified":"2016-08-29T16:19:52","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T16:19:52","slug":"new-nba-president-abubakar-mahmoud-under-fire-over-alleged-plot-to-weaken-efcc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/new-nba-president-abubakar-mahmoud-under-fire-over-alleged-plot-to-weaken-efcc\/","title":{"rendered":"New NBA president, Abubakar Mahmoud, under fire over alleged plot to \u2018weaken\u2019 EFCC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newly sworn-in President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abubakar Mahmoud, has come under severe criticism over a proposal he made that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should be stripped of prosecutorial powers.<\/span><\/p>\n

At his inaugural speech delivered in Port Harcourt on Friday, Mr. Mahmoud advocated a reform of the anti-graft agency that would include limiting its mandate to investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe critical institutions involved must be repositioned, re-equipped and re-tooled to confront the problem of corruption on a consistent and sustainable basis,\u201d Mr. Mahmoud, a senior Advocate of Nigeria, had said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a start, we commend the efforts of the Economic and Financial Crimes Institution for the work it is doing and for its modest achievements.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, going forward, the NBA must demand the reform of the institution itself. We need to define its mandate more narrowly and more clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my view, its broad objective as an investigative and prosecurial agency should be reviewed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI recommend strongly that the EFCC be limited to investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

High level of un-seriousness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abiodun Aremu, Secretary of the Joint Action Front, said Mr. Mahmoud\u2019s proposal shows the \u201chigh level of un-seriousness in the polity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot run an economy that is anchored on corruption and you want to fight corruption,\u201d said Mr. Aremu, whose group often lead mass actions against oppressive government policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if the NBA (chairman) insists on creating more diversionary agencies to underscore the context of its corrupt activities, it shows a high level of unseriousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s just the point, because lawyers themselves are the beneficiaries of the diversion in the polity in the name of fighting corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Debo Adeniran, the NBA president\u2019s statements were \u201cself-serving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe anti corruption agencies like the EFCC and ICPC are even supposed to have more funds allocated to them to strengthen their prosecutorial powers,\u201d said Mr. Adeniran, Executive Director, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe anti corruption agencies should be able to afford good lawyers that would match the ones hired by the criminals to defend them in court.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Ola Oyediran, a public commentator, Mr. Mahmoud\u2019s suggestion is part of the continuous attempts by powerful forces to reduce the EFCC\u2019s powers thereby shielding looters of the country\u2019s treasury.<\/p>\n

\u201cNote, \u2018most\u2019 Nigerian SANs are helping these looters to get soft landing through taking cases and defending them without applying professionalism, code of ethics and level of conscience,\u201d said Mr. Oyediran, a Canada-based engineer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think EFCC should put this NBA guy in a close watch since he has already made his intention known earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could somebody of SAN calibre (think) that yes, EFCC should investigate and hands off high profile frauds, stealing and embezzlement, and other crimes thereby making the case so complicated for the two bodies he is suggesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a Lagos based human rights lawyer, said the EFCC had failed in its responsibility to engender economic development because it had been taken over by political interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EFCC Act does not confer the agency with the power of prosecution of offences but rather that of investigation and intelligence gathering,\u201d said Mr. Adegboruwa, who was arrested and charged by the EFCC last May over allegations of illegal property dealing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe powers of prosecution belong to the Hon Attorney General of the Federation or of the States, as the case may be, under the constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese powers are then delegated to the EFCC. This is wrong in law. A man should not be an investigator and a prosecutor at the same time. This leads to great conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Adegboruwa said combining investigative and prosecutorial powers, as the EFCC had been doing, had led to a \u201ccrisis of bias.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving investigated the facts of the case that led to a criminal charge in court, the EFCC then becomes satiated with tyrannical powers of a persecutor, working by all means to secure nothing but a conviction, by all means possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack hand tactics are at times employed to secure such convictions, at times outside the province of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleverly disguised campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n

The EFCC, on Saturday, hit back at Mr. Mahmoud\u2019s proposition, expressing \u201cdiscomfort\u201d over his silence on the reason for his position.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore importantly, the Commission cannot comprehend how the redefinition of EFCC\u2019s mandate in narrow terms, ultimately whittling it down, fits into the clamour by Nigerians and the vision of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for a vibrant and courageous anti-corruption agency,\u201d the agency said in a statement by Wilson Uwujaren, Head of Media and Publicity.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, Mahmoud\u2019s suggestions appears perfectly in sync with a cleverly disguised campaign by powerful forces that are uncomfortable with the reinvigorated anti-graft campaign of the EFCC and are hell-bent on emasculating the agency by stripping it of powers to prosecute with the tame excuse that an agency that investigates cannot also prosecute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question Nigerians must ask the Mahmoud-led NBA is, what is wrong with EFCC prosecution?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Mahmoud was elected the 33rd president of the NBA, Nigeria\u2019s umbrella association of professional lawyers on August 1st amidst controversy.<\/p>\n

Last week, Joe-Kyari Gadzama, the runner-up in the presidential election filed a suit at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory seeking an overturn of the result of the election due to \u201cfoul play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EFCC questioned Mr. Mahmoud\u2019s interest in seeking to strip the Commission of its prosecutorial power, particularly following his roles in the criminal prosecution of two former state governors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is too much of a strange coincidence that the suggestion to strip the EFCC of its prosecutorial powers is being floated few months after the Commission, in unprecedented fashion arraigned some senior lawyers for corruption,\u201d said the Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the avoidance of doubt, the Commission has recorded more convictions in the last one year than all the states and federal ministries of justices combined.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst this background, the current campaign appears to be self serving, intended to create a cabal of untouchables who can be investigated but may never be prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Mahmoud was the Attorney General of the Federation\u2019s counsel in the trial of James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State, at the Federal High Court, Asaba, a case which the EFCC lost in questionable circumstances.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ibori was later convicted, largely on the same charges, in a UK court and is currently serving a 13 year jail term.<\/p>\n

The new NBA president also served as the EFCC\u2019s counsel in the appeal against the infamous perpetual injunction from arrest and prosecution granted Peter Odili, a former governor of Rivers State.<\/p>\n

The appeal is still pending before the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, five years after it was filed.<\/p>\n

On August 5, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, a non-governmental organization, petitioned the President of the Court of Appeal asking that the case be listed within \u201cthe shortest possible time\u201d in the interest of justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat odious pronouncement drew sharp criticism against the judiciary from within and outside the country,\u201d HEDA stated in the petition signed by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpectedly, the Commission expeditiously filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt EFCC V. AG RIVERS STATE & ORS, CA\/PH\/622\/2008, with a view to discharging the ominous injunction of the Federal High Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a development that is smack of internal influence and maneuvering, the Court has refused to list the application five years after.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newly sworn-in President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abubakar Mahmoud, has come under severe criticism over a proposal he made that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should be stripped of prosecutorial powers. At his inaugural speech delivered in Port Harcourt on Friday, Mr. Mahmoud advocated a reform of the anti-graft agency that would include […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-news","8":"category-news"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dnllegalandstyle.com\/dnl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}