Do you agree with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s refusal to release Sambo Dasuki and Nnamdi Kanu on bail, in violation of court orders? I believe that under the law, the Nigerian Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or any other law enforcement agency is empowered by law to investigate offences and prosecute offenders under the law if there is enough evidence to show that such people have committed any offence. But once that has been done and the case is brought before the court, it becomes the business of the court – how to handle the offender. And I believe that under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution every citizen has a presumption of innocence. So, the mere arrest or charging of somebody to court does not translate to guilt of that person. But if there is a pronouncement from the court about the guilt of that person then the government will deal with him accordingly. But in the case of Sambo Dasuki, Nnamdi Kanu, and all those people who had been charged to court, once bail has been granted, the government must obey the order of the court because Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution says that all persons exercising legislative, executive and judicial power in Nigeria, including the President, must obey the order of the court. Therefore, in Dasuki’s case, no matter the number of allegations agianst him, the government must respect his rights because he is presumed to be innocent. During the period of this arms scandal, we have only been hearing one side. We have not heard Dasuki’s side; we have not heard Olisa Metuh’s side; we have not heard Nnamdi Kanu’s side. The government keeps them in custody it; does not want the public to listen to them. We support anti-corruption war. Everyone who has stolen Nigeria’s money should return it and be dealt with according to law. But it must be done in accordance to due process of law. In this regard, the statement credited to Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC Chairman, that suspects will not be released until they have returned money allegedly stolen is totally wrong and illegal because he has no right to comment on the guilt of the suspect, except the court. But if it is true that anybody has looted money and he has confessed while in custody and is willing to return it, I encourage the EFCC to deal with such a person according to his confession. But when a person is insisting that he wants to be tried, then the government should charge him to court if it has nothing to hide. That is our position. Are the actions of the Federal Government’s security agencies illegal? If a court grants a suspect bail; in the case of Dasuki, two times, the court said allow him to go and seek medical treatment abroad. I believe that with the kind of lawyers that are representing him, especially Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), who is a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association and a bar leader of repute, I don’t think such a person can run away or jump bail contrary to what the President (Muhammadu Buhari) said during his first presidential media chat. I don’t think such a person can jump bail. And in any case, if he is to be granted bail, the court would have requested him to furnish sureties who will stand to ensure that Dasuki will appear for his trial. I don’t think such a person can jump bail. Therefore, if the court had granted him bail, they must allow him to go. You see that when the judges were noticing the dictatorial tendencies of the EFCC and the executive in the case of (Attahiru) Bafarawa (former Sokoto State governor) and those other people who were charged after Dasuki, the judge specifically gave directive on the terms; they can be called or rearrested for a fresh allegation; he said they should inform their lawyers, they should arrest them, they should appear before the EFCC between 10am and 6pm so that they don’t sleep in custody. This is gradually showing that the judiciary is not happy with the issue of keeping people in custody, especially if the EFCC doesn’t have any evidence against the suspects. The EFCC shouldn’t do its investigations in piecemeal; today, you arrest him, you charge him to court; tomorrow you arrest him again and charge him to court. Look at what happened to Mr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, the former NIMASA (Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency) boss, who was charged to court in Lagos for fraud and then he was granted bail; right there in front of the court, he was manhandled and put into a bus like a criminal only for him to appear in court again this morning (Thursday) on another allegation of fraud. One cannot commit fraud in the air; it must have been committed by document which the EFCC already has. What does the EFCC want to achieve by conducting investigation piecemeal – to punish suspects? If the agency has a real case against a suspect it should bring it on. It shouldn’t be a case of a suspect being granted bail and the security agency rearresting the suspect to be charged to court again and it goes on like that. That is not prosecution. It is witch-hunting. Do you see President Muhammadu Buhari, the EFCC and other security agencies as acting in an authoritarian manner? It is not whether I see; I have enough knowledge of General Muhammadu Buhari right from 1984 as a dictator. He is a tyrant; sending journalists to prison and throwing all politicians into jail. I don’t need to be asked – I know he’s a tyrant. Only that when he went to London, at Chatham House, he was asked the question: ‘Given your experience in military rule, how can you cope in a democratic government?’ He said, ‘I have repented.’ That is the language that he used. But following his election into office, he started baring his fangs to say that if the court grants Dasuki bail, he would not release him for fear that he would jump bail. This means he is turning himself to a supervisor of the court. And this was the same Buhari, in February, when he was dragged to court that he was not qualified to contest the presidential election for not having an Ordinary Level certificate. It was this same Federal High Court that this man went to. I was in court in Abuja to fight for Buhari to say that the court must allow him to contest the election and he contested in that election because the judiciary stood by him only for him to be kicking in the face of the judiciary and he’s telling them (the judiciary) that they are corrupt now that he has been elected. I know that we are under a tyranny now. He is persecuting people in the opposition because of the campaigns against him – I did not support those campaigns because they were offensive. But the election is over; he must bypass all the tension and hatred of that election. He is the father of Nigeria now; the father of APC (All Progressives Congress), the father of PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), the father of APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance) and the father of everybody. All he should concern himself with is to tell us how he intends to move Nigeria forward. The naira is N305 to $1 today (Thursday). What’s his plan for this country? He is just using the anti-corruption campaign to cover his inefficiency; that is the way I read it. If you ask me what he’s brought to Nigerians, I don’t know. But if you ask about (Olusegun) Obasanjo, I will say he brought GSM to Nigeria. If you ask me about (Goodluck) Jonathan, I will say he brought electoral reforms to Nigeria to the extent he was defeated as an incumbent president. What has Buhari done now? Or, what is he going to do? As I am speaking to you now, there is no electricity in my office. The availability of electricity has become worse. The roads are death-traps and people are dying every day. I don’t know what this man is doing. Why are you interested in Metuh’s release? Since May 29, 2015, with General Muhammadu Buhari as President, Olisa Metuh has become the voice of the opposition. Through Metuh we got to hear a different side to the sweet stories the (APC-led) Federal Government has been feeding us with. He stepped into the shoes of Lai Mohammed (former APC spokesman) who was the voice of opposition while PDP was in government. Through Mohammed, we heard the other side of the story of the PDP administration. The same should be allowed to continue in the case of Metuh now. I X-rayed Olisa Metuh’s performance piecemeal since 2015 and discovered that through him we are able to analyse properly and hear another version or view on government’s programmes. And we know clearly that he has become like a bone in the throat of the Buhari regime. So, when he was arrested on January 5, I waited for some days for him to be charged to court but that did not happen. The Constitution says that if a person is arrested he should be granted bail. If you would not grant him bail within 24 hours, if there is a court within 40 kilometres to where he was arrested, he must be charged to court. It is the provision of our Constitution Section 35; no citizen should be kept in custody beyond 24 hours except the person is arrested in respect of a capital offence like killing somebody, or committing treasonable felony like trying to overthrow the government. But if it is about this so-called ‘armsgate’ or fraud or looting of the treasury, the law says you must release the person within 24 hours or charge him to court. So, instead of charging Metuh to court, the government was just giving us stories. And I heard that the EFCC chairman said he was not going to release him unless Metuh refunds the money he was alleged to have stolen. I didn’t feel okay with such. If the man (Metuh) is not cooperating with the EFCC while in its custody then he should be charged to court. Under the new fundamental rights regime in Nigeria, any activist like myself who has a record, the NBA, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, any organisation that can enforce the fundamental rights of any citizen. Therefore, I went to court on my own, with my own money and my own resources. I don’t know Olisa Metuh and I have never met him. I filed a case in the Federal High Court, Lagos on Monday having waited for five days for Metuh’s release. Afterwards, I started receiving calls from various people felt that I was acting on the request of Metuh. Again, Emeka Etiaba called me (that) he is lawyer to Olisa Metuh that he had filed a similar application in the Federal High Court in Abuja late last week but they didn’t make it public. At that point that I was reviewing the situation, I got a call from the EFCC through a confidant giving me an undertaking that today (Thursday) Olisa Metuh will be charged to court in Abuja. Once I had heard from his lawyer and the EFCC it was clear to me that my case was going to constitute a hindrance to the proper trial and that wasn’t my motive. I just wanted him either to be released on bail or charged to court; there was no need to continue my case. I support anti-corruption war 100 per cent as long as it is done according to the law. I cannot be used to shield anybody from trial. Today (Thursday) I understand that a seven-count charge has been filed in Abuja against Olisa Metuh. So, it will now be in the hands of the judge to release him on bail. That’s all that I wanted. Source: Punch]]>