The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) last week reportedly picked up Ms Sarah A Omega Ajijola Esq, a lawyer and an NBA National Secretariat staff member who had worked closely with the Electoral Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (ECNBA) appointed by the immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. A. B. Mahmoud, SAN, to conduct elections into national offices of the Nigerian Bar Association in 2018.
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The 2018 NBA Electoral Committee (ECNBA) was chaired by Prof. Auwalu Yadudu while Mr. Bolaji Agoro served as the Secretary.
TheNigerialawyer learnt from a reliable source that Ms. Ajijola was taken for questioning following a petition submitted sometime in 2018, to the EFCC by Mr. Olumuyiwa Olowokure, Esq (now deceased) who was a major supporter of one of the presidential candidates in that election. It would be recalled that 2018 NBA Presidential Election was won by MR. Paul Usoro, SAN, who is now the President of the Association (NBA).
TheNigerialawyer learnt further that upon being arrested, Ms. Ajijola had been taken to the EFCC office in Lagos for questioning and she was later held incommunicado for days, without access to her lawyer or family members. It was however learnt that the anti-graft agency began interrogating and taking Ms. Ajijola’s statements on Saturday, 21 September 2019.
TheNigerialawye further gathered that this arrest may not be unconnected with recent investigations by the EFCC into Olowokure’s petition, which had allegedly fingered the current President, Paul Usoro, SAN as having some link with the alleged rigging of the 2018 presidential election of the Nigerian Bar Association.
However, TheNigerialawyer learnt that the EFCC has not been able to find anything incriminating against Mr. Usoro nor linking Mr. Usoro, SAN, to the work of the Prof Yadudu-led Election Committee or time the conduct of the said election.
TheNigerialawyer reliably gathered that Ms. Ajijola’s arrest and interrogation has also not helped matters as she did not say anything that could be interpreted as incriminating the current NBA president, Mr. Usoro, in respect of the allegations contained in the late Mr Olowokure’s petition to the EFCC.
It should be recalled that following the declaration of Mr. Paul Usoro as winner of the 2018 NBA Presidential election, the late Mr.Olumuyiwa Olowokure, Esq had reportedly sent a petition to the EFCC, alleging that the AB Mahmoud’s led administration and the ECNBA that conducted the election, had perpetrated some fraud in the conduct of the said election. Mr. Olumuyiwa Olowokure, was a frontline supporter and campaigner for Arthur Obi-Okafor, SAN during the election.
As at the time of filing this report we are yet to get any response from the EFCC as to what could be its reasons for the arrest and interrogation of Ms Ajijola. All their numbers are switched off. It must be emphasized that Ms Ajijola was not the then NBA President who had set up the Electoral Committee that conducted the NBA National elections in 2018. Ms Ajijola was not the Chairman nor the Secretary of the Electoral Committee (ECNBA) for the 2018 NBA Presidential election. A number of Nigerian lawyers who spoke on this matter, on condition of anonymity have told TheNigeriaLawyer that it was curious the anti graft agency could be involved in such needless shadow-chasing in the name of criminal investigations.
A very senior lawyer who spoke to TheNigeriaLawyer on condition of anonymity specifically posed the following questions:
“How many persons has the EFCC picked up over the numerous allegations of monumental fraud and unprecedented electoral malpractice allegedly perpetrated in the last (2019) presidential and governorship elections in Nigeria? Has anyone alleged that Paul Usoro or anyone working with him was a member of the ECNBA for the 2018 NBA presidential elections?
Was the 2018 NBA Presidential elections organized by Paul Usoro? Was it Mr Paul Usoro that had appointed the ECNBA, the Electoral Committee that conducted the 2018 NBA Presidential election?
Why would anyone want to link Mr. Paul Usoro to any allegations of rigging or fraud (if there was any at all) during the 2018 NBA Presidential Elections?
By the way, What business does the EFCC have with NBA elections? When has it become part of EFCC’s mandate to interfere in elections of private organizations such as the NBA?
Was there any allegations of financial misconduct during the last NBA elections? If there was, how does it lead to Usoro who was not an NBA officer then? How many public agencies, institutions and organizations has the EFCC interfered in their elections?
This is brazen witch-hunt and shadow-chasing!” Some other lawyers interviewed by TheNigeriaLawyer on the matter, however, allege that Paul Usoro could be the target of this whole investigation; otherwise, the ECCC knows or ought to know exactly who and who to arrest or interrogate if the real intention or the antigraft body was to conduct any investigations into the 2018 ECNBA.
According to some of the lawyers, the EFCC may have been sent after Mr. Paul Usoro by the powers that be in Nigeria, on account of Mr. Usoro’s unrelenting hard stance in favour of promotion and sustenance of rule of law in Nigeria by all arms and agencies of government. It is to be noted that since its election into office, the Paul Usoro-led NBA National Leadership has persistently and consistently stood up in condemnation of the rampant cases of lawlessness and abuse of the constitution by the agencies of state, especially executive arm of the federal government. This may have drawn the ire of the powers that be who perhaps see Mr. Usoro as a thorn in their flesh.
Hence the latest move to seek to nail him in connection with the 2018 NBA elections, with a view to charging him to court as part of efforts to ease him out from office as the NBA President.
A cross-section of the NIGERIAN legal community has however described such move as a wild goose chase, an exercise in futility, with many pouring encomiums on Paul Usoro as a leader with foresight who has conducted the affairs of the NBA in a most pragmatic and independent manner.
Finally, as observed by one lawyer, “of what use would the NBA be if it fails to stand up in defence of rule of Law and constitutionalism in a democratic setting?”
TheNigeriaLawyer would bring you further updates as the development unfolds. Stay connected.
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