This is to refute the false information being peddled by a section of
the media that former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who
has remained illegally detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) since May 9, 2016, has not met his bail conditions as
set by EFCC. Chief Fani-Kayode has since fulfilled the conditions for
his bail but rather than take the honourable path of releasing him
pending any charge brought against him, the anti-graft agency moved him
from Abuja to Lagos where they obtained a questionable warrant to
further detain him illegally for another three weeks.
This is all in a bid to forcefully extract statements from him that
would implicate his principal, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
and other PDP leaders including serving governors whom he served as
Director of Media and Publicity of the PDP Campaign Organisation. It is
obvious that the EFCC have other opposition leaders whom they have
referred to as “big fish” in their radar and see Fani-Kayode as the only
avenue through which they can “nail” such leaders, hence, the
anti-graft agency’s puerile attempt to keep him in their custody beyond
the legally required length of time in order to break him, his family,
and force him to implicate innocent people just to achieve a more
sinister motive of further silencing the opposition.
It is even more worrisome that the activities of the anti-graft
agency has reached an all-time low as they are insisting that the former
Minister of Culture and Tourism should name publishers, editors,
journalists and bloggers he allegedly gave money to during the election
campaigns. What has journalists who covered the PDP campaign as much as
that of APC got to do with this? This is the height of it all!
The further insistence by EFCC that Chief Fani-Kayode should deposit a
sum of $1m before he could be let go shows how desperate the agency is
to keep him in their custody and deny him his fundamental rights as
guaranteed under Sections 33,34,35,37 and 41 of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) and Articles 4, 5, 6 and
12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and
Enforcement) Act Cap 10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990.
This further confirms our position that even though he has met his
bail conditions, the EFCC have no intention of letting him enjoy his
bail nor do they have any intention of playing by the rules. While we
have copiously acknowledged in the past and still do that EFCC have a
constitutional and mandatory duty to carry out their statutory function
as empowered by our laws, it is also our sincerest belief that these
functions can be carried out within the ambit of the law and without
being tainted with vendetta, vindictiveness and politics.
These are what discredit the agency and cast doubts in the minds of
Nigerians about the sincerity of the fight against corruption. In other
climes where the fight against corruption has been largely successful,
suspects are thoroughly investigated discretely, arrested after
investigation has been concluded, charged to court and punished if found
guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. But here, we declare our
targets guilty in the media, arrest them before commencing investigation
and use the courts to obtain contentious orders to keep the suspects in
custody indefinitely in lieu of a court-imposed post-prosecution
sanction.
The EFCC should allow Femi Fani-Kayode his freedom especially after
having met their set bail conditions or charge him before a court of
competent jurisdiction forthwith. He is not afraid to defend himself! –
Jude Ndukwe SA Media to Chief Femi Fani-Kayode
