19th December, 2018
The Centre for Anti-Corruption n and Open Leadership (CACOL) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) not to succumb to the tricks being played by the Nigerian Bar Association’s president, Mr Paul Usoro (SAN), to stall his alleged N1.4 billion fraud case.
In responding to the situation, Mr Debo Adeniran, the Executive Chairman of CACOL said: “The NBA president is only looking for ways to make his case favourable for him. By writing a letter to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdul-Kafarati to seek the transfer of his case from Justice Hassan for an undisclosed reason; and also trying to move his case to a more familiar state reeks of ingenuity and attempts to cut corners.”
Mr. Adeniran also said: “demanding his case to be transferred to the Federal High Court in Abuja is just hilarious and saddening at the same time. I think Nigeria is the only country where publicly exposed persons are daring enough to make demands in the face of corruption allegations rather than try to clear their names as quickly as possible”.
The CACOL boss further stated that: “Our concern is that corruption cases involving highly placed public officers attract serious attention as they are used to gauge the Federal Government’s commitment to the anti-graft war. This is why public confidence and trust remains relevant in handling cases such as this. We therefore call on the EFCC, to continue their move on the arraignment and prosecution of Usoro, for the 10-count charge of fraudulent conversion of N1.4 billion, said to belong to the Akwa Ibom state government without giving-in to Usoro’s distractions and acts to frustrate the cause of justice.”
CACOL, thus, urged the EFCC to make Usoro disclose his reason for the transfer of his case in order to make his intentions known to the public.