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A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Ekiti State, Lere Olayinka, has called for a total reform of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to meet up global best practice in corrupting fight, saying that the anti-corruption agency was operating like a gathering of Motor Park touts.
Olayinka, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, reacting to the invasion of a hotel in Lagos State, at about 4am, by armed operatives of the EFCC in which female staff and guests in the hotel were assaulted, called for the immediate sack of the commission’s Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
Describing what the EFCC operatives did at the Regional Hotel, Lagos as shameful, Olayinka lamented that “The way EFCC is going, one day, and very soon, its operatives will be mounting road blocks to stop commercial vehicles and arrest their passengers.”
He said it was either the EFCC Chairman is incompetent or he is complicit, adding that, “Olukoyede that announced to Nigerians on November 1, 2023 that he had banned sting operations at night should be asked why operatives of the agency are still carrying out sting operations at night and assaulting innocent Nigerians in the process.
“Or is 4am that EFCC operatives invaded Regional Hotels, Isashi, Ojo, Lagos State yesterday, in the afternoon? 1am that armed EFCC operatives invaded clubs and lounges in Akure, Ondo State a few weeks ago was in the afternoon?
“It is becoming obvious that those in charge of the EFCC outside Abuja do not listen to Olukoyede and it can only be a function of incompetence on his side. He should just be shown the exit doors before we witness another #EndSARS protest.”
While describing the arrest of the two operatives seen in the CCTV footage assaulting people at the hotel in Lagos State as afterthought, Olayinka said “if they were able to destroy CCTV cameras as they did in Akure, they would have defended their barbarism just as they defended the one they did in Akure.
“It is even so shameful that the Chairman is a Lawyer and Pastor.”
Speaking on the need for EFCC to stop being emotional and sentimental in carrying out its functions, the PDP Chieftain said not all cases should be taken to court.
He said; “Imagine EFCC prosecuting one case for ten years and at the end of the day, the case is dismissed. What will happen to the millions of Naira spent by the EFCC to pay lawyers? Who will bear the cost incurred by the defendants? Isn’t it punishment for defendants to pay lawyers and go in and out of the court for ten years?
“The question is, must EFCC charge everyone to court, even when it is clear that the charges can’t be sustained. Or is EFCC just doing this to find food for lawyers and its officials?”
He said in saner climes, anti-corruption agencies do their jobs quietly, adding that “No one fights corruption by invading bars, clubs, lounges and students hostels at odd hours and standing on the roads to carry out random arrests. It is crude and primitive to arrest people randomly, clamp them in detention before finding out their culpability.”
