Fayose, EFCC and rule of law

It is an established fact that those who seek for equity must come with clean hands. What this age long maxim teaches is that we must be above board in our deal­ings with others. To bring home the point, if we dwell on the un­folding development where the Ekiti State Governor has revealed that his Zenith Bank account has been frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), some issues may require clarification.

First, what the commission has commenced is an investigation and not a trial which Governor Ayodele Fayose enjoys immunity under section 308 of the constitu­tion. Going by the law, every state governor and his deputy have im­munity from being tried for any civil or criminal offence while still in office.

However, in the case of the on-going controversy, the EFCC has clarified that it is acting within the law by freezing Fayose’s bank ac­count for the purpose of investi­gation. Furthermore, information filtering out from some sources in the agency indicated that about N1.2 bilion being part of the loot­ed security funds has been traced to the governor’s account, hence the need to freeze and investigate.

Therefore, it will appear diver­sionary for Fayose rather than cooperate with investigators and prove his innocence to re­sort to inanities by dragging the name of Mrs. Aisha Buhari, wife of Mr. President into the Halli­burton scandal. Already, the for­mer Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde has cleared Mrs. Buha­ri as not being the same Aisha that was involved in the scandal. What remains is for Governor Fayose to take things in his stride instead of adopting the “pull him down” stratagem, as in the recent case of maligning the wife of the president.

As to whether it is appropriate to investigate an incumbent Gov­ernor, we must realise that there is a difference between investiga­tion and trial. While the constitu­tion protects an incumbent Gover­nor from trial while still in office, it does not preclude him from being investigated.

In the case between the IGP vs Gani Fawehinmi, NWLR 2002, the Supreme Court had ruled that a sitting governor can actually be in­vestigated while in office. We have also seen cases where former Gov­ernors like Joshua Dariye, Rasheed Ladoja, DSP Alamieyeseigha and others were investigated while still in office.

Going by Governor Ayo Fay­ose’s strident reference to his im­munity protection, it seems that he deliberately undertook the task of haranguing Mr. President in or­der to portray himself as a victim. Notwithstanding, if Fayose had breached the law, obviously he should face the music. As a gover­nor, it is expected that he should continue to discharge his respon­sibilities, rather than meddling in the affairs of federal organs, and swimming in the murky waters of politics.

Presently, his inability to pay Ekiti workers over five months salary has not only become a con­cern, but totally embarrassing even to non-Ekiti people. Also, the mind-boggling revelation of a part of over four billion naira ONSA fund traced to his account raises eyebrows, and he will do well to clear the air.

Governor Fayose ought to have emulated his colleagues across the country by identifying with the anti-corruption fight of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administra­tion. Patriotism demands that he recognises the fact that corruption has dealt a big blow to the ability of successive administrations to bring development nearer to the peo­ple, and for the very first time we have a committed president who means well and is bent on ridding the country of corruption.

President Buhari’s government is on a salvage mission as a result of the alarming rate of corruption. Already, most Nigerians are bear­ing the brunt of the sleaze in high places under the PDP watch.

According to section 34 (1) of the EFCC Act the EFCC Chair­man or any authorised personnel can compel a bank or any finan­cial institution to freeze any per­son’s account, if he/she is under in­vestigation. Secondly, an ex-parte court order can be obtained by the EFCC without first notifying the owner of the account and in the case of Governor Fayose. The anti-graft body has complied with the laws of the land.

Considering the nature of the investigation which border on corruption, the EFCC retains the power to freeze the account of the individual or organisation being investigated. The principle of eq­uity and justice as always advocat­ed by Mr. Fayose presupposes that it is a two way traffic, which im­plies that both the governors and the governed, rich and poor, high and low must subject themselves to the laws of the land. Therefore, Mr. Fayose ought to avail the anti-graft body the opportunity to car­ry out its assigned responsibilities.

*Enekwechi, public affairs an­alyst, wrote in from Abuja