Wants statement withdrawn
By Vivian Okejeme
Abuja
The Nigerian Bar Association has come hard on the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, for reportedly describing lawyers as ‘rogues and vultures.’
The lawyers’ reaction followed a position credited to Magu, who in a statement attacked the NBA’s position calling for the review of the dual roles of the EFCC as a prosecutorial and investigative agency.
The new NBA boss, Abubakar B. Mahmud (SAN), made the bar’s position known in his inaugural address at its just concluded 56th Annual conference of the association in Port Harcourt, Rivers.
But in a sharp response, Magu, in a statement by the agency’s Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, on Monday, argued that, “a bar populated or directed by people perceived to be rogues and vultures cannot play the role of priests in the temple of justice.”
Uwujaren noted that, “The commission’s discomfort over this seeming innocuous proposition, stem from the fact Mahmoud was silent on the reason for his position.
“More importantly, the commission cannot comprehend how the redefinition of EFCC’s mandate in narrow terms, ultimately whittling it down, fits into the clamour by Nigerians and the vision of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for a vibrant and courageous anti-corruption agency.”Countering the position in a statement by its General Secretary, Isiaka Abiola Olagunju in Abuja, the NBA called on the commission to withdraw the statement.
It criticised the chairman of the anti-graft agency for using “uncivil language of rogues and vultures on lawyers who are doing their constitutional duties.”
Olagunju said: “The inaugural address of the NBA president was a statement of nearly 30 pages, which sets out vision and direction of his programmes for the Nigerian legal profession. He committed himself to leading a brave new Bar fully aligned with the aspirations of Nigerians in their quest for national development which can only be anchored the rule of law built on strong institutions.
“In the paragraph of the statement dealing with corruption, the NBA president restated the commitment of the NBA in the fight against corruption. He commended the modest achievement of the EFCC, but called for the reform of the agency to enhance its capability to
deliver on its mandate on a consistent and sustainable basis devoid of political interference and on the basis of well- established institution safeguard that demands proper regulation of the wide discretionary power involved in the investigation and prosecution of criminal matters.
“The NBA condemns, in the strongest terms, the use of abusive and uncivil language of ‘rogues and vultures’’ and such structures by the public authority. Name-calling and abusive language is not expected of any public institution. It is unacceptable. The NBA demands
unequivocal withdrawal of these statements and unreserved apology from the EFCC.”
The association further called on the EFCC to endeavour to get its facts correctly before making statements or insinuations.
