A CPC Chieftain, Dennis Aghanya, yesterday? described as illegal? Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC’s) act of parading accused persons before the media, especially when they had not been found guilty by a court of law.
Aghanya told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that an accused person remained innocent before the law until found guilty by a competent court and said that parading such persons could hamper investigation.
“Accused persons should not be over advertised by the EFCC over the media as if they are convicted criminals,’’? Aghanya, former National Publicity Secretary of the CPC, said.
He commended the EFCC for arresting Danjuma Goje, Akwe Doma, Gbenga Daniel and Christopher Alao Akala former governors of Gombe, Nasarawa, Ogun and Oyo states respectively for financial impropriety.
He, however, advised the commission to adhere to the law in handling their case and noted that “an accused person is deemed innocent until found guilty by a competent court of law.’’
He advised that security agencies, including the EFCC, should be in tune with the principles of fundamental human rights, which, he said, should be more manifest in a democracy.
He also urged individuals who might be in possession of vital information that could aid the commission in investigating the governors to assist it with such information.
He, however, frowned at a situation where top government officials, especially former governors, were arrested and arraigned only to be granted bail and their cases never attended to again.
Aghanya called on the National Assembly to come up with legislation that would create special courts like the election tribunals to handle cases of looting.
Until cases of that nature were dispensed and offenders appropriately punished, mere arrest would be seen always as jamborees by the society and people end up undeterred, Aghanya said.
He noted that the current economic hardship facing the country was a result of wastages in governance.
The situation, he noted, could be changed only when people in positions of authority began to see the need to desist from using their official positions for looting.
He stressed that “ until the law is made to punish offenders of such crime appropriately, the country will continue to witness more looting by governors. ’’
It will be recalled that the EFCC arrested the governors over alleged diversion and misappropriation of public funds.