A Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Ogun has asked the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa to obey the court order that committed him to prison.
Ogun said nobody was above the law, especially public officers who swore oaths of allegiance to defend and uphold the Constitution.
On Tuesday, Justice Chizoba Oji of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, Abuja convicted Bawa for contempt of court for the agency’s failure to comply with an earlier order of the court, which was in favour of a former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Rufus Adeniyi Ojuawo (rtd.).
The judge held that “the Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is in contempt of the orders of this honourable court made on 21st November 2018 directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abuja to return to the applicant his Range Rover (Super charge) and the sum of N40 million”.
The anti-graft officer, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption to defend his agency’s budget on Tuesday, however said that EFCC has appealed against the ruling.
“Well, we have appealed against it, so we will allow the natural course of law to take its effect,” he said.
In a statement in Lagos on Tuesday, Ogun said that Bawa “should immediately submit himself to officers at the Kuje Correctional Centre following his conviction for contempt and gross disobedience to court orders by my Lord, Hon Justice Chizoba Oji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court”.
He noted that the EFCC Chairman “failed, refused and neglected to obey a four-year-old order of the court directing the commission to return to an applicant, his Range Rover (super charge) and the sum of N40 million. Indeed, the court has spoken loud and clear that impunity cannot have a place in this country.
“The EFCC Chairman cannot continue to act as though he is above the law. In a democracy, orders of court are meant to be immediately obeyed, especially by public office holders who swore oaths to defend and uphold the Constitution. Our tottering democracy is endangered when court orders are disrespected”, he said.
The lawyer said that the EFCC should not just appeal the ruling but should first and immediately obey the court order.
“It is not enough to file a notice of appeal. The court order must first be immediately complied with because merely filing an appeal does not automatically guarantee a stay of execution. Alternatively, he should immediately comply with the court orders and apologise for his misconduct.
“If what we practice is indeed a democracy, then, we must play by its rules. The only way to enjoy relative sanity is for the rule of law to reign supreme. Both the low and mighty must bow before the law. There must be consequences for this gross impunity with the hope that others will learn from this”, Ogun added.
