The attention of
the Commission has been drawn to a publication sponsored by Human Rights
Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, that appeared in some online news
portals and Thisday Newspaper of
Monday, May 11, 2015 alleging witchhunt of two former EFCC officers, Juliet Ibakaku and Michael Nzekwe, by the Commission. The
sponsored publication is a reaction to the half page disclaimer published on
the two officers on Friday, May 7, 2015, which primarily sought to alert the
public that the ex-officers have long ceased to be in the employment of the
Commission and anyone who had dealings with them inspite of the notices, does
so at his/her own risk.
No reference was
made to their alleged offences in appreciation of the fact that the two had
pending matters in court. However in their desperation to ascribe sinister
motives to the Commission’s action, they not only supplied the vital
information that they were dismissed from service, but went ahead to bring up
extraneous issues that have never been canvassed by them either in court or
during the exhaustive internal disciplinary processes preceding their
disengagement by the Commission. What their hired megaphones, HURIWA and
Emmanuel Onwubiko would have the world believe, is that the officers were
dismissed because they are Igbo or were fighting internal corruption. Nothing
can be farther from the truth.
For the avoidance
if doubt, Nzekwe was dismissed for desertion, a serious offence against
discipline. On July 30, 2013, he obtained a seven day Casual leave and was expected back at his duty post on
August 8, 2013. Not only did he fail to return to his duty post, Nzekwe
travelled out of the country without authorization, in clear breach of service
rule prohibiting such trips without management approval. Section 43(e) (i) of
the EFCC Staff Regulations states that “Any officer who willfully absents for
twenty one (21) consecutive days shall be guilty of the offense of desertion
and shall be dismissed from the Commission as a deserter.”
When the officer
was queried for absenting himself from work without authorization, he claimed
he travelled to the United States,”
to shop for medical options”, for his wife, Agatha who had an alleged renal
challenge and was hospitalized in India.
This information
was found to be false, as evidence emerged that the officer went on a pleasure
trip to the United States
with his two daughters.
It is strange that
Nzekwe and his publicist would claim that he was disengaged arbitrarily despite
evidence that he was subjected to the internal disciplinary process and
appeared before the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee. All through the
process, he did not contest the fact that he violated the Commission’s service
rule by staying off duty without authorization.
Instead, he
consistently pleaded for leniency. In a letter dated 11 February, 2014
addressed to the Executive Chairman, entitled, Appeal For Reinstatement on Compassionate Ground, Nzekwe, wrote: “I
humbly beg to solicit your understanding and consideration for the review of my
dismissal since the reason for the trip was not for pleasure, but for medical
arrangement to see my wife through a medical challenge.”
Nzekwe’s appeal
for leniency makes his spurious claim that he was dismissed for refusing to
compromise an alleged case of corruption involving a fellow officer, a lie and
an after-thought.
If Onwubiko and
HURIWA are to be believed, Nzekwe was dismissed for refusing to compromise a
case in the investigation of the infamous pension fraud. From all intent and
purposes, this clearly ingenious fabrication is intended to mudsling and cast
aspersion on the leadership of the EFCC. At no time during the disciplinary
hearing of the offence for which Nzekwe was dismissed did he mention or even
insinuate that he was targeted for exposing corruption.
Certain
illogicalities in the claim betray the authors’ lack of knowledge of the
internal working of the EFCC.
1.
No petition gets to the Director of Operations without the
knowledge of the Executive Chairman. All petitions are addressed to the
Chairman, who may then direct the Director of Operations to investigate. So the
claim that “the chairman got wind
of it and allegedly wanted to scuttle the professional investigations of these
damaging allegations against the officer who is reportedly said to be related
to him”, does not arise.
2.
Nzekwe, being a prosecutor, is not in position to
investigate any matter. He could only vet a file sent to him for legal advice.
3.
The Director of Operations has no direct dealings with
prosecutors, and could not have given any instruction to Nzekwe “to handle” any
matter, Procedurally, the Director of Operations does not issue directives to
prosecutors who are not under his supervision. It is the duty of the Director
of Legal and Prosecution to do so.
For the benefit of
the members of the public, Aliyu Habeeb,
the officer being maligned by HURIWA and Owunbiko for allegedly
receiving a N50million bribe from Mrs Cyril Uzoma Atang, an accused in the
Police Pension Fraud, is largely responsible for the modest success the
Commission has recorded in the prosecution of pension thieves. Before he took
over the pension investigation upon the emergence of Ibrahim Larmorde as EFCC
Chairman, not a single pension matter had been successfully investigated, let
alone charged to court. A paradox which Onwubiko and HURIWA must resolve is why
an officer who supposedly collected N50million from a suspect as bribe still
went ahead to prosecute the same suspect.
Mike Okorocha and
Sylvester Okereke, who allegedly authored the petition against Habeeb are
themselves suspects in the police pension fraud. Investigation has since
established that the duo extorted Atang on the pretext of helping her to
procure a soft landing,
ON JULIET IBEKAKU
Ms Juliet Ibekaku
claims that she was wrongfully dismissed and did not receive fair hearing.
Without prejudice to the action in court, the internal disciplinary mechanism
of the Commission as it affects staff who abandon their duty posts was
exhausted before her dismissal.
It is pertinent to state the case against
Ibekaku as follows:
1.
Following her deployment to the Legal and Prosecution
Department in the Lagos Zonal office, on 15 November 2013, Ibekaku reported to
her new station for documentation on 21 November, 2013.
2.
On 22 November 2013, she was directed to report to her
primary unit, the Legal and Prosecution Department but failed to honour the
directive. Instead, she left and that was the last time she was seen in the
Commission.
3.
On 16 December, 2013
(after 22 days absence), she was queried for abandoning her duty post without
leave or authorization. Again, Ibekaku did not respond.
4.
In the spirit of fair hearing she was invited severally and
given ample opportunity to state her case but spurned all.
Consequently she
was dismissed on 11 February, 2014, after 81 consecutive days absence from
work) for desertion from duty post, contrary to Section 36 (l) (xi) of the EFCC
Staff Regulation.
Against this
background, it is difficult to comprehend how the Commission’s disciplinary
procedure for erring officers would be reduced to ethnic and political agenda
by some mischief makers masquerading as human rights writers. Early this year,
the Commission published a disclaimer on nine former employees who were similarly
dismissed for offence against discipline. They include Samson Gambo, Abubakar Addu,
Collins Ehichoya, Emmanuel Ohikhokhai, Umar Abdullahi, Meriam Momoh, Emmanuel
Paul, Uno Edet Uno and Adamu Suleiman.
None of these
former officers are from the south east and so did not qualify to benefit from
the human rights writers crusading zeal of Emmmanuel Onwunbiko and HURIWA. If one may ask,
did the EFCC have the Igbo ethnic group in mind when its Staff Regulation was
compiled? How does the disciplinary action of the Commission imperil the
ambition of “one of the two” from succeeding Lamorde as EFCC Chairman or
becoming a minister of the federal republic?
Playing the primordial
sentiment card is not likely to help the case of “one of the two”. The EFCC as a law
enforcement agency, cannot condone indiscipline
by staff. The Nigerian society frowns at indiscipline and indisciplined
characters have no place in our national affairs.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media &
Publicity
11th
May, 2015
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