The widely-reported endorsement by the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the immediate past minister for Niger Delta Affairs and Senator elect from Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, as his preferred candidate for the office of the Senate President of the soon-to-be-inaugurated 10th Session of the National Assembly, has been described as the indubitable evidence of the resolve of the President elect to downgrade the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to a mere parastatal of government and a toothless bulldog.
This, the group.said, would mark the end of the anti-graft crusade if the President elect was sworn in and he had his way in the Senate to impose his handpicked stooge.
Besides, the prominent Civil Rights Advocacy Group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has described as a coup ‘de tat the overbearing influences of both the National executive Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress and the President-elect to railroad their handpicked elected legistors as the people to form the hierarchy of the 10th session of the National Assembly.
This is just as HURIWA said the legislators-elect must stand up and defend the autonomy of the legislature or else the next session of the National Assembly would be just as the bootlickers of the holder of the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria just the same way the outgoing infamous and discredited Ahmed Lawan led 9th Session of the National Assembly represents in the eyes of millions of Nigerians.
HURIWA said the outgoing session of the National Assembly was regarded as a gathering of political rogues and opportunists.
On the extensively reported endorsement of Senator-elect Akpabio as the next Senate President by the President elect and the governors of the All Progressives Congress, HURIWA said Nigerians should brace up for the misfortune of having a federal government that would be as viciously corrupt and crime-ridden as the outgoing Government of President Muhammadu Buhar.
HURIWA predicted that the emergence of a man like Godswill Akpabio that has been invited severally for interrogation over alleged heist by the EFCC, would inevitably lead to the scrapping of EFCC or at the least, the administrative downgrading of the EFCC to become just as compromised and weak as the Nigeria Police Force or the Nigerian fire service.
HURIWA warned that downgrading the fight against corruption would lead to capital flight and discourage foreign direct investments into Nigeria which would crumble the national economy of Nigeria.
HURIWA stated that it was therefore not shocked when the President elect of the the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, had vowed to continue fighting corruption like President Muhammadu Buhari did if elected president even as the Rights group in a media release by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko said since it is widely accepted that the current federal administration is one of the most corrupt government ever in the political annals of Nigeria, it is therefore not surprising that the President elect just before he is sworn into office on May 29th, has already embraced corruption by overlooking the groundswell of allegations of theft of public fund made by EFCC against the former Akwa Ibom governor and erstwhile minister for Niger Delta Mr. Godswill Akoabio and is reported from credible sources that his choice for the next Senate President is the same person wanted by the EFCC for interrogation.
HURIWA affirmed that Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently stated as follows: “We will continue the work of the current administration in reforming the civil service to fight corruption, reduce bureaucracy, streamline agencies and decrease inefficiency and waste,” the document reads in part.
HURIWA carpeted the President elect who himself has been criticized for being allegedly corrupt and accumulating untraceable wealth just as on many occasions, the former Lagos governor had refused to respond to queries on the ownership of Alpha Beta, a private company that collects tax on behalf of the state for a percentage.He is believed to have large shares in the company, which assumed Lagos tax administration under him as governor of Lagos State.
HURIWA then wonders how such a man who became suddenly rich stupendously inside politics can fight public service corruption. The Rights group said nobody can give what he doesn’t have which means that Tinubu is incapable of waging war against an affliction he is accused of suffering from which has just been affirmed by his reported endorsement of Akpabio wanted by EFCC for questioning over multiple cases of graft.
HURIWA recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had again invited the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, for interrogation over an investigation concerning corruption allegations against him, The PUNCH gathered. This is coming on the backdrop of a recent report that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu had concluded plans to support Akpabio’s Senate presidency bid.
HURIWA tecalled that there had been allegations of an N40 billion fraud perpetrated in the Niger Delta Development Commission, which was headed by Akpabio for three years.In 2020, the Senate and the House of Representatives resolved to probe the alleged N40 billion financial recklessness of the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC. Also, there were allegations of over N86 billion contract scams involving the senator-elect and a former Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, which the EFCC had been investigating.
Besides, HURIWA recalled that the anti-graft agency had in the past arrested Akpabio over the alleged theft of N108.1 billion of Akwa Ibom funds. The EFCC had earlier invited Akpabio to appear for questioning on March 29 but his lawyer, Umeh Kalu, SAN, in a letter to the anti-graft agency alleged that his client was suffering from pneumonia and cardiac arrhythmia.
HURIWA recalled that Kalu, while pleading with the EFCC to reschedule the questioning to a new date, had said Akpabio would be unable to honour the invitation on March 29 due to alleged ill health, adding that the Senator-elect had already arranged medical appointments overseas. He, therefore, said,
“As mentioned in our last letter to you dated February 10, 2023, our client is undergoing treatment for pneumonia and cardiac arrhythmia, and, has recently been advised to seek further attention abroad. “It is in the light of the above that we respectfully request that our client’s appointment with you be rescheduled to a date convenient to your officers, preferably after the forthcoming Easter and Ramadan holidays,” the letter from Kalu dated March 27, 2023, reads.
HURIWA recalled that the latest invite was revealed in a letter obtained by an online newspaper, SaharaReporters, which was sighted by our correspondent on Friday.
According to the letter dated April 13, 2023, which was received by Akpabio’s lawyers, Seasons Law Firm, the following day, the EFCC asked Akpabio to come to its headquarters in Abuja on May 9, 2023.
The letter titled, ‘Investigation Activities Re: Senator Godswill Akpabio’s Appointment Letter Of Invitation’ was signed by ACE II SM Ala, Head, CMU-1. It reads, “I refer to your letter number dated March 27, 2023, on the above subject. In view of the above, you are kindly requested to inform your client Senator Godswill Akpabio to personally report for an interview with the undersigned through the Head, CMU-1 team on May 9, 2023, at 5th Floor, EFCC Headquarters Plot 301/302 Institutions and Research District. Jabi, Abuja at 10:00 am.”
HURIWA therefore called on the President elect not to continue to give reasons why Nigerians should be very apprehensive that his administration will be the worst ever and indeed could make the Guiness book of World’s record as the most notoriously corrupt and crime tolerated government in the World just as the Rights group warned the legislators in Abuja including the recently elected legislators awaiting inauguration in June, that it stands the risk of becoming the stooges of the executive arm of government if they become enslaved to the whims and caprices of the President elect by allowing him to impose his boys and girls as the hierarchical team of the next National Assembly.
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