Lawyers to Yahaya Bello petition UN, UK, seek visa ban for EFCC Chairman

The attorneys, through Mr. Emmanuel Agada, their chairman, pointed out that the anti-graft agency had disregarded ongoing judicial injunctions in its attempt to put the former governor on trial.

According to Agada, should the EFCC’s Chairman continue to show disrespect for the legal system, the attorneys were also thinking of starting legal action to stop international financing and support for the organization.

“As young lawyers, we envisage a judiciary where justice is not only done, but manifestly seen to be done,” stated a statement sent by the organization to the media. We founded this civil organization of attorneys out of our patriotic quest to always undertake endeavors that guarantee an independent court that administers justice without fear or favor.

“It is in the pursuit of this mandate that we have written to the United Nations High Commission For Human Rights, the United States of America, through its embassy in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, through its Nigerian embassy and the European Union as bastions of democracy and Human Rights to investigate the flagrant disregard of a valid Court Order and breach of constitutional rights of Nigerian citizens by the EFCC chairman, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede and caution him.

“As you know, we have already written to Mr. President who has started on a good trajectory and began to enjoy the massive support of overwhelming majority of Nigerians, to call the EFCC chairman in order not to allow his desperation to use the institution to pursue political objectives to bring this administration to public odium and opprobrium.

“In our petition to the above mentioned bodies, we were strong in our call for the EFCC chairman to be cautioned and should he continue to disregard Court Orders and Injunctions, and trample on the rights of Nigerian citizens, the way he did against former Governor Yahaya Bello, a comprehensive and total Visa Ban must be implemented and international organizations who support the commission via funding must be enjoined to stop forthwith until the commission purges itself of every unconstitutional approach in exercising their constitutional mandate.

“We are aware that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) provides expertise, guidance and support to UN human rights teams. These teams have recorded huge success in many countries through coordinated human rights sustainability initiatives.

“It is why we have called for their intervention to help strengthen our institutions and safeguard human rights and dignity of Nigerian citizens.

“Nigerians must begin to take hard decisions to shape our country and its institutions for the better. We must not allow individuals to corrupt the very institutions that brought so much reprieve when corruption ate deep into the very fabrics of our existence.

“Our main objective as lawyers is to push for the respect of the judiciary and stronger institutions whose mandate will never be dictated by political or social affiliations,” the statement further read.