HEDA protests Buhari’s trade off of Goje’s N25bn corruption case for Lawan’s senate president

The noticeable trade off of the corruption prosecution of Senator Danjuma Goje, former Governor of Gombe State, by President Muhammadu Buhari in the course of mobilizing support for the election of the emergent Senate President Ahmad Lawan is beginning to generate disquiet in the polity.

After the meeting of the President with Goje, Lawan and former Nasir El-Rufai at eh State House, Abuja, where Goje announced his withdrawal from the Senate President race, and endorsed Lawan, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in less than 24 hours made public that the office of the Attorney General of Federation can take over the prosecution of Goje on corruption allegations. Lawan subsequently won the senate president election.

Meanwhile, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) on Wednesday expressed concern over decision of the Attorney General of the Federation to take over the prosecution of Senator Goje over alleged corruption.
HEDA in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday noted that many Nigerians have reasons to suspect that transparency is being sacrificed on the altar of politics and horse-trading in the interest of the election of presiding officers of the National Assembly.

It was noted that former Governor Goje of Gombe State was accused of misappropriation of N25 billion and has been under investigations by EFCC over the years.

HEDA decried that a twist was introduced when the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was reported to have taken over the case from EFCC.

When the case came up for emergency hearing before Justice Babatunde Quadri of the Federal High Court II in Jos, Plateua State, the EFCC’s counsel, Wahab Shittu, had notified that court that the commission was withdrawing from the case and handing it over to the office of the AGF, in response to the appearance of a counsel representing the AGF office.

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HEDA declared: “There is grave concern the takeover of the trial of Goje who has been accused of fraud involving huge sums of public funds will undermine justice. The decision of the AGF to take over the case from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) is raising a lot of concern.

“There is no justification for this decision. The EFCC is doing a great job through diligent prosecution. The sudden decision of the AGF to take over the case is suspicious. It sends wrong signals to local and international communities that vested political interests are bent on sabotaging the efforts of the EFCC and the entire gamut of anti-corruption campaign.”

HEDA Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, in the statement further said that the AGF had set “bitter precedents” that the fight against corruption is selective depending on the political camp the suspected culprits belong.

He declared: “Nigeria must show non-partisanship in the pursuit of corrupt public office holders driven by greed and avarice. The country must display the highest moral fabric if corruption is to be a thing of the past. The AGF’s decision has further provided the ammunition for many Nigerians to doubt the credibility of the government and the ruling party in the pursuit of public good.

“The Minister of Justice is a political appointee so there is always the temptation to bow to internal pressure from his political allies. However, the office of the Attorney General is a position meant to serve the interests of justice and Nigerians without any bias, favour or consideration for political affiliation. The AGF swore to an oath to protect the laws of Nigeria and not the interest of a political party. The persistent trend of taking over cases involving members of the ruling party is a dangerous trend that should be brought to an end.”

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