Northern Youths Dare EFCC: Publish Charges Against Dauda Lawal, Others

A group, Northern Youths in Defence of Democracy and Justice (NYDDJ) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to publish the charges against a former minister of Petroleum, Diezani Madueke, along with Ben Otti, Nnamdi Okonkwo, Stanley Lawson, Lanre Adesanya and Dauda Lawal all of them former officials of commercial banks and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in a national daily to show that it is not misleading the public.
The group in a statement by its convener Abba Suleiman and made available to newsmen in Abuja, said if the charges are still in place, the commission should publicise the charge sheet.
The group stressed that every first-year student of law knows that a person who is stated to be at large cannot be tried in absentia.
It said they are constrained to issue this press statement, even though they are not employees or agents of Lawal, , but as patriotic Nigerians committed to the Nigerian project.
The statement reads: “We stand with the media that reported that the charges against Diezani and Otti have been withdrawn, as is clearly shown on the face of the charge sheet which bears only Lawal’s name.
“We challenge EFCC to publish the charges and controvert what we have said here. If EFCC claims that the charges against Diezani, Lawson, Adesanya, and Otti are still in place, we ask them to show us the charge sheet’’.
“Our advice to EFCC is that they should retrace their steps and go back to the spirit of the EFFC (Establishment) Act, where the organisation was envisaged to be one that will be run devoid of sentiments and personal considerations in fighting financial crime.
“Witch-hunting, selective prosecution, cherry-picking accused persons and preferential treatment of suspects, will only further confirm the widely held view that EFCC has derailed from its initial mandate.”
The statement added that Lawal is a model and mentor for Northern youths and all Nigerians and they are confident that he is innocent of the charges brought against him and that in no time he will be vindicated.
“Our advice to the EFCC is to that, the credibility of the institution locally as well as internationally, to fight corruption will be greatly compromised, if it proceed with the withdrawal of corruption charges against perpetrators of one the monumental corruption charges in Nigeria’s history. They should retrace their steps and go back to the spirit of the EFFC (Establishment) Act, where the organization was envisaged to be one that will be run devoid of sentiments and personal considerations in fighting financial crime. Witch-hunting, selective prosecution, cherry picking accused persons and preferential treatment of suspects, will only further confirm the widely held view that EFCC has derailed from its initial mandate. As for Mr. Dauda Lawal, he is a model and mentor for Northern youths and all Nigerians and we are confident that he is innocent of the charges brought against him and that in no time he will be vindicated.”
“For the general public, we wish to state that we will continue to monitor developments in this case and put out the correct information at all times,” the statement added.