From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Less than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to unfreeze the account of the Osun State government accounts, Accord Party has urged the chairman of the anti-graft agency, Ola Olukoyede, to resign.
Tinubu had issued a statement, condemning the timing of the freezing of the account, which is less than two weeks to the governorship election.
Regardless, Accord Party National Chairman, Maxwell Mgbudem, told journalists yesterday in Abuja, that the action of INEC embarrassed the country.
Mgbudem claimed that before now, the party had been under siege by repeated attacks by thugs believed to be sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said just when the party heaved a sigh of relief that the Inspector General of Police responded to the public outcry to safeguard lives and property before, during and after the the gubernatorial by sending a new Commissioner of Police to oversee security in the state, “EFCC struck, “threw caution to the wind, overreach its statutory responsibilities, flagrantly violated the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, and abused its office with impunity by ordering the freeze of the Osun State Government Bank Account, thus further justifies the public apprehension of a calculated electoral capture of the state by the agents of the Federal Government in collaboration with the All Progressives Congress in the state which has vowed to make Osun ungovernable, weaken the administration of Senator Ademola Adeleke and seize power by electoral malpractices.”
According to him, “the EFCC joined the Osun political fray hoping to succeed where the earlier compromised State Police Command failed by deliberately turning the law upside down to justify its unconstitutional action that threatened the foundations of the country’s emerging democracy.
“Sadly, an agency established by law is now operating above the law. In fact, it has become a law to itself, an aberration in a democracy.
“Nigerians strongly condemned this assault on the nation’s constitutional governance. As a face-saving device, the anti-graft agency hastily gave reasons for its ignoble action that were flimsy, illegal, illogical, unconstitutional, irrational, incoherent and inconsistent with extant laws of the land.”
He lauded President Bola Tinubu Again, for promptly responding that he was deeply embarrassed by the EFCC ill-conceived, ill-advised and misguided action, and ordered a reversal of the anti-graft agency’s directive to freeze the Osun State Government Account immediately.
He added that having demonstrated unprecedented partisanship in the Osun State politics, assaulted the sensibilities of fellow compatriots and brought the nation to ridicule and disrepute before the international community, the party has lost confidence in the current leadership of the EFCC.
“Accordingly, Accord demands the immediate resignation of the EFCC chairman. For embarrassing the President, the Party, the Government and people of Osun State and fellow citizens.
“The EFCC chairman should toe the path of honour and tender his resignation. If he fails to resign, President Tinubu should sack him immediately to restore the integrity of the anti-graft agency. There should be no sacred cow in the quest to sanitise the anti-corruption commission in particular, and the democratic system in general.
“Electoral contest is not a warfare. It should not be militarized by deploying federal apparatuses to suppress, subdue and oppress political opponents and their supporters to favour a party that has been rejected by the people.
“Osun residents should be allowed to exercise their civic right, freedom and liberty to choose their governor. It is the beauty of representative governance,” he added.
(The Sun)