Former member of the House of Representatives and legal practitioner, Kanayo Graham-Burton Oguakwa, has added his voice to the condemnations that have trailed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asset forfeiture efforts against former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, describing it as “an empty and inglorious act of cowardice.”
He called for concerted action by all men and women of goodwill against what he termed a “primitively abhorrent action of pummelling with further blows, a serving public servant who is currently battling for his personal liberty and the honour of his family, in a faraway foreign land.”
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja Federal High Court had, last Friday, ordered the interim forfeiture of 40 properties allegedly linked to Ekweremadu. The court also ordered the EFCC to publish the said properties for anybody, including Ekweremadu, interested in the properties covered by the order to indicate within 14 days of the publication.
But the ex-lawmaker lampooned the EFCC, faulting the intent and timing of the legal action.
“With regards to crime, it is well known and established that time does not run against the state. So, this untidy, surreptitious haste in seeking to forfeit the property of ailing Miss Sonia Ekweremadu’s doting father, at a time akin to having one hand tied behind his back, is ill advised, distasteful, and even abhorrent.
“It is easy to cast slurs or tar across reputations from the safety of administrative offices or the anonymity of social media armchairs. However, remember that, apart from their legitimate, though huge, per quarter allowances and salaries, legislators should have no access to public funds.
“For instance, if a senator decides to invest his savings in two properties every year, the alleged number of 40 could well be within legitimate means for a 20-year tenure.
“In other words, since a senator is not a governor, president, minister or a member of the executive arm, then proof of a crime will not be deduced merely because of an alleged number of property owned. No, there has to be established beyond reasonable doubt, an interference with public finances, which a legislator has no access to, anyway.
“Therefore, interim forfeiture is a low-hanging fruit in this climate. EFCC will soon have to work up some real sweat when the actual legal brickbats commence.
“I probably haven’t even spoken to or met with Ike in over eight years. But it is incumbent on all people of goodwill to rise in unison and condemn this unnecessary, nauseating and reprehensible action of rampaging.
“Besides, Ekweremadu is one of the most outstanding parliamentarians Nigeria has ever produced. Like him or not, Ekweremadu is not a piece of remaining meat, which any passing stray dog should be allowed to snap up, chew and swallow.”
He urged the EFCC to withdraw their “presently obnoxious Application for Forfeiture”.
“They should keep their powder dry and, at some future time, dance back into the ring through the front door when Ekweremadu’s present offshore travails are over. That is the path of honour. Our Constitution still has a presumption of innocence,” he concluded.
The legal action by the EFCC against Ekweremadu has continued to draw the ire and condemnation from diverse facets of the Nigerian society, including the civil liberty advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA); the pan-Igbo socio-cultural body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, among others who have variously described it as hasty, ill-timed, and an attempt to sabotage Ekweremadu’s bail prospect in the UK trial and, also, strip him of his assets while in custody.