LAGOS – The invasion of the house of former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has continued to generate controversies as the anti-graft agency threatened to arrest him in the residence of Governor Usman Ododo, stating that immunity does not extend to his home.
EFCC’s lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), made this comment on Thursday, before a Federal High Court in Abuja while accusing Governor Ododo of frustrating the anti-graft agency’s effort to arrest the immediate-past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello.
However, reactions have continued to escalate from stakeholders in the judiciary.
Reacting to the development, human rights lawyer, Mr. Kabir Akingbolu noted that when we talk of rule of law, there is no exception. In his words: “ an order of the court stands and subsists until set aside by a superior order of a court of superior jurisdiction or by the court that gave the order itself.
“Since the order has been given and we are not in a zoo or in a military era, since we call it democracy, let us pretend at least that we know the principle of democracy a bit. Because if you say because it happened today and you justify illegality, it will happen tomorrow and most of the agencies will become lawless before you know it. Once a court order has been given, the court has no other power than its orders.
“It has no other ways by which they perform their function except by giving orders. These orders ought to be obeyed irrespective of who is involved. However, the courts should desist from making orders that are ridiculous to even the principle of rule of law and democracy itself.
How can a judge sit there and properly apply the law and say that a statutory agency should not perform its actions? Today, we have an order given by a competent court of jurisdiction against EFCC from arresting a South- South governor, a past governor. Today, the order subsists.
All these things, they are very terrible, they set a bad precedent, they are not good for our growth, for our development, for our democracy. It is not good at all and the law is that a court cannot give an order to restrain the performance of a constitutional duty.
So the order in itself is illegal. However, it has to be obeyed. I think EFCC should have brought an application to set aside the order before going again to go and harass the governor.
He however added that we may not know if the EFCC had gone to the Governor’s residence for some other different offenses apart from the one they are charging him for, because no court can give a general order that is a kind of blanket order. No, it is not proper.
EFCC, DSS should obey the rule of law and the court should also desist from giving ridiculous orders.
If we justify this kind of action, it can lead to another because nobody will obey the law again. So whether you like it or not, whether it’s against you or not, whether it’s against your brother, your principal, your leader, your boss, you must obey that order.
“You find a way of setting aside the order so that we will not be a laughing stock in the comity of nations. Nigeria is a large country and we occupy a very important place in the discussion of the world, the politics of development. So we shouldn’t still be here, we should know and learn how to obey the rule of law.
“And the way to obey the rule of law is by obeying a court order. Any court order that is against you, take steps to set them aside. EFCC has competent lawyers for that matter.
They should stop disobeying court orders.”
The Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma in his view said he believes that individuals and institutions of government must respect court orders while urging that the courts should also be careful not to aid corrupt former governors to evade accountability and justice through reckless court orders.
He said: “Although the full details of EFCC’s indictment of Yahaya Bello and the circumstances leading to the anti-corruption agency’s invasion of his premises with a view to arresting him to face investigation is yet to be known.
“It is concerning that after leaving office and when invited to answer to corruption allegations, many former state governors seek refuge under dubious court orders stopping EFCC from arresting them.
“If I believe that individuals and institutions of government must respect court orders, courts should be careful not to aid corrupt former governors to evade accountability and justice through reckless court orders.
Also, a Lagos-based lawyer, Ige Asemudara noted that EFCC has the right to investigate, arrest, and prosecute alleged offenders.
Regarding Mr. Yahaya Bello’s case, Asemudara said that if a restraining order still exists, it means the agency cannot do what it’s doing.
“Additionally, we need to examine what the order was stated to mean; if it only restrains arrest, detention, and prosecution, then it does not affect their actions in laying siege to his residence. Any order will only restrain what the judge has ordered to be restrained. If the judge has not authorized raiding of the house, and if they have not applied for an order to restrain entry to the house, the EFCC may take advantage of that.
“Moving forward, I believe the EFCC needs to be more responsible. Once a case is in court, the commission should act with caution and avoid a ‘commando’-like style. I don’t think Yahaya Bello has any other country to flee to, so we should be patient and see how things unfold in the next week,” he said.