{"id":150260,"date":"2025-02-13T21:48:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T20:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo"},"modified":"2025-02-16T00:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T23:24:07","slug":"efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo","title":{"rendered":"EFCC\u2019s prosecution of ex-governors unconstitutional, waste of resources \u2013 Obidigbo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has stated that the trial of state governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after their four or eight-year tenure is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

He regretted that the anti-graft agency seems to have become a willing tool in the hands of desperate politicians and malicious businessmen with an axe to grind against their opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the EFCC to keep losing many court cases shows that all is not well with the commission\u2019s standard operating mechanism,\u201d he contended in a statement he signed on Thursday.<\/p>\n

It is no longer news that the anti-graft agency has made it part of its responsibility to go after former governors once they leave office. Many of these ex-governors remain on the EFCC\u2019s long list for alleged corrupt practices.<\/p>\n

Most recently, some former governors, such as the immediate past Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, and former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, have had issues with the EFCC.<\/p>\n

Obidigbo argued that the trial of state governors after their tenure contradicts the spirit and letter of the Nigerian constitution.<\/p>\n

He maintained that the same constitution that grants immunity to state chief executives cannot simultaneously empower an external organ to subject them to a post-service inquisition. He insisted that the EFCC should stop overstepping its constitutional bounds by arrogating to itself a superior role over the State House of Assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of things are going topsy-turvy in this country. The harassment of state governors after their tour of duty is in total violation of constitutional provisions. In the presidential democracy which we pretend to practise, the legislature is the main organ of oversight on the activities of the executive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent times, the EFCC has transformed itself into an attack dog, going after former governors. Governors are elected to serve the people; as such, the people are better placed to police the governors through their representatives in the legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecurity votes have been rendered opaque by the constitution, which categorises them as funds in a blind budget. So, if the constitution empowers state governors to implement the blind budget as they deem fit, the EFCC should have no business searching for departed sums.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obidigbo further noted: \u201cThere is no reason a former governor should be dragged up and down in the name of fighting corruption without the input of his home state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The elder statesman wondered why former presidents, who enjoy the same constitutional immunity as state governors, are not subjected to post-service inquisition. He called on the National Assembly to ensure that the EFCC does not become an emerging danger to Nigeria\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

He further argued that rather than serving as a deterrent, the EFCC\u2019s investigations into former governors merely expand the cycle of corruption, as operatives extort, blackmail, and use faceless individuals and groups to intimidate suspects.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. Elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has stated that the trial of state governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after their four or eight-year tenure is unconstitutional. He regretted that the anti-graft agency seems to have become a willing tool in the hands of desperate politicians and malicious businessmen with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":150259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[68,254,14268],"class_list":["post-150260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-efcc","tag-nigeria","tag-obidigbo"],"yoast_head":"\nEFCC\u2019s prosecution of ex-governors unconstitutional, waste of resources \u2013 Obidigbo - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has stated that the trial of state governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Co ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EFCC\u2019s prosecution of ex-governors unconstitutional, waste of resources \u2013 Obidigbo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has stated that the trial of state governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Co ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-13T20:48:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-15T23:24:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/sm_1739470834.350859.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"EFCC\u2019s prosecution of ex-governors unconstitutional, waste of resources \u2013 Obidigbo\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-13T20:48:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-15T23:24:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/sm_1739470834.350859.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"EFCC\",\"Nigeria\",\"Obidigbo\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/efccs-prosecution-of-ex-governors-unconstitutional-waste-of-resources-obidigbo\",\"name\":\"EFCC\u2019s prosecution of ex-governors unconstitutional, waste of resources \u2013 Obidigbo - 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