LAGOS – Political stakeholders and analysts have stat­ed that the corruption cases involving former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele; Chairman of the All Progres­sives Congress, Abdullahi Gan­duje, and former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, have put the nation’s Judiciary and the anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), under trial.

Emiefele and Yahaya Bello are being prosecuted by the EFCC while Ganduje is being investigated by the anti-graft agency following allegations against him by the Kano State government.

Chief Dr. Emeka Kalu, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and CEO, Eck Foundation, said: “the cases involving the three chieftains of the ruling party are about the fight to tame the tails of corrupt political office holders and public servants who use their opportunities in govern­ment to loot empty the national treasuries.

Kalu, National Coordina­tor, Peoples Democratic Party Coalition (PDOCO), stressed: “Corruption has become a can­kerworm eating deep into the fabrics of the nation’s economy and no tier of the government at all levels, be it the federal, states or local government, is exempted from this ugly syn­drome.

“The inability to uphold trust in public service account­ability has been the major clog on the wheels of achieving good governance in Nigeria and it continues to baffle me how possible the nation could achieve faster economic pros­perity in the face of corruption, nepotism and undue advan­tage taking.

“The embattled immedi­ate-past governor of the apex bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, was slammed with allega­tions of misappropriation of funds, illegal contract awards, falsification of documents and a host of other charges brought against him, but the judiciary has not been able to diligently establish grounds to convict him, or discharge and acquit him, if all the allegations could not be proved beyond reason­able doubts.

“The judiciary must under­stand the sensitive nature of its duties that as the defend­er and custodian of the law, anything done to compromise their services would endanger the tenets of our national de­mocracy, political institutions and the philosophy of consti­tutionalism.

“Regarding the embattled former governor of Kano State, Alhaji Ganduje and his own side of the alleged breach of public trust and corrup­tion, the judiciary is expected to come clean in handling his matter to avoid short-changing justice for pecuniary gains.

“Ganduje was alleged to have looted Kano State funds during his days in office and the state in its discretion has provided lots of evidence to prove his guilt.

“It now behoves the court to without fear or favour stand on the side of justice to determine whether such allegations are true or false.

“His position as the Nation­al Chairman of APC, though facing a suspension crisis, must not be seen as a consecrat­ed seat too hard to dare when a case of corruption is legiti­mately proved against him.

“That he is heading the party under whose platform the Nigerian president was elected should not be honoured in place of the integrity of the Nigeria constitution.

“On the part of Yahaya Bel­lo and all the sharp corrupt practices brought against him by the EFCC, it is pertinent to note that investigations have revealed how Bello directly from the government account debited over $740,000 for up­front payment of his son’s tui­tion fee in an Abuja domiciled school

“The exhibits proving the actuality of his having remit­ted the money to the school’s account are feasible and the judiciary is expected to care­fully weigh in evidence their reliability while holding pro­ceedings on Bello’s matter.

“The law should not fold its arms when those entrusted with the mandate of carrying out public functions hide under the cloaks of immunity to be siphoning our common wealth for their own selfish benefits.

“The mandate given to serve the people should not be seen as smart opportunities to sab­otage their interest, destroy their comfort and survival in the name of democracy.

ALL EYES ON THE JUDICIARY

“Much is expected of the judiciary in the discharge of its duties and as the upholders of the law, she must not pre­tend to allow miscarriage of justice, rather it takes the bull by the horns to ensure that cases of corruption brought before it are justifiably treated not minding whose ox is being gored.

“Moreover, the judges are advised to gird their loins as the bearers of the dangling axe and sledge hammer of the law in facing the realities of their offices.

“Honesty pays and on its foundation, good governance and accountability are built in any political democracy.

“A British Whig Jurist and Constitutional theorist, Prof. A. V Dicey, was guided by the values of sound justice when he developed the principle of adherence to the rule of law.

“So, in this regard, Nigeri­ans are on the lookout watch­ing how the trials would be carried out and as earlier cit­ed, handful of admissible evi­dence has been established to prove the facts of these cases and anything contrary while interpreting the law to bring the culprits to book means further nailing the nation’s ju­dicial system on the cross of darkness where resuscitation remains a mirage.”

On his part, Professor John Ebhomien, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, stat­ed: “The EFCC and judiciary are on trial over the financial malfeasance of Godwin Eme­fiele, Dr. Yahaya Bello and Dr. Ganduje.

“Godwin Emefiele, the for­mer governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with Dr. Gan­duje the former Governor of Kano State and Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State, have now realised that power is transient.

“When they held sway while in power, they behaved like drunken sailors and stole bil­lions of Naira with impunity.

“Today, they are at the mer­cy of the anti-graft agencies. They are all shadows of them­selves, from grace to grass.

“Their cases have put the ju­diciary on trial. All eyes are on the EFCC and judiciary to do the needful and adjudicate on these matters before the hon­ourable judges without fear of favour.

“The judges must ensure speedy trial because justice de­layed is justice denied. Godwin Emefiele case which has been ongoing for several months is unacceptable. The EFCC and DSS must do their jobs diligent­ly with military precision.

“The Yahaya Bello’s ranting of an ant must stop. Let him toe the path of honour and come out from hiding and dance to the EFCC music.

“I would advise Yahaya Bel­lo to take the advice of Samuel Ortom, former governor of Benue State and submit him­self to the EFCC for question­ing.

“The Ganduje problem started when he fell apart with his former friend, Dr. Kwank­waso.

“While Dr. Ganduje, the present chairman of the APC was behaving like a drunken sailor, he failed to watch his back and perhaps thought that his arch-rival had forgot­ten him.

“Here we are, they have fi­nally gotten him with the evi­dence at their disposal to probe him. Time will tell whether the EFCC, the Kano State probe panel and the judiciary will meet the expectations of Ni­gerians.”

IN SEARCH OF ANTI-CORRUP­TION COURT

Adding his voice, Comrade Aluh Moses Odeh, National Leader, All Middle Belt Youth Forum (AMBYF), stated: “Un­til we have a special court that will be responsible for trying only corrupt cases in Nigeria, the Judiciary will continue to be on trial.

“In corruption cases, an ac­cused is presumed guilty until he proves innocent, but here in Nigeria an accused is innocent until proven guilty.

“You can see the disparity now where we got it totally wrong. So, the Judiciary is in bondage with this kind of laws and in need of help before it can disseminate justice.

“In fact, corrupt cases nor­mally end after a protracted legal battle in favour of the accused, mostly on the ground of what they (judiciary) called technicalities.

“This is the reason Nige­rians no longer trust our Ju­diciary because some high profile cases always favour the accused.

“It is high time we Nigeri­ans join hands to demand the repeal of that section of our constitution that says an ac­cused is presumed innocent until proven guilty so as to strengthen the Judiciary.

“We cannot just be expect­ing the Judiciary to do wonder­fully well with law that weak­ens them.”

Dr Bolaji O. Akinyemi, a social analyst and Convener, Apostolic Roundtable, stated: “We don’t need any argument about the fact that the judiciary remains compromised.

“I said ‘remains’ because it did not start with the Tinubu administration. The judiciary has been brought into a high state of disrepute, especially with the Yahaya Bello-EFCC saga.

“How can you bar an estab­lished anti-corruption agency from investigating claims and allegations even at a time that the accused had lost his immu­nity?

“As the soul of the nation, the judiciary should not have allowed itself to be an instru­ment of selective justice.”

Chief Martin Onovo, a sea­soned activist and 2015 pres­idential candidate of the Na­tional Conscious Party (NCP), maintained that the cases have not put the judiciary on trial in any way.

Onovo, currently Head, Policy Positions, Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), stated that Mr. Yahaya Bello is clearly a suspect for money laundering in billions of Naira.

He continued: “However, EFCC must follow the due process of law. Also, EFCC must go after other suspects like Ganduje (aka Gandollar), Yari, Matawalle and Umahi/ Chagoury of Hi Tech Construc­tion Company.

“Otherwise, it will be look­ing like a political witch-hunt against Yahaya Bello and some others like Willie Obiano.”