The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has called on the National Judicial Council to ignore calls for boycott of cases brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The call was contained in a statement issued by the HEDA Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, on Sunday in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a group of CSOs had last week called on the NJC to boycott cases brought to it by the EFCC.
Suraju expressed concern over the calls by some Civil Society Organisations for the NJC to boycott EFCC cases.
He said that such calls were unconstitutional, against the rule of law and capable of undermining the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
Suraju appealed to the NJC to ignore such “ignoble meddling in the affairs of law enforcement agency capable of throwing the country into chaos.”
The Chairman also urged the CSOs to desist from making such calls, which he described as “precipitating unnecessary unconstitutional acts because of pecuniary interest.”
According to him, the EFCC has been instrumental in the fight against corruption in Nigeria and any attempt to undermine its work will only serve to promote corruption and impunity of public and private persons.
Suraju said that the calls by the CSOs to boycott EFCC cases was not in the interest of Nigerians.
He added that it was tantamount to sabotaging the efforts of the government in its fight against corruption.
Suraju noted that all stakeholders must work together to promote transparency, accountability, and good governance in the country.
He added that it was only by working together that the country could achieve its goals of development and progress.
HEDA is a non-governmental organisation committed to the promotion of transparency, accountability and good governance in Nigeria.
The organisation has been at the forefront of the fight against corruption and has been working closely with other stakeholders to ensure that corruption is eradicated in the country.
