Bankole Komolafe, an Abuja-based legal practitioner, has decried the retention of names of Nigerians already acquitted by court on the Economic Financial Crime Commission’s website.
Komolafe made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Abuja.
The legal practitioner represented Senator Iyabo Obasanjo at the court when she was alleged to have misappropriated N35 million as the Chairman of Senate Committee on Health.
He described the act as a violation of the rule of law, saying: “As we speak, the name of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo is still on the list of corrupt people on the website of EFCC.
“”It has refused to remove it.”
He said this was after the court had acquitted the senator of any misconduct.
Komolafe, however, called for the overhaul of EFCC, stressing that unless such was done, it would just be moving in circles.
He said: “The institution needs to be overhauled in a very big way, otherwise the fight against corruption will be like moving in circles because of the huge responsibilities committed in the hands of the EFCC.”
He accused the personnel of gross incompetence, saying when the EFCC charged people to court and because sometimes there was no diligent investigation, “it loses the case”.
Komolafe said the judiciary was always the sacrificial lamb as all manner of corruption allegation would be flying around against the bench for freeing an allegedly corrupt person.
He said: “Nigerians will be accusing the judiciary that it is not helping the fight against corruption and that the judges must have collected bribe and this is not helping the system.
“Unfortunately, the judiciary does not have a voice that can speak in its defence because it is not allowed to speak in the public, which makes it worse.”
He said if such unfounded allegation against the judiciary continued, there might not be any competent hand in the judiciary and the judges would lose the trust of the people.
Komolafe added: “I am not saying that we do not need the EFCC as an institution.
“We do because we have a whole lot of corruption in the system.
“What I am only saying is that we need a complete overhaul.”
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