The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay, says he is afraid that the new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa may not be given the free hand to operate.
Sagay said that the interference would likely come from the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Bawa, who was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday, met President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja on Thursday.
In an interview with The Punch, Sagay called for a check on the powers of the AGF to prevent interference with the EFCC chairman’s job.
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“This issue is a very big question because I noticed that they both come from the same state of Kebbi and they may even be related.
“For me, that is not a very healthy thing because the chairman of the EFCC and the EFCC are supposed to be independent.
“They are not politicians, they are trained security officers. The attorney-general is a politician who has all the weaknesses and loads of a politician.
“He has people he is obliged to. He has people who are close to him. Some of them may be criminals who might have committed crimes. In fact, some of them may deliberately do things because they think they know the attorney-general.
“So, in such a situation, if Bawa is related to the attorney-general, then there will be a problem because he will not be able to do his job freely because the attorney-general will certainly interfere.
“He has already indicated his tendency to interfere in both the EFCC and the ICPC with the regulations he purported to make months ago. So, I am not comfortable at all that the possibility that they might be related,” Sagay said.