Over 100 anti-corruption civil society organisations and their supporters staged a protest in Lagos on Saturday in continuation of their call for the removal of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, over alleged continued disobedience of court orders.
Leaders of the groups, who began what they described as a “week-long protest against politicisation of the EFCC, disobedience of court orders and infringement on human rights of Nigerians”, on Friday, said many CSOs called in to join the struggle after the maiden press conference held in Lagos.
The CSOs walked through the streets of Ikeja, through Ikeja City Mall, ending at the Oregun Junction, in Ikeja, Lagos, chanting protest songs and asking the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to sack Bawa.
They noted that they were aware of the persistent pressure on and intimidation of the Nigerian media to underplay the dissatisfaction of the anti-corruption CSOs with Bawa, stressing that no amount of intimidation would make them give up their collective struggle against corruption and leaders undermining the struggle.
A spokesperson for the Transparency and Accountability Group, Ayodeji Ologun, who spoke on behalf of the CSOs, said the Coalition of Anti-corruption Organisations could not stay aloof while the country’s legal system was being bastardised by the “selfish interests of a few”, insisting that, if Bawa was bent on playing politics, he should get a membership card from any of the political parties.
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