As Bawa Regains Freedom

With the release of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, by the Department of State Services after 134 days in detention, Ejiofor Alike is calling on the federal government to also  extend such gesture to the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, who is also being held under a law that is known to only the detaining authorities

The Department of State Services (DSS) last Wednesday released the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, after 134 days in detention.

Before Bawa breathed air of freedom, the former EFCC boss had been in detention with the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, for over four months, contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

Section 35 (4) & (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), prescribes that any person who is arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time.

Subsection 5 defines a “reasonable time” to mean between 24 to 48 hours, depending on the availability of a court of competent jurisdiction within the place of arrest and detention.

However, there are exceptional cases when a suspect is detained but the process of commencing trial is yet to be completed.

This is where the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015, which is today being abused by the agents of government, comes into effect.

The ACJA prescribes that in such cases, application is made to the magistrate court, requesting that the suspect be remanded in custody, pending the completion of the investigation and arraignment.

The idea behind this is to ensure that the pre-trial detentions or remands are done with the supervision of the courts so as to discourage the violation of the rights of suspects by security agencies.

Section 293 (2) of ACJA prescribes that such application shall be made, ex parte to a magistrate for the suspect to be committed to custody upon the establishment of a probable cause and also the linking of the suspect to the alleged offence.

But the magistrate must be satisfied that there is a probable cause to remand the suspect, pending a legal advice from the Attorney General.

To avoid the abuse of the ACJA, Section 294 (2) clearly listed the determinants of probable cause.

Section 296 of the ACJA, stipulates that a remand warrant issued under Section 293 of the Act shall last for 14 days in the first instance.

However, it can be renewed for 14 days each in the second, third and fourth instance, making it a maximum of 56 days for which a suspect can be detained without trial.

It, therefore, appears that the ACJA, not only violates the 1999 Constitution but has serially been abused as evident in Bawa and Emefiele’s cases, by law enforcement agencies and compromised junior judicial officers, who connive to detain Nigerians for 56 days without consequences.

In the two cases of Bawa and Emefiele, both were detained for over four months, against the provisions of the ACJA.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration which signed the ACJA did not take undue advantage of its provisions to detain Nigerians beyond the reasonable time stipulated in the Constitution.

However, as soon as former President Muhammadu Buhari took over, the agents of his administration took undue advantage of the ACJA to detain Nigerians without trial.

Regrettably, this impunity has continued under President Bola Tinubu-led administration, with Bawa and Emefiele as two major victims.

While Emefiele was arrested on June 10, 2023, Bawa was taken into custody on June 14.

With both the ACJA and the Nigerian Constitution not justifying their long incarceration, it is evident that the Nigerian government now deals with suspected lawbreakers on its own terms, and not based on the provisions of the law. 

However, in a brief statement issued on Wednesday night by the Spokesman of DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, the agency disclosed that the former EFCC boss had been released.

“DSS confirms release of former EFCC chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, a few hours ago (today 25th October, 2023)”, the agency said.

Bawa was arrested few hours after he was suspended by President Tinubu.

The Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Willie Bassey, had in a statement announcing Bawa’s suspension, cited “weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him” as the reason for the president’ s decision.

During his detention, the DSS had kept mum on the specific offences for which he was arrested, the level of investigation and whether charges would be filed against him in court.

Human rights groups and lawyers had protested his long detention without trial.

A statement by the DSS spokesperson, Afunanya, shortly after Bawa’s suspension on June 14, said the embattled EFCC chair arrived at the facility of the DSS in response to an invitation.

“The Department of State Services has invited Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Bawa arrived a few hours ago. The invitation relates to some investigative activities concerning him,” the DSS spokesman had said.

On his part, before he was suspended and subsequently arrested on June 10, Emefiele had been fighting, perhaps the toughest battle of his career since October 2022 when he announced that the apex bank would redesign the N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes. He gave January 31, 2023 as the deadline for the return of the old notes to the banks.

As soon as he unveiled the apex bank’s plan, many political leaders, who had been the cause of the misery of the common man in this country cashed in on the hardships inflicted on Nigerians by the scarcity of the naira notes and suddenly became the champions of the cause of the poor.

By redesigning the naira few months to the general election, Emefiele stepped on the toes of some powerful politicians, especially governors and National Assembly members who had stockpiled the old naira notes to buy votes and mobilise thugs in the general election.

The redesigning of the naira notes provided opportunity for these politicians who had never sympathised with the poor masses over the harsh conditions of living in the country to suddenly realise that the currency redesign was inflicting hardship on the poor.

In one of its recent editorials, the Financial Times (FT) of London had stated that the manner in which Emefiele, was removed from office was odd and smacked of political revenge.

Emefiele was initially arrested over frivolous allegations of illegal possession of firearms.

With the release of Bawa, the Nigerian government should end this regime of impunity, abuse of rule of law and lawlessness, and release the former CBN governor, in line with democratic norms.

Little wonder Nigeria was last week ranked 120th of the 142 countries in terms of adherence to rule of law, according to the latest global Rule of Law Index released by the World Justice (WJP). The 2023 index released on Wednesday in Washington DC, United States, also showed that out of the 34 countries ranked in the sub-Saharan region, Nigeria is rated 23rd.