UNCERTAINTY TRAILS BAWA’S APPOINTMENT, AS LEGAL PRACTITIONER CHALLENGES NOMINATION
Oru Leonard
A legal practitioner, Osuagwu Ugochukwu, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to quash the nomination of Abdulrasheed Bawa as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In suit No. ABJ/CS/196/2021, Ugochukwu is seeking two principal reliefs, including a true interpretation and construction of Section 2(1)(a)(ii) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004, whether Bawa is qualified to be appointed chairman of the anti-graft agency and whether the Senate is competent in law to confirm the appointment of Bawa, who is deemed to fall short of the requirement of Section 2)(1)(a)(ii) of the EFCC Establishment Act 2004.
He is also seeking three declarations to determine the fate of the suit, including that Bawa is a Grade Level 13 public officer and not an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) or its equivalent and therefore not qualified to be chairman of the commission, as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Senate from confirming Bawa’s appointment as chairman of the EFCC and any other order(s) the court may deem fit in the circumstance.
The suit, which came through an originating summons, has since been served on the office of the Senate President, with proof of service acknowledged on Thursday, February 18.
Bawa was due for confirmation hearing at the Senate on Thursday, but his nomination has faced a barrage of challenges, including an allegation that the attorney-general of the federation, Abubakar Malami, compromised national interest and the Laws for personal interest in the his recommendation of the 40-year old nominee for the post.
(The Skechi)
