The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has threatened the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, to court over his allegation that lawyers not only enable corrupt practices to thrive in the country, but also aid illicit financial flows into offshore accounts.
NewsWireNGR reports that Olukoyede in a speech he delivered at the opening of the 6th Annual Criminal Law Review Conference in Abuja, insisted that no mega financial fraud could be perfected without the input of lawyers.
Speaking, the anti-graft agency’s boss said; “The most traumatic discovery of the EFCC in recent years was the subjugation of national interest and well-being to personal interest by lawyers who aided briefcase foreign investors to fleece the nation in dubious transactions.
“The P&ID scam, the Mambilla Power Project and Sunrise issues are cases in point”.
He cited the “obscene legal fees” that senior lawyers receive from political office holders without recourse to financial regulations.
reacting to the allegation, the NBA president, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, berated the EFCC Chairman for portraying members of the legal profession in a bad light.
He said: “We challenge the EFCC Chairman to come up with empirical evidence and if he can not, he should never make such statement again.
“Unfortunately, he is one of us. He is a lawyer. We had earlier drawn his attention to the fact that many men and women that make the investigation and prosecution of cases by the EFCC worthwhile, are lawyers.
“Is he then suggesting that those his lawyers are aiding money laundering and financing of terrorism?
“It is common in Nigeria for people to make hasty generalizations, yet, very few lawyers, to my knowledge, have been prosecuted by the EFCC for aiding money laundering.
“If for example he has evidence of many lawyers who have aided money laundering and who are standing trial or who may have been convicted or who had pleaded guilty, then, one could say that he has evidence.
“It is unfortunate that such statement was made and I am sure that with the benefit of hindsight, he would not have made the statement.
“The point must be made that all of us must be committed to ensuring that we do not use our professional services to aid money laundering or terrorism financing, but no agency should utilize the public platform to suggest that members of the legal profession are the most guilty members of the public in aiding one crime or the other.
“In the absence of evidence, such statement should never be made. We are proud members of the legal profession and we must draw the line in performing our professional duties and aiding the commission of crime. We do not do that.
“There may be few bad eggs but that does not represent the picture or the majority of lawyers who toil to build up a reputation of integrity and professionalism.
“The EFCC Chairman should not for whatever reason soil that image by portraying all of us as aiders of money laundering.
“If that happens again, we will take legal action to protect the image of the legal profession,” the Osigwe added.
