Exclusive: Why President Jonathan Nominated PDP Member As EFCC Secretary, Then Dropped Him
When Senate President, David Mark, read the letter sent by President Goodluck Jonathan to the Senate on April 23, one name was notably contained in it.
Mr. Jonathan asked the Senate to confirm nominees, including Adesojo Olaoba-Efuntayo, for the new board of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The letter indicated Mr. Olaoba-Efuntayo was to act as secretary of the commission.
Sources at the commission say Mr. Olaoba-Efuntayo’s nomination came as a surprise to many of the officials.
As secretary, Mr. Olaoba-Efuntayo would serve as the administrative head of the EFCC.
“The secretary is like the administrative head, while the Chairman oversees operations, investigations, training and the rest,” a top official of the commission said.
The party man
Days after his nomination, speculations dribbled around that the nominee was a member of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the relatively unknown lawyer is a top member of the PDP from Osun State, and served as campaign manager to one of the party’s governorship aspirants in the state in 2011.
Reliable sources close to the president said Mr. Jonathan was not aware of the party affiliation of the lawyer before the nomination, although such facts were expected to have been contained in a security clearance report the Department of State Security, SSS, prepares for every presidential nomination.
The Presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, would not respond to mail or return phone calls on why the president nominated a card-carrying member of his party to such a position contrary to Nigerian laws.
Unlike situations where such board nominees are suggested by state PDP governors or party leaders in states not controlled by the PDP, Mr. Oloba-Efuntayo was said to have been expressly nominated by the president.
A source said the nominee had been a friend to Mr. Jonathan long before the latter became Bayelsa Deputy Governor in 1999.
“It was even the President that asked him to go and study law,” the source said explaining that the president had no party agenda when he made the nomination. But many are curious that the president did not know the political affiliation of his friend.
Dropping the PDP member
In what is clearly a sensible response to condemnations of his choice by observers of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, Mr. Jonathan last week dropped Mr. Oloba-Efuntayo as his nominee for the EFCC Secretary post.
The president did not give any reason for his action and Mr. Abati would not respond to enquiries on the reason for the president’s action.
But in another letter sent to the Senate and read by the Senate President on Wednesday, Mr. Jonathan nominated another lawyer, Emmanuel Adegboyega Aremo, as the new EFCC board secretary.
History of controversial nominations
This is not the first time the president would nominate a PDP member to lead an anti-corruption agency and later drop him.
Mr. Jonathan had in 2011 appointed Francs Elechi as the chairman of the Board of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related Offences Commission, ICPC.
Several Nigerians, including the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria condemned Mr. Elechi’s nomination based on his membership of the PDP.
The Nigerian Senate ignored the complaints and confirmed Mr. Elechi’s nomination. The president later succumbed to pressure and refused to swear in Mr. Elechi, eventually replacing him.
“The chairman couldn’t follow the oath taking this morning because, from about Wednesday last week, I started receiving disturbing calls and reports,” the president had said. “And a body like INEC, ICPC and EFCC, the president should be very careful about the opinion of people.”
One person who continuously seeks the independence of anti-corruption agencies from practicing politicians is radical lawyer, Femi Falana.
Mr. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said Mr. Jonathan should be commended for dropping Mr. Oloba-Efuntayo.
“It is commendable, the Federal Government could have been accused of handing over the EFCC to the PDP,” he said.
Mr. Falana, who has also condemned the nomination of another PDP member and former police chief, Mike Okiro, as head of the Police Service Commission, however, asked the federal government to ensure it does thorough checks on individuals before they are appointed into sensitive positions.
