Posted on: 05:43 Sat, 04 Jun 2016



Jude Ndukwe, the Special Assistant
on Media to Femi Fani-Kayode, the
detained Director of Media and
Publicity of the 2015 Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP Campaign
Organisation claimed that his
principal has met his bail
conditions as set by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC but the anti-graft agency has
refused to release him. He alleged
that the aim of the agency is to
forcefully extract statements from
the the former minister of
Aviation, that would implicate
former President Goodluck
Jonathan and PDP chieftains.

“It is even more worrisome that the
activities of the anti-graft agency
has reached an all-time low as they
are insisting that the former
Minister of Culture and Tourism
should name publishers, editors,
journalists and bloggers he
allegedly gave money to during the
election campaigns.

“What has journalists who covered
the PDP campaign as much as that
of APC got to do with this? This is
the height of it all!” Ndukwe said.

“The further insistence by EFCC
that Chief Fani-Kayode should
deposit a sum of $1m before he
could be let go shows how
desperate the agency is to keep him
in their custody and deny him his
fundamental rights as guaranteed
under Sections 33,34,35,37 and 41
of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As
Amended) and Articles 4, 5, 6 and
12 of the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights
(Ratification and Enforcement) Act
Cap 10 Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria 1990.

“This further confirms our position
that even though he has met his
bail conditions, the EFCC have no
intention of letting him enjoy his
bail nor do they have any intention
of playing by the rules.

“While we have copiously
acknowledged in the past and still
do that EFCC have a constitutional
and mandatory duty to carry out
their statutory function as
empowered by our laws, it is also
our sincerest belief that these
functions can be carried out within
the ambit of the law and without
being tainted with vendetta,
vindictiveness and politics. These
are what discredit the agency and
cast doubts in the minds of
Nigerians about the sincerity of the
fight against corruption,” Ndukwe
said.