Idu Akabueze, Iyiola Akande & Etim Umana
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday freeze the accounts of the Akwa Ibom State government according to informed sources.
The accounts were frozen without any court order in line with the rule of law.
A highly placed government official who was not authorized to speak on the matter said that the EFCC against all known procedural norms in the world became the judge and prosecutor by freezing the state accounts without any reason given.
According to the laws of the land, the only power that can authorize, or that should have the power to authorize the hold on a citizen’s property or accounts, until provable grounds compels possession of such a property by the state, is the power of a judge obtained in an open court. Such a warrant must be obtained in the presence of a lawyer acting for the potential victim, and only after a compelling case or grounds for such temporary seizure has been clearly or unambiguously proven before a judge or Magistrate can issue an order of temporary seizure, or what can be described has “freezing an account”.
However in a display of impunity, the EFCC froze the accounts of the state government without following due process or gave reasons for their actions.
Observers says it’s an outcome of dirty politics being played by the APC orchestrated by the newly defected senator Godswill Akpabio who is bent on seeing that the infrastructural development and activities in Akwa Ibom State led by governor Udom Emmanuel is crippled.
A facebook user Iboro Etim who wrote on his facebook page noted that “the action of the EFCC freezing the Akwa Ibom State government accounts can only be sanction by Senator Akpabio whose major plot is to cripple and stagnate the finance meant for the people who supported him for eight years as governor. This is the height of wickedness from man to man”.
Many commentators opined generally that Akpabio has paid the good of the people with evil calling on the international community to condemn the despicable act by the APC led Federal Government and speak in defence of democracy in Nigeria.
