By Barth Madukwe

ABUJA—A non-governmental organisation, Integrity Group, has ascribed the ongoing trial of former Head of Service of the Federation, HOS, Mr Steve Oronsaye, to persecution over a report which sought to merge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, with other anti-graft agencies in the country when he was still in service.

Oronsaye

According to the National Coordinator and Secretary of Integrity Group, James Alo and secretary, Aliu Sanni, a report written by the Oronsaye committee when he was HOS and chairman, Presidential Commitee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of the Civil Service, had sought the merger of the EFCC with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC.

The report also sought the autonomy of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, in line with Nigeria’s agreement with international anti -graft and anti-money laundering agencies.

The group noted that the NFIU was currently a unit in EFCC, which attracts to it the largest international funding.

The group wondered why the EFCC would exhume a case which had been investigated and which cleared Oronsaye of any wrong doing.

“The EFCC had concluded its investigation as far back as 2010 while the suspects were also arraigned in 2011 and even got judgement against one of the suspects in 2013 before the commission reopened the case based on ‘additional statement from a witness’. We wonder at the desperation of EFCC to punish this man,” it stated.

The group said it was lack of substance in the case against Oronsaye that raised the ire of Justice Olasumbo Goodluck of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), High Court, during the last sitting of the court, over the failure of the EFCC to file its amended charges as requested.

Integrity Group recalled: “Oronsaye is the one that started the investigation into pension fraud when he was Head of Service, he was also the one that set up the Pension Reform Task Force team.

‘’He was the one that submitted the report of the task force to EFCC and ICPC for further investigation. If he was guilty, would he now want to expose himself by inviting the agencies to conduct further investigations?”.

The group called on the federal government to protect those being unnecessarily persecuted by the anti-graft agency.