* Ensure there are no sacred cows, Jega tells EFCC
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, yesterday declared that the fight against corruption would be incomplete without unravelling the high-profile murder cases like the case of the late Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.
He said the death of the former chief law officer of the federation was masterminded by forces of corruption.
Soyinka’s position came as the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Jega, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to demonstrate that there are no sacred cows in the fight against corruption.
Soyinka, who spoke on the occasion of the United Nations Anti-corruption Day held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja tagged “Zero Tolerance for Corruption” said Chief Ige and other victims of high profile assassinations were killed by the forces of corruption.
“What has happened to the investigation of such high profile murders of Chief Bola Ige and others?
“If we do not resolve them, fighting corruption would be futile because they were murdered not because of political rivalry but by forces of corruption”, he said.
On the re-arrest of the Convener of #RevolutionNow Movement, Omoyele Sowore, Soyinka said it was important that freedom of expression as enshrined in the Constitution is guaranteed.
He said the human rights situation in the country was such that required urgent attention.
“If I say revolution now, am I going to be thrown into prison because those in charge are afraid of the word revolution?”, he queried, stating that the walk against corruption organised by the EFCC from its office in Wuse to the Presidential Villa should be seen as a “Long Walk to Freedom”.
“Let the walk today between the citadel of anti-corruption and the seat of the executive arm of government be the long walk to freedom. What we are doing now is revolution somewhere or the other”, he said.
In his remarks, the former INEC boss, Prof Jega called on the anti-graft agency to intensify the fight against corruption and ensure that there are no sacred cows.
“Today is a day to restrategise on the cancer of corruption, a day of sober reflection. The EFCC should intensify the fight against corruption because what we see is that the more efforts they make, the more daunting the task.
“EFCC should continue to demonstrate that there are no sacred cows. For the federal and state levels, we need to see that our resources are judiciously applied”, he said.
