The members of a non-governmental organisation, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) marched to the National Assembly complex on Thursday demanding for the immediate removal of Michael Aondoakaa, as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation. They asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, to prevail on President Umaru Yar'Adua to sack the minister within two weeks for allegedly working against the current anti-graft campaign in the country.
The group, numbering over 200, said that since he assumed office, Mr. Aondoakaa has demonstrated by his actions, behaviour and public pronouncements that he is not ready to defend the best interest of Nigerians, especially in apprehending and bringing corrupt leaders to justice.
NEXT on Sunday investigations in May had exposed bureaucratic delays from the Nigerian government in the investigation of the Halliburton bribery scandal.
The organisation's executive chairman, Debo Adeniran, in a letter addressed to Mr. Bankole and which was made available to journalists, alleged that instead of taking steps to make corruption unattractive to politically exposed citizens, the minister has been taking steps geared towards arranging soft-landing for the accused former and serving government officials and glorifying convicted corrupt leaders.
Illegal cover
He added that Mr. Aondoakaa has been providing covers for the indicted and suspected people to evade the course of justice. He also accused the minister of preventing and whittling down the prosecutorial powers of the anti-corruption agencies, such as the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) as well as international agencies, thereby stalling efforts aimed at bringing the corrupt to book. Mr. Adeniran noted that Mr. Aondoakaa constitutes a cog in the wheel of progress of the anti-graft agencies, stressing that he refused to prosecute those involved in the international scandals such as the Halliburton, Wilbross and Siemens cases, that have been decisively prosecuted in other countries.
The group accused the minister of "Thwarting the case against Mr. James Ibori in a London Court over mere technicalities and publicly celebrating same. Refusal to allow the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) release 25 of their operatives requested for by the Met Police to give evidence in the case of money laundering involving Ibori associates being prosecuted in a London Court. Readmission of the deported Vaswani brothers into Nigeria under shady circumstances; and Unilateral reopening of the Honda Place, belonging to the Vaswani brothers without regards to due process and economic implications of such action; amongst others.
"We shall humbly await your response to this request in two weeks which we shall react to your action on it or take further steps to ensure that our common heritage, that Nigeria is, is not ditched into a state of perpetual underdevelopment, frustrating and dysfunctional public institutions and state failure. Please, act to stem this slide into oblivion," he told Mr. Bankole
The protesters were armed with leaflets, banners and placards with inscriptions such as "Aoadoakaa doesn't care about Nigeria's image", "He is godfather to corrupt leaders, sack him now", "Aondoakaa is a minister of injustice in Nigeria, Yar'Adua sack him now".
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