CASER has petitioned the ICPC to take over and investigate the claims contained in the viral audio recording of bribery and corruption allegations involving EFCC, NCoS and Bobrisky
Frank Tietie, Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), has stated that the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) is the appropriate body to investigate serious bribery and corruption allegations involving officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS).
Tietie stated this on Monday in a petition addressed to the ICPC, on behalf of CASER.
Tietie said these claims are based on a viral audio recording, purportedly of a conversation involving popular Nigerian cross-dresser Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, and released by activist Martins Otse, popularly known as ‘VeryDarkMan’.
According to the recording, Bobrisky allegedly bribed EFCC officials with a sum of ₦15 million to drop money laundering charges against him. The recording also claims that Bobrisky bribed NCoS officials in exchange for preferential VIP treatment during his time in custody, including being lodged in an apartment outside the correctional facility.
He argued that the ICPC is in the best position to investigate the consequential issues flowing from the viral video, given its independence, impartiality, and a track record of professionalism on such matters.
In a petition CASER submitted to the ICPC, it called on the commission to investigate the claims contained in the viral audio recording.
The petition said: “as a civil society organisation whose anti-corruption and good governance advocacy relies heavily on the proper administration of justice and some law enforcement agencies, particularly the EFCC, it is important to get to the root of the issues raised in the viral audio recording,”
The group argued in the petition that the “recent declaration by Bobrisky that the said audio recording was an AI-generated voice modulation has heightened the urgency for the ICPC to apply its forensic investigative capabilities” on the matter.
“The principal parties to this saga whether Bobrisky or VeryDarkMan or anyone else involved are advised to take advantage of Section 63(1) ICPC Act 2000 by choosing to make a clean breast to the ICPC regarding all the facts they know concerning the viral audio recording.
“The task to save the institutions and governance standards of our country from its present calamitous decline is a collective one and this case of the viral audio recording must be seen to its logical conclusion,” the group stated.
The group further said it has “watched with deep concern how Martins Otse’s (VeryDarkMan) recent social media revelations have depicted some significant aspects of the Nigerian criminal justice system.
“These revelations have painted a picture of a system marred by a subterranean arrangement of bribery, favouritism, obstruction of justice, and barefaced corruption, severely undermining its integrity.
“The said Martins Otse has released an audio recording that has universally gone viral. This recording, claimed to be a narrative of one Idris Okuneye alias Bobrisky, details how charges of money laundering were dropped against him by some officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in exchange for a bribe of Fifteen Million Naira (N15,000,000,00).”
The group submitted that “the issues raised in the said viral audio recording are of grave national concern” urging the ICPC to “invoke its powers of being independent to properly investigate the saga.
The group stressed that “the viral audio recording is presently depicting the Nigerian criminal justice system as a huge joke, which we find quite unacceptable.”
The group doubts the investigation being conducted by the EFCC, NCS, or the Ministry of Interior “because of the vicarious liability of these Federal Government agencies, which have failed to prevent the reported abuses and misfeasance by their officials and agents.” These agencies cannot be the same exercising authority of a just, fair and unbiased investigation, CASER said in its petition
In the same vein, the group said the House of Representatives’ attempt to investigate the issues by summoning the individuals and leadership of the agencies concerned is highly implausible because of the criminal elements associated with the issues.
“Given the criminal dimension of the matters contained in the viral audio recording,” CASER argued that “it may appear to be mere window dressing and playing to the gallery if the hearing by the House of Representatives hearing is considered anything to go by.
“It is our opinion that the nature of this is more appropriate within the purview of the ICPC by the provisions of its establishment act. This is without prejudice to the powers of the National Assembly to carry out investigations under Section 88 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
However, it noted that considering that there is an Act of the National Assembly mandating that the ICPC deal specifically with such acts of bribery and corruption, it would be in the national interest if the ICPC took up the investigation.
Only an independent and impartial anti-corruption agency like the ICPC with a track record of diligence and adherence to legal and professional standards can get to the root of these issues and chart a path of national recovery from the social decadence that the contents of the viral audio recording have typified, CASER said.
The group said it considered “it most pertinent at this time of our national life that concerted efforts be made to reverse the pervasive trend of corruption. If allowed to overtake justice delivery, there might be no hope for a socially and economically stable Nigeria, now and in the future.”
