Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) said yesterday that his petitions to the anti graft agencies and the Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were anchored on law and facts, emphasising that he has nothing personal against any person in the battle to end impunity and retrieve the looted wealth of the nation from corrupt elements and institutions.
Falana was reacting to the attack by ex-Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, following his petition to ICC to probe alleged crimes against humanity by serving and retired military officers and their civilian accomplices, who allegedly diverted over $8 billion earmarked for arms and armament for counter-insurgency and for their prosecution by the court.
The lawyer declined to exchange what he termed “vulgar abuse” with the former minister, who he said was attempting to extricate herself from the looting while she was in office.
He said Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was always quick to deflect criticisms by accusing anyone seeking to hold her to account for her appalling records in government.
He recalled that “when Professor Chukwuma Soludo alleged that about N30 trillion could not be accounted for under her watch, he was described as “an embittered loser in the Nigerian political space.”
‘’When Comrade Adams Oshiomole questioned the illegal withdrawal of $2 billion from the Excess Crude Account, he was accused of having animus towards her because she had blocked Edo State from obtaining a loan”.
According to him, the claim by the former minister that he was not familiar with the mandate of the ICC showed that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala hadnot been following the practice of the court and its active and robust approach to its mandates, in particular with regard to the investigation of crimes in Darfur, the warrant of arrest for Joseph Kony (Uganda) and the warrant of arrest for Ahmad Harun (Sudan).
“In many decided cases, the ICC has expanded its mandate to humanitarian issues, aimed at forestalling and impeding the perpetration of crimes, which cause gross human rights abuse. There is absolutely nothing in the Rome Statute of the ICC to suggest that the court cannot address impunity for enormous financial crimes (and its crippling impact), which took place while Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala was the Finance minister and the coordinating minister of the Economy”.
On the claim that he owns the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Falana said a Google search would have shown him as one of the legal advisers of the organisation and that “there are other distinguished lawyers and academics of international repute on SERAP’s board. Her claim that SERAP is ‘discredited’ is the exact opposite of reckless characterisation because it is an organisation that has won national and international recognitions, including nomination for the UN civil society award; the Ford Foundation Jubilee Transparency Award; and the Wole Soyinka Anti-Corruption Defender Award.’’