FARIDA WAZIRI :WRONG CHOICE TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, has described the appointment of Mrs. Farida Waziri as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as a wrong step in the country’s fight against corruption. He said this in an exclusive interview he granted Zero Tolerance, a magazine produced  by the EFCC.

It will be recalled that the country’s two main anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), were established  by Obasanjo’s administration. Obasanjo opened up as follows:

“I know that the woman they brought in to replace Nuhu Ribadu (Waziri) was not the right person for that job, because I understood that one of those who head-hunted her was Ibori.”

“If Ibori, who is now in a United Kingdom (UK) prison for fraud, head-hunt somebody who will fight corruption in Nigeria, then you can understand what happened,” he added.

“Well, go and look at her track record,” he said. “Go and look at the condition or the qualification; go and look at the type of interaction that anybody holding that job will have with a similar organisation elsewhere; did Waziri have that type?

“What connection did she have with FBI, what relationship did she have with Metropolitan Police in London? It’s not a picnic,” he added.

Waziri, a retired senior police officer, was appointed head of the EFCC in 2008, after the controversial exit of Ribadu, who was the pioneer chairman of the commission, and also a former police officer.

 The EFCC under Waziri, allegedly dogged with controversial issues, like clearing some of the former governors of corruption charges.The way James Ibori escaped from Nigeria to Dubai. Even the international community was also suspicious of the former EFCC boss.

Obasanjo also said in order to clear himself of corruption, he asked the commission, then under Ribadu, to investigate him.
“I was investigated. I told EFCC to investigate me. I told EFCC to carry out clinical investigation and they did.

“They also did same with all people on my farm. One of them was telling me the other day how Lamorde called him three times and took statements from him. The EFCC even made sure they did not submit that report to me; they waited until I left and updated their report after going round the world and saying look this is the report.

“Nobody should be below board in the fight against corruption,” he added.

Obasanjo also commended Ribadu, saying “When I was there, the EFCC and ICPC worked tirelessly and we moved this country from the corruption perception index (CPI) being number two from the lowest to being number 45 from the lowest,”

Obasanjo said if given the opportunity again, “I will reappoint Ribadu and I will not dismiss him the way he was dismissed from the EFCC.”

He, however, accused the former anti-graft boss and former presidential candidate of hobnobbing “with people he had declared as corrupt.”