Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
described the appointment of Farida Waziri, the former Chairman of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, as a wrong step in Nigeria’s fight
against corruption.
Mr. Obasanjo said this in an exclusive interview
he granted Zero Tolerance, a magazine produced by the EFCC.
The former president, whose administration
established Nigeria’s two main anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and the ICPC,
said he was aware that former Delta State Governor and convicted money
launderer, James Ibori, played a major role in Mrs. Waziri’s appointment.
“I know that the woman they brought in to
replace Ribadu (Farida Waziri) was not the right person for that job, because I
understood that one of those who head-hunted her was James Ibori.”
“If James Ibori, who is now in a U.K. prison
for fraud, head-hunt somebody who will fight corruption in Nigeria, then you
can understand what happened,” he added.
When questioned further on his stance on the
former anti-graft chief, Mr. Obasanjo said Mrs. Waziri was not adequately
qualified to head the EFCC.
“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.
Ms. Waziri, a retired senior police officer,
was appointed head of the EFCC in 2008 after the controversial exit of the
pioneer chairman of the commission, Nuhu Ribadu, also a former police officer.
Her tenure, right from the beginning, was
dogged by various controversies including her alleged romance with indicted state
governors like James Ibori of Delta, Bukola Saraki of Kwara, and George Akume
of Benue.
There were also several investigations
including by the now rested NEXT Newspapers that revealed how the EFCC, under
Ms. Waziri, wrote controversial letters clearing some of the former governors
of corruption charges.
Even the international community was so
suspicious of the former EFCC boss that former American Ambassador to Nigeria,
Robin Sanders, threatened to walk out of a meeting with Nigeria’s then Foreign
Affairs Minister, Ojo Madueke, if Mrs. Waziri was allowed to be at the meeting.
The former EFCC boss was eventually walked
out of the meeting.
“I was
investigated”
While making further comments on the EFCC,
Mr. Obasanjo also said that in order to clear himself of corruption, he asked
the commission, then under Mr. Ribadu, to investigate him.
“I was investigated. I told EFCC to
investigate me. I told EFCC to carry out clinical investigation and they did,”
he said.
“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.
Commends
Ribadu
Mr. Obasanjo also commended Mr. Ribadu,
saying his performance as EFCC boss helped reduce corruption in Nigeria and
improve her rating by Transparency International.
“When I was there, the EFCC and ICPC worked
tirelessly and we moved this country from the corruption perception index being
number 2 from the lowest to being number 45 from the lowest,” he said.
He queried the manner Mr. Ribadu was removed
from office saying he cautioned late President Umaru Yar’Adua against the
removal.
Mr. Obasanjo said if given the opportunity
again, “I will reappoint Mallam 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.”
Source: premiumtimesng
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