Farida Waziri fires back at Obasanjo; asks him to respect his age

In her reaction to former President Obasanjo’s criticism of her leadership at the EFCC, Farida Waziri has warned Mr. Obasanjo to respect his age and watch his comments else she would be forced to open up on him. (Read Obasanjo’s comment here)

Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Dr (Mrs) Farida Waziri, OFR, in a statement on Wednesday reminded former President Olusegun Obasanjo that ability to be used to witch hunt political enemies in the rabid pursuit of a third term agenda has never been part of the qualifications for appointment as chairman of the anti-graft agency

Mrs. Waziri denied meeting Mr. Ibori ahead of her appointment to the EFCC, a claim she made earlier in a separate interview with the same EFCC publication. Mr. Ibori is serving a jail term in United Kingdom for stealing state funds.

The former EFCC boss said she was fully qualified to have headed to the agency given the stipulations of the law.

She said, “On the issue of qualifications raised by Obasanjo, the qualification for appointment as chairman of the Commission as stipulated in its Establishment Act says that the chairman shall ‘be a serving or retired member of any government security or law enforcement agency not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police or equivalent; and possess not less than 15 years cognate experience’. Late President Yar’adua did not have to alter the Establishment Act when he was appointing me unlike what Obasanjo did”.

“Again for the records, I served in the Nigeria Police force for 35 years and got to the pinnacle of my career before my appointment as EFCC chairman. If Obasanjo’s real age has not blurred his memory, I will like to remind him that I was a Commissioner of Police, Admin Force CID, CP General Investigations, CP Anti-fraud, CP X squad, CP Police Special Fraud Unit where I secured the first conviction in a case of Advance Fee Fraud in Nigerian history. These are all prime investigative organs of the Nigeria Police where I related with other law enforcement agencies including the FBI across the world. I must place on record that at SFU, I did not only relate with FBI, Interpol and Metpolice among others, we carried out joint operations at different times on a number of cases. I have also led the Nigerian delegation to the Interpol headquarters in France.”

“To further expose the height of mischief in the allegations, the past and present chairmen of the EFCC have both worked under me, yet someone can open his mouth to say I am not qualified to head the same agency. This is in addition to my educational qualifications such as a first degree in Law, a Master degree in Law and another Master degree in Strategic studies. I doubt if Obasanjo himself can boast of this level of educational qualifications.

“I will like to warn that those who live in glass house don’t throw stones and as such Obasanjo should not allow me open up on him. Respectable elder statesmen act and speak with decorum.”