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Presidency queries Ribadu, EFCC boss
Michael Faloseyi, Yusuf Alli, Abuja
The Presidency has queried the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, for alleging that people with questionable character were being appointed into public offices.
In the query signed by the Senior Adviser to the President, Programmes and Policy Monitoring, Professor, Julius Ihonvbere, the Presidency directed Ribadu to substantiate his claim.
It was learnt that the query was at the instance of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The EFCC boss had, while delivering a lecture on Advance Fee Fraud and Money Laundering in Nigeria at a seminar on Economic Crime on June 28 said, �In fact, you have to excel in the art of stealing to be rewarded for a government position. Hence, the task of changing attitude, values and perception of the people about corruption was a serious difficulty.��
Although it seemed Ribadu was speaking about past government practices, a Presidency source told our correspondents on Tuesday, that, �The President was very upset when he received a faxed copy of newspaper reports on Ribadu�s speech in London on Tuesday.
�He immediately directed that he should be queried. The President said he would like Ribadu to give examples and to explain if the present was also guilty as charged.�
In his speech, Ribadu had also blamed the increasing rate of economic and financial crimes in the country on the inability of the security agencies and judiciary to follow cases through.
�The law enforcement agencies including the judiciary encouraged the crimes because they also benefited from the misfortune of the victims. This is evident because hitherto law enforcement agencies and the judiciary often times turned a blind eye to the criminal activities of these perpetrators,� he said.
A source in the Presidency confirmed that Ribadu was queried from London, through the Internet.
In the query, the EFCC chairman was given seven days to send a detailed reply to Obasanjo.
The EFCC chairman was also directed to furnish the Presidency with more details of his comment and how he arrived at it.
Ribadu, according to our source, also incurred the wrath of the Presidency when he allegedly awarded contracts for the printing of calendars and mementoes for the year 2004.
Auditors report on the contract had notified the EFCC that its award was contrary to a directive by the Federal Government that its agencies and parastatals should not incur such expenses in 2004.
Our source said, �President Obasanjo is going to meet Ribadu�s response on his table by the time he arrives Nigeria from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he has gone to attend African Union meeting.�
Responding to a question, he said, �I cannot tell you what will happen when the President returns.�
Attempts by our correspondents to speak with Ribadu last night failed.
But the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Alhaji Ujudud Shariff, said, �I am not ware of any query served on the chairman, I need to find out from him. The chairman is in the country but I cannot reach him now. May be later in the day, I will call you and give you his reactions.�
Around 5.10pm, our correspondents put a call to the Personal Assistant of the EFCC Chairman, a lady simply called Oyinda, who said, �He is not around but he will get in touch accordingly.�
The Punch, Wednesday July 07, 2004
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