A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri,
on Wednesday described as “blatant falsehood,” the claim by
ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo that she was recommended for the EFCC job
by convicted former Delta State Governor, James Ibori.
Expressing surprise that a man who has been twice a Nigerian
leader would “descend so low to peddle falsehood,” Waziri warned
Obasanjo to respect his age or else she would “open up on him.”
“I will like to warn that those who live in glass houses
don’t throw stones and as such Obasanjo should not allow me open up on
him. Respectable elder statesmen act and speak with decorum”, she said
in a statement personally signed by her.
Ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar said the claim by the former
President that he was persona non grata in the United States, was not
true.-punch
Obasanjo had in an interview he granted Zero Tolerance, a
magazine published by the EFCC, also said that the war against
corruption in the country slowed down during Waziri’s tenure because she
was not qualified for the job.
He had said, “Go and look at her track record. 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.”
But Waziri, in the statement which showed her level of anger, said she doubted if Obasanjo could boast her level of education.
The EFCC former chairman then went ahead to reel out her
educational qualification and her relationship with international
security agencies while serving in the Nigeria Police Force for 35
years.
She said, “Again for the record, I served in the NPF for 35
years and got to the pinnacle of my career before my appointment as the
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, and
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 the SFU, I did
not only relate with the FBI, Interpol and the 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’s degree in Law and another Master’s
degree in Strategic Studies. I doubt if Obasanjo himself can boast this
level of educational qualifications.
“I will also like to remind Obasanjo that no chairman of the
EFCC has till date beaten my records in terms of investigation of high
profile cases, prosecution, conviction and recovery.”
She told Obasanjo that the Act establishing the EFCC
stipulates 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’.
Waziri said while she holds the office of a Head of State in
the highest esteem, it was necessary to put on the record for the
umpteenth time, that the claim that Ibori recommended her for the EFCC
job “ is a totally unfounded, blatant lie.”
The ex-anti graft Czar added, “The truth is that I never met
Ibori in my life until after months in office as chairman of the EFCC
when I used to see him in the Presidential Villa.
It is on record today that I initiated the investigation that
drove Ibori into the waiting hands of the Interpol and the Metpolice.
“As such, it is illogical and nonsensical for anyone to
continue to insinuate that Ibori had a hand in my appointment. I
remember this was one of the lies Obasanjo’s sit-tight pawns cooked to
stop my appointment as the EFCC chairman in 2008.”
According to her, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua did not
have to alter the Act “when he was appointing me unlike what Obasanjo
did.”
She told the former President that ability to be used to
victimise political enemies in the rabid pursuit of his third term
agenda “has never been part of the qualifications for appointment as
chairman of the anti-graft agency.”
Also, Abubakar said there was no way he could be arrested if he travelled to the US.
He added that Obasanjo’s repeated ‘jokes’ about his “ not
being able to go to the US have become a cliché, tiresome and not true.”
In a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Mallam Garba
Shehu, the former vice-president said his visa to the US had recently
been renewed.
“The former President is wrong. It is widely known that
Abubakar didn’t enter government broke. He declared his assets at the
commencement of his Vice Presidency and did so at the end of his
tenure.” the statement added.
It stated that in 2006, Obasanjo sent his National Security
Adviser to stop Abubakar from travelling to the US on the grounds that
he risked arrest on arrival.
The ex-VP, according to the statement, spurned that advice,
left Nigeria and landed at the Andrews Air Force Base, the official
airport of the US government.
It added that shortly after Yar’Adua was inaugurated as President, Abubakar travelled and spent three months in the US.
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