Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
said that the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, investigated him and his late wife,
Stella, even when he was in charge as the nation’s leader.
Obasanjo, whose administration created
the anti-graft agency, also alleged that the manner Ribadu carried out
the war against corruption created enemies for him (Obasanjo).
He made the claims after the former
EFCC boss presented a paper titled, “Illicit Financial Flow and
Governance of Natural Resources,” at the 3rd Tana High Level Forum on
Security in Africa in Badir Dar, Ethiopia at the weekend.
The former President said that rather
than being afraid of the enemies Ribadu created for him, “it is rather
them that fear me.”Obasanjo, who acknowledged that the fight against
corruption “comes with enemies,” did not tell the audience about the
outcome of the investigations against him, Stella, and his close
associates. He also did not name the enemies that Ribadu created for
him.
But the former President disclosed
that Ribadu almost lost his life when he was poisoned in the course of
his duty. He described the incident as a serious case that was “a
matter of life and death.” He told the gathering how a serving
minister in his administration, who was his senior in secondary
school, was found wanting by the EFCC and “there was no issue of
senior again.”
Obasanjo, who is also the chairman of
the Tana Forum, agreed with Ribadu’s submission that a willing
political leadership was the epicentre of any anti-corruption
campaign.
Stating that leadership needed
relevant laws to work with, he recalled how the bill establishing the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission
was whittled down by the National Assembly members who felt they could
be victims if it became a law.
Ribadu had in his presentation offered
strategies that African countries could follow to check illicit
financial flow and repatriate looted funds stashed away in other
countries.
He said that African countries needed honest and committed leadership. examples.
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