Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri
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.
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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