300 EFCC policemen shun meeting with IG - I am still in charge at EFCC, says Ribadu

Chris Agbambu and Idowu Samuel, Abuja - 04.01.2008

THE over 300 policemen attached to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday failed to attend the meeting summoned by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro.

Mr. Okiro had on Wednesday, through the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Administration, Ogbonna Onovo, summoned all the policemen attached to the commission to a meeting scheduled for 10 a.m on Thursday.

As of 12 noon on Thursday, only one of the policemen had shown up at the Force Headquarters. Nigerian Tribune gathered that angered by this, the police management team immediately got the Director of Operations of the EFCC, ACP Ibrahim Lamorde, on the phone, who said he was still in Lagos and was not aware of the meeting.

The source revealed that Lamorde told the management team that he was busy putting finishing touches to some cases whose reports he said President Umaru Yar’Adua had demanded for.

Nigerian Tribune further gathered that the chairman of the anti-graft body, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, failed to pass on the directive to the policemen, who claimed they were not aware of such a meeting.

Nigerian Tribune got in touch with the Inspector-General of Police, who confirmed that the meeting was supposed to be held, but that none of the policemen came around.

He told the Nigerian Tribune that most of them confirmed that they did not get the information about the meeting as most of them could not be got on the phone.

Okiro, however, said that he had directed the DIG “A” to write to all the affected policemen to attend the meeting now scheduled for next week.

He added that they had nothing to fear as the meeting was to address them on recent developments in the commission, and also to assure them that everything was well.

Meanwhile, Mallam Ribadu has said the fact that he is proceeding on a year’s course does not mean he has been sacked as the boss of the commission.

He also denied employing the media to launch a propaganda war aimed at keeping him in office at all costs. Ribadu said these during an exclusive interview with the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja.

Nigerian Tribune had on Thursday exclusively reported that Ribadu might ignore the order of the IG to proceed on the course. Ribadu said he had no misunderstanding with the Federal Government or the police authorities over the issue of the course contrary to general impression.

Ribadu stressed that since the news of his proposed one year course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at Kuru, Plateau State broke, he had never made a public statement either directly or indirectly through any media organisation.

He said as a public officer, it was not proper for him to use the media to make a statement about his feelings on a government directive and that he would continue to restrain himself from speaking to the media on the issue of his course.

He said he was amazed at the dimension the issue of the course had taken in the media and that this had led to the wrong reading of the media and his attitude to the course.

Ribadu said he had been cautious all along about his actions, conduct and statements as the EFCC boss in view of the fact that he could be deliberately misunderstood by some people.

“The fact that I am to proceed on a course does not mean that I have been sacked. It is the media that has been suggesting that. There is no big deal about attending a course once it is proper for you to do so. Then I wonder why all the noise about Ribadu going on a course.”

He said he never expected to remain as the chairman of the EFCC for ever from the day he assumed office, adding that as a Muslim, he had always believed that whatever had a beginning must have an end.

“When I was appointed as the EFCC chairman, I took up the task hoping to serve my fatherland to the best of my ability. It is a difficult job, no doubt, but what keeps you going is your sincerity of purpose, commitment and the desire to help Nigeria attain a height in the fight against corruption.

“This is me and I would always be me. I have nothing personal against anyone. The thing is that I know I have a job to do and I must do it. In the course of doing the job, I might have stepped on the toes of some people while some people also admire us for what we are doing. Such is life.”

The EFCC boss said the fight against corruption launched in Nigeria since 2003 had achieved good results through improved international image of Nigeria on the corruption index as yearly gauged by the Transparency International.