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Amaize Ohimai Godwin - My Blog
Amaize Ohimai Godwin - My Blog
Re: Ribadu's Properties
Related to country: Nigeria

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The attention of Nuhu Ribadu, Executive Chairman, EFCC has been drawn to a mass of allegations which have been given generous space in the media.

The publications of allegations against Ribadu arise from the attempts by two lawyers to compel the Inspector General of Police to initiate investigation into allegations that Mr. Ribadu purchased and owns properties in Abuja and Dubai. They are also praying the court to compel EFCC to render the Commission’s audited accounts and submit same to the National Assembly.

Mr. Ribadu wishes to state categorically that:

1. He DOES NOT own houses in Abuja or Dubai or any other part of the world, other than his personal house built in his village in Yola, in the early 1990s;
2. Apart from that, Mr. Ribadu owns a yet-to-be-developed plot of land in Katampe, an undeveloped district of Abuja, which was acquired in 1998;
3. Apart from his official EFCC salary account, Mr. Ribadu does not operate a bank account anywhere else in the world;
4. Like other Fulani, Mr. Ribadu also owns cows which he rears in his village;
5. Mr. Ribadu hereby grants express permission to anyone who finds that he has assets other than those declared above, to seize them without further reference to him;
6. When his official residence which belonged to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) was, in line with the policy of the last administration, offered for sale along with other houses in the area, Mr. Ribadu could not muster the funds to purchase the said house. However, sensitive to the possibility of a conflict of interest arising if he approached banks for a loan, given his position as EFCC Chairman, Ribadu nearly lost the house until his father-in-law, Professor Iya Abubakar, intervened. It was the Professor who bid for the house at a public auction and took a facility from his bankers, Fidelity Bank, to purchase the house, which cost N44m. As it is, Mr. Ribadu and his family are presently living in the Mambilla street house thanks to his father-in-law. All records pertaining to this transaction are available at the FCDA for anyone who wishes to check.

7. It must be stated that as a public officer, Mr. Ribadu has dutifully sworn to oaths declaring his assets as and when due. The declarations are public documents and can be accessed at the appropriate agency for purposes of verification, seizure of undeclared assets and prosecution if need be.

Further, Mr. Ribadu is saddened that otherwise learned gentlemen lend themselves as vehicles for the purveyance of obviously false allegations that the Commission has not been making annual renditions to the National Assembly in line with Sections 35 and 36 of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004. The simplest check that people can carry out is to ask their representatives in both chambers of the National Assembly to find out whether the Commission had ever neglected to comply with those provisions of the Act and if indeed it has been submitting details of its audited accounts and a compendium of its activities, every year, since its inception.

EFCC wishes to state that being sensitive to the peculiarities of its operations and environment, the Commission has even gone beyond the demands of the Act to engage highly professional external auditors (other than government-appointed auditors) to audit and re-audit its books. These reports have been routinely submitted to the National Assembly before the 30th day of September, every year, since 2003.

A cursory study of the allegations not only shows that they are pitiably shallow, but also throws up the unmitigated desperation of certain groups of people who have an axe to grind with the EFCC, to employ all tactics to embarrass its key officials, divert attention from their justified investigation and prosecution and ultimately derail the work of the Commission.

While Mr. Ribadu is saddened by the fact that enemies of the anti-corruption war would stop at nothing in the bid to sully its image, he welcomes the opportunity offered by the lawyers to deal squarely with the wild and resurgent allegations from which have regrettably spawned endless pepper soup joint plots for the Nigerian theatre of the absurd.

The attention of Nigerians is drawn to the fact that these kinds of wild allegations have always attended the work of the Commission. Right from inception in 2003, EFCC has faced all manners of unsubstantiated allegations, from operating torture chambers, to grand corruption. Even as we made to conclude this response, we learnt that gun-running has been added to the long list of dreamt-up allegations against EFCC. The attempts at blackmails would definitely continue as long as EFCC continues to do carry out its functions with determination. But, Nigerians are advised to be wary and to always be guided by what we have said in the past that, “When you fight corruption, it fights you back.”

Dapo Olorunyomi
Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman.

January 10, 2008 | 9:43 AM Comments  0 comments

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