WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-06-08 Time: 14:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Louis Achi
Abuja – The consequence of not fighting corruption to its logical conclusion would be the failure of Nigeria as an important, emerging nation state. Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, expressed this position yesterday in Abuja during an interactive session with editors even as she debunked the notion that President Goodluck Jonathan influenced her handling of the case against former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.
Stoutly defending her two-year stewardship, the EFCC boss said her agency is winning the war against corruption and that despite considerable operational challenges strewn in the agency’s pathway, would not relent in its total war against graft.
According to her, “Without being immodest, I would say that the EFCC has become a reference agency in the war against corruption, not only in Nigeria, but also in the whole of Africa. The EFCC is just seven years old but you will agree with me that the commission has registered itself in the consciousness of every Nigerian by its effectiveness, focus, strength and results.”
Further highlighting the strides of her commission, coinciding with the second anniversary of her tenure Waziri stated, “The impact is real. Today in Nigeria, financial and economic crimes are not what anybody will commit without sparing a thought on what will become of him should EFCC come into the picture.
“EFCC has become the hope of the ordinary Nigerian for distributive justice in the sense that those who are pillaging and stealing our resources can no longer enjoy the loot without being brought to book.”
Tracking back, Waziri told the journalists, “We can conveniently boast that while we inherited about ten high-profile cases when we took over about two years ago. Today we have not only instituted over 50 high-profile cases, we have equally secured over 100 convictions with a record of recovery that towers above $3.5 billion and over 1,200 cases pending in court.”
On the key challenges of her mandate, she said, “The elite constitutes the bulk of those committing economic and financial crimes. They have enormous resources with which to blackmail, frustrate and threaten those investigating them.
“Challenges are coming from members of the bar, especially many defence counsel who know that their clients have terrible cases and resort to all manner of tricks to frustrate prosecution by delaying trial.”
On the former Delta State governor, Chief Onanefe Ibori, Waziri clarified that Nigeria does not have extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but that it has with the United Kingdom, adding that the UAE is cooperating with the UK to tackle the case.
On former Rivers governor, Dr. Peter Odili, who secured a perpetual injunction to hold off prosecution over his alleged flawed stewardship in Rivers State, Waziri said the EFCC has been trying to vacate that order and that her agency would follow the rule of law.
Contrary to the notion that international donor agencies have written off the EFCC, Waziri explained that the commission’s co-operation with donor agencies remains intact and that donor support has not been withdrawn.
On the Asset Forfeiture Bill initiated by the agency, which met a brick wall at the National Assembly, she appealed to the media as a key agenda-setting institution not to relent in pursuing the matter as it would greatly aid the pursuit of her agency’s mandate.
On the allegation that she was handling the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mike Aondoakaa, with kid gloves in the face of various allegations against him, Waziri shrugged off this and stated, “There are no petitions against him. If there is a reason to pick him up, we’ll pick him up. The law is no respecter of persons.”
On the Harliburton, Siemens and Anamco cases, Waziri said that investigations were still on. “In the case of Harliburton, there was a committee set up by the former IGP who now handed over to Onovo. We are waiting for them to finish and hand in their report.”
Declining to comment on her predecessor Malam Nuhu Ribadu, she said responding to speculations was not her forte.
Switching to issues of internal corruption in the EFCC, she stated that she has set up a body to scrutinise all allegations and reports against her personnel.
It would be recalled that Waziri cried out recently that the “endemic” corruption cases in the country have overwhelmed the commission’s workforce, adding that because of Nigeria’s population of 140 million, the commission’s 1,500 operatives found the task of prosecuting corruption cases daunting.
She said despite the yeoman’s job she was doing, some critics still weave several falsehood and unfounded allegations against her, especially on the Internet. According to her, “Our capacity is 1,500 and this is a country of 140 million people. We are overworked and we can’t even do one quarter of the job of corruption in this country. It’s endemic.
“We want people to join us by bringing suggestion and ideas to give us information and to be willing to testify in court when we arraign suspects. Some of them will rather die than to go and testify in court.
“We are actually breaking our back working for this country in fighting corruption and other economic crimes. These are some of the crimes that had dented the image of this country.
“Even as I am doing a good job here… it’s just that when you fight corruption, corruption fights you. There is a lot of falsehood out there about me.
“I read so many things about myself on the Internet and each time I wonder whether they are referring to another Farida or it is the same person. This is damaging, very damaging to the image of this country.”
She however lamented that the flawed perception of the majority of Nigerians, especially the poor, that makes them idolise those who are stealing from them is a hindrance to the fight, saying that the commission is putting structures in place to educate the masses and create awareness on the nature of corrupt persons and practices in the country.
Waziri decried the fact that at 50, Nigeria is still contending with issues such as the provision of basic amenities like electricity, water, education and good health care, saying that this is all the result of the corruption in the land.
On the N2.3 billion car scam in the House of Representatives, Waziri denied that she was shielding the speaker of the House, Dimeji Bankole, saying that President Jonathan would be briefed on the whole matter by the commission.
“President Yar’Adua called me and gave me the case hand-to-hand and we handed the report back to him. President Jonathan is just about a month in office and we will brief him. I’m not shielding the speaker,” Waziri said.
Original date published: 7 June 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201006080195.html?viewall=1