At the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington DC on April 4, 2007, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu threw down the gauntlet to Prof Bugaje, Jonathan Zwingina, Tom Ikimi and all those in attendance in seminar that all who have any leads or evidence of corrupt practices that took place in aid of the so-called Third Term Agenda should step forward to furnish such information to the EFCC and they would follow up on all leads.

The issue came up upon being asked regarding his perceived selective prosecution of persons in Nigeria. He reiterated that General Buhari and Sunday Owoniyi have been vociferous critics of the present government, but they have not been investigated or prosecuted because there were no leads or facts that warrant such. The afternoon session of the Seminar titled "Nigeria: On the Eve of National Elections" which took place at 1779 Massachussets Ave Washington DC started with some tense moments when a gentleman unfolded a banner that read: "Ribadu - Doing His Master's Bidding". He was allowed some time to display his poster, then walked out of the hall.

Ribadu in very measured cadence gave the rationale in a well thought-out outline, the duties of the EFCC in a manner that was described by the moderator as very "passionate". Also in attendance were the Nigerian Ambasador to the United States, H.E. George Obiozor, Mr. Howard Jeter, US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Abba Kyari of ANPP, Mr. Ojo Madueke, Secretary-General of PDP as well as Mr. Audu Ogbe, former Chairman of PDP.

Further on the issue of the perception of his being teleguided to go after political enemies, Ribadu ventured that majority of those investigated for offenses were of the ruling party, the PDP. He added that  when he went after 419 kingpins, it was not an issue, he then went after bankers and even subsequently took on the then Senate President who was also of the ruling party. That he had even prosecuted and convicted the Police boss, the then chief law enforcement officer of Nigeria. It was only when he got to politicians seeking elective positions that he is perceived as partial. He volunteered that he and Atiku are from the same hometown and that if he were to be partial, he would not have investigated Atiku. In ringing tones, he asked if he was the person that asked the FBI to commence the investigation of Congressman Jefferson which involved Atiku; he asked if he was the one who caused the governors of Plateau and Bayelsa state to have over a million pounds cash in London? He concluded that however much he tries to be fair, his traducers would find something to accuse him in order to rubbish his record. 

Reflectively, Ribadu added that in the absence of set systems that work, leadership, good leadership determines everything in the fight against corruption. All President Obasanjo needed to do is to shut down the systems and the fight against corruption would be ineffective. In giving honor to whom due, he listed that Obasanjo is the only President in the world who has pushed for the prosecution of his cabinet officers.

High points of the seminar include when Dr. Darren Kew reeled out statistics and real life scenarios of the election possibilities with a forecast of likely state by state outcomes all things considered. The hall was hushed when it was the turn of Dr. Richard Joseph, Director of African Studies, Northwestern University, who had three likely scenarios of an election that may turn out to be "bad, worse or catastrophic". The Nigerian Ambassador to the US in a right to reply gave assurances that elections would hold in Nigeria, they would be fair and would be conclusive regardless of any doomsday scenarios because Nigerians are a resilient people.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 04.04.2007 22:48

Showcase  Villager

# 2 =Robot;166005>...At the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington DC on April 4, 2007, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu threw down the gauntlet to Prof Bugaje, Jonathan Zwingina, Tom Ikimi and all those in attendance in seminar that all who have any leads or evidence of corrupt practices that took place in aid of the so-called Third Term Agenda should step forward to furnish such information to the EFCC and they would follow up on all leads. Now he needs leads or evidence? Nobody is fooled. Any right thinking person knows there will be shortage of evidence right now. Wait till after May 29th when hopefully, they would have seized to control the instruments of power. There will be more than enough evidence then. Na today? What haven't we seen before? Who could provide any evidence when IBB, Abacha etal held sway? Time will tell. Posted by Showcase| 04.04.2007 23:06

sammyduyo  Villager

# 3 Dis Ribadu sef na wa! E think say we be fools? Na to day we don dey see hausa man with bow and arrows? A beg make we hear word! Posted by sammyduyo| 04.04.2007 23:39

ikegwuohac  JJC

# 4 People tend to get what they expect. Our people are particularly good at having sense, they use such cliches as 'na today' comot jare' etc, but I seem to see evidence within and outside Nigeria that suggests that this man Ribadu and his EFCC have improved Nigeria's image more than anybody or institution in the history of the country. Furthermore, I find it saddening that while Western media and NGO'S like the Council on Foreign Affairs and the CSIS are making efforts to celebrate this body, our people who have 'sense' are always eager to bring him down. Ribadu, you have tried and if nobody will praise you, I praise you and urge you to be like Chinua Achebe's agama lizard who praised himself for jumping from an Iroko tree when no one would praise him. Posted by ikegwuohac| 05.04.2007 01:08

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 5 It is all so convenient to ask people to bring forward evidence of corruption or graft, when it is a well known fact that such things are done in very discrete manner, under the shadow of darkness when honest people are getting their deserved rest. The job of people like Ribadu is to bring out things that criminals would normally hide from the public. Some anti third term Senators cried out during the TTA debate that money was being used freely. EFCC did not see it fit to investigate that time. It chose to remain silent only to now turn round to invite people to bring evidence. Hypocrisy. What he said is also not new, It was the same thing OBJ said when he asked people to bring evidence against Babangida, but when Okigbo turned in his report, the report conveniently got missing!! As long as Ribadu keeps on talking and acting hypocritically like OBJ, he will not escape being referred to as the hatchet man of his master Posted by Mikky jaga| 05.04.2007 04:21

Odinaka  Villager

# 6 I will be greatly pained to doubt the sincerity of Ribadu, he has given me cause to start doinf that. I admire his courage in fighting the monster called corruption, my only problem is that he seems to have a way of developing cold feet over some cases, while going all out against some, even with extra-judicial zeal. OK, he hasn't got evidence at the moment concerning the third term stupidity, what about Bode George and NPA? What about looking into how an aide of the President laundered over 21 million naira from naija into the US via the presidential jet? :frown: Guy, you get me confused at times Posted by Odinaka| 05.04.2007 04:34

olusola  Villager

# 7 =Mikky jaga;166037>It is all so convenient to ask people to bring forward evidence of corruption or graft, when it is a well known fact that such things are done in very discrete manner, under the shadow of darkness when honest people are getting their deserved rest. The job of people like Ribadu is to bring out things that criminals would normally hide from the public. Some anti third term Senators cried out during the TTA debate that money was being used freely. EFCC did not see it fit to investigate that time. It chose to remain silent only to now turn round to invite people to bring evidence. Hypocrisy. What he said is also not new, It was the same thing OBJ said when he asked people to bring evidence against Babangida, but when Okigbo turned in his report, the report conveniently got missing!! As long as Ribadu keeps on talking and acting hypocritically like OBJ, he will not escape being referred to as the hatchet man of his master Why was Chukwumerije and other so-called anti-3rd term Senators silent when Ribadu threw a challenge at them while addressing the Senate, to name anyone who was bribed to support 3rd term? One would have expected Chukwumerije and his group to rise up and name those who took bribe and those who bribed them. This is because he and his group were the people alleging that money changed hands while the debate lasted.What we had in the Senate chamber on that day was a complete silence. Therefore, if they cannot substantiate their allegations, they should shut their mouths forever! Posted by olusola| 05.04.2007 05:06

Mikky jaga  Villager

# 8 Olusola, It is no defence to ask people to come forward and produce evidence in bribe taking/giving case. Ribadu is paid to sniff out these things and bring whoever is guilty to book. If he says he has no evidence, well we take it from him like that, but he should at least tell us how far he went since the allegation was made. For instance: did he interview theose making the allegations, did he check the accounts of these third term advocates and their cronies. I mean, he should try and convince Nigerians on what he had done, then somebody may chip in one or two things to assist his investigations. Throwing up his hands and saying no evidence, without as much as trying to get such evidence is an admission of failure. The man knows in what direction the investigation is pointing and suddenly developed cold feet. That is my opinion Posted by Mikky jaga| 05.04.2007 05:51

Femi Longe  Villager

# 9 Love or hate Ribadu and the EFCC, but admit it is the start of an institution that can yet help Nigeria redeem it's name from the present mud it is in. J Edgar Hoover (the guy who founded the FBI in it's present form and its Director for 48 years) and the FBI have had their own crisis in the 99 years of existence. They have been involved in scandals and accusations of favouritism, selective investigation etc however, this in no way negates the role the FBI has played in putting down corruption in America or at least making it more and more difficult to happen. THe US is probably as corrupt as Nigeria. It just doesn't happen as openly and systems are continually being put in place to curb corruption. That is the role the EFCC has in Nigeria and love it or hate it, in the EFCC's short span of existence, it has carved itself out as an organisation that people are afraid of and take into consideration when carrying out their corrupt activities. First, it now exists which is a good thing. Over time it would evolve into a respectable organisation and play it's part in redeeming the good name of Nigeria and punishing the corrupt. The senate has taken one of the steps in reforming the EFCC by taking the power to appoint the boss from the Presidency. Over time more such tweaking will be in place to make it an even more effective organisation. Doing his mater's bidding or not, let's be grateful that it's Nuhu Ribadu (a Nigerian police man who can still claim to be clean) not Tafa Balogun that is at the head of the EFCC because much as people have complained of how EFCC is going about it's job, no one has called Ribadu corrupt. At least not to my hearing. If you nave any "concrete evidence" of his corruption, bring it forward and we will investigate it -FOOD FOR THOUGHT Posted by Femi Longe| 05.04.2007 06:22

akuluouno  Villager

# 10 Dear Villagers, Wishing you a reflective passion weekend and a Happy Easter in Advance. I am not prempting Admin whom I know is religious in addressing these matters but I do not think that Nuhu needs to throw down any gauntlet. What his agency needs is more autonomy away from the President so that he can discharge his duties without being percived as witchhunting the enemies or critics of Our Father. BTW the courts should also be allowed to have the last say on matters of who is corrupt or not and their judgements should be respected while cases should also not be allowed to run the full gauntlet of getting to the Supreme court before they become fully justiceable. However, It would be interesting to know the full details of the scenarios post election painted by the experts including Prof Joseph. May the spirit of Easter prevail to uplift our nation. :sad: Posted by akuluouno| 05.04.2007 06:49

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