Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has said contrary to widespread belief, he was not used to witch-hunt political enemies of then President Obasanjo. He added that he made it a point of duty to go after persons with close ties to the President at the time.
He made the clarifications in an interview he granted Zero Tolerance, a magazine from the stable of the EFCC.
“A President could not give me anything. Obasanjo never gave me an office pin-up till this very moment. Never!
“A lot of people feel the EFCC broke a lot of laws or Obasanjo gave me everything. What did he give me? The entire budget of the EFCC from the beginning to the time I left was not up to N11billion! We never got anything extra, never!
“The people we brought to justice were the closest people to him (Obasanjo). They were PDP men; but others will turn it upside down and lie. It’s really sad, and a lot of them got away with it.”
Ribadu also said that former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Tafa Balogun, was there for the taking once he had crossed the line. Ribadu famously moved against his then Police Boss, Balogun, over an alleged N5.7bn fraud.
“Well, the point is that whoever crosses the line will be dealt with. Whether a constable or an IGP, it’s the same thing. The solution is not to cross the line”, he said of Balogun.
“When you execute your mandate honestly, you become blind to the position of individuals. Justice is blind.
“So, Tafa Balogun was my boss as the Inspector-General of Police, but he crossed the line. He did things that were wrong and was brought to our attention, and the law took its course.
“To be honest, I thank God for having only one fear: that is the fear of God. It is not arrogance or anything, no it’s just that I feel what is right is right, and in doing what is right, I don’t fear any mortal”, Ribadu said.
On former Governor of Delta State, C(T)hief James Ibori, who is serving a jail term in a London prison for corruption charges perpetrated against the Nigerian State, Ribadu said James was just one out of many elite corrupt persons in Nigeria; adding that he didn’t cover his tracks very well as he went on a looting spree.
“There are worse people than James Ibori in Nigeria. I think probably James was not the smartest one among them. There are some crooks worse than James, and I still see them,” said Ribadu.
“Some of them are even being celebrated right now in our country. Some of them are trying to re-write history. James didn’t handle his own criminal affairs smartly, and he ended up paying dearly for it.
“There are smarter crooks than James, who did more damage to the EFCC, but God will judge them. James is serving a jail term in the UK.
“So it was not only James, and if we narrow it down to James alone, we are actually underestimating the way corruption fought back.”
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