ABUJA — The Presidency, yesterday, reacted to the
assertion by former chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu
Ribadu that Nigeria under President Goodluck
Jonathan is a ‘sinking ship’.
It said that Ribadu is an ingrate considering what the
Jonathan administration did for him on his return from
self-imposed exile.
Mallam Ribadu at a lecture in Kaduna on Saturday said
Nigeria, under President Goodluck Jonathan, was a
sinking ship in which the yearnings of the masses were
being neglected by a tyrannical leadership.
Reacting to Ribadu’s claim, the Presidency, in a
statement, yesterday, by the Special Adviser to the
president on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said
in his quest for relevance, Ribadu has resorted to
disparaging leaders of the land to satisfy his new
leaders.
According to the statement: “The Presidency totally
rejects the false, hypocritical and self-serving claim by
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu at a lecture in Kaduna on
Saturday that Nigeria under President Goodluck
Jonathan is a “sinking ship” in which the yearnings of
the masses are being neglected by a tyrannical
leadership.
“We find it very sad and utterly deplorable that Nuhu
Ribadu has resorted to shameless wolf-crying, the
peddling of arrant falsehood and the denigration of the
elected government of his fatherland in furtherance of
his selfish quest for continued national political
relevance after his wholesale rejection by Nigerian
voters in 2011.
“It is very unfortunate indeed that the once highly
respected former EFCC Chairman has now taken to
political prostitution and developed a penchant for
irresponsible and reckless utterances aimed at
improving the electoral fortunes of his new friends and
“leader”, who he once famously denounced as ‘not fit
to hold public office’.
“There can be no doubt that nothing else but blind
ambition for an office for which he is clearly unfit is
driving Ribadu to infer that an administration led by a
President who welcomed him back to the country after
his self-imposed exile, restored his rank in the Nigeria
Police to save him from the shame of demotion and
converted his dismissal from service to retirement has
now become tyrannical and anti-people. We take
special note of his ingratitude.
Ribadu was a tyrant — FG
“If Nuhu Ribadu wants to talk of tyranny then he should
talk of the days when he orchestrated the
impeachment of governors with an illegitimate quorum
of legislators who had been threatened by the EFCC
under his watch.
It beats the imagination that Nuhu Ribadu, a man who
once presided over an EFCC which in 2007 compiled
a list of disqualified politicians aspiring for office without
a court order or legal backing now has the guts to
accuse the man under whom Nigeria has had the most
credible elections in this Fourth Republic of being the
leader of a sinking ship.
Can there be a greater tyranny than the tyranny of
removing governors via undemocratic means and
barring legally entitled persons from contesting
elections?
“Nothing else but misguided ambition could have
driven Ribadu to urge Nigerian youths to rise up and
save the country from an administration which he
willingly served recently, but which he now
duplicitously and insincerely claims is “imposing private
interests on the majority.
“It is certainly the height of hypocrisy for Ribadu who
built his entire reputation as an anti-corruption crusader
by completely disregarding the rule of law and
recklessly trampling on the rights of perceived enemies
of the government of the day, to now accuse an
administration that has consistently upheld the rule of
law and respect for fundamental human rights of being
tyrannical.
“It is only a shameless man that will turn around and
accept to be the political lackey of a man he once
openly accused of corruption at various times between
2004 and 2007. Now that he has been used and
abused by the undemocratic overlords that reign over
the ACN and fearing that he may soon be dumped now
that that vehicle is about to be subsumed into the so
called All Progressives Congress, Ribadu is
desperately seeking fresh relevance.
“Ribadu’s descent into a moral abyss since leaving the
exalted office of EFCC Chairman, his equally ethically-
challenged new friends and his willingness to
vituperate against any person or institution he
perceives as a challenge to the fulfillment of his
unattainable ambitions, have clearly exposed him for
what he truly is – a thoroughly unprincipled attention-
seeker whose entire career in the public service was
built on bootlicking and doing the bidding of the powers
of the day without a care for legality which should have
been his primary concern as an officer of the law.
“President Jonathan and his Administration will not be
distracted from the diligent implementation of the
agenda for national transformation by the falsehoods
and vituperations of Ribadu and his new friends.
“Far from being tyrannical as Ribadu falsely alleged in
Kaduna, President Jonathan will, as he has
consistently done since assuming office, continue to
strengthen institutions of democratic governance in
Nigeria, uphold the fundamental human rights of all
Nigerians including the youth, and protect their right to
elect leaders in free, fair and credible elections,”

Story yi ti fè ma long ma shey bayi nw

I thought Ribadu is heading an investigative c'ttee in this administration. He is as well a contributor to the "sinking" Nigeria. Haba mallam, try and desist from phreaes like this so that we all can build a positive attitude towards our developmental strides as a nation.

The EFCC is dead. That is the legacy of GEJ.

I didn't even border myself this cool morning read through the trash our 1st lady, our beloved 1st lady author has to say because in time soon, we will know who the real political prostitute was.

GEJ, That's why we keep telling you to play less politics. If you had not played politics in restoring his rank and benefit it would have been a different thing. Soon Alams will start
his own ranting.Face governance and stop appeasing few people who cannot even guarantee your stay in office.Utilize the time at hand and give your best and think less of 2015, only good work can guarantee a 2nd
term for you.stop getting confused this Association of retrenched ex(s). they have been tested and discarded, they have become accidental activist and good governance crusaders but in the real sense we know they are only looking for rehabilitation to be funded by public purse.

emekatimsu: GEJ, That's why we keep telling you to play less politics. If you had not played politics in restoring his rank and benefit it would have been a different thing. Soon Alams will start
his own ranting.Face governance and stop appeasing few people who cannot even guarantee your stay in office.Utilize the time at hand and give your best and think less of 2015, only good work can guarantee a 2nd
term for you.stop getting confused this Association of retrenched ex(s). they have been tested and discarded, they have become accidental activist and good governance crusaders but in the real sense we know they are only looking for rehabilitation to be funded by public purse.

You really think Ribadu wants money from the public purse? If he did, he could have a chosen a completely different career path.

donadexco: Story yi ti fè ma long ma shey bayi nw

Osu mi Ooo, won kan fe fi'iro pa wa nibibayishaaaaaa.... Iyyallayaawon!

Summary please. Too lengthy for me to read.

bobthebuilder99:

You really think Ribadu wants money from the public purse? If he did, he could have a chosen a completely different career path.

Or pocket Ibori's $15 million bribe..