@cre8tivity please explain to us how Ribadu was illegally promoted.

Also who is the chairman of the police service commission? are you not saying the president of Nigeria has no right to promote any civil servant or public officer for displaying galant performance?

WAS TAFA BALOGUN
Musiliu Smith
Muhammad Gambo
ALIYU ATTAH, EVEN
OKIRO and many more police officers not beneficiary of double promotion?

if you want to talk of seniority or rule of law ONOVO should have been elected to be IGP and not this clown name Okiro

my dear, since you sound like you know it all, why not do us a favor and answer the rest of my questions? thanks

All the evidence of a witch hunt is staring you in the face and yet you claim 'rule of law'
The other people who benefitted from double promotion including the IG himself are not being demoted, and yet there are talks of rule of law
im so sorry for Nigeria
with people who celebrate the triumph of criminals over justice i see no way forwards.
Its obvious some people here will rather the country abandons the fight against corruption totally or leave it in the hands of the Waziris,
NIgeria, shame on you.

@cre8tivity i don't know it all, but i have people with reliable source at the force headquarters that can attest to my claim.

let me ask you one question.

Why is the police setting up a commission for this hearing? wasn't the provost mershall office responsible for recommending disciplinary actions to the police service commission?

What does a DIG in charge of operation doing with a personnel matter?

It seems this debate has been raging on this and other forums: http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/index.php/content/view/10838/55

mamajama, why not use your reliable source to answer my questions and yours as well?

As a foreigner it is very interesting to follow this discussion and the views of the Nigerian people. Get behind the mindset of people. Understand how people perceive Ribadu and his actions, past and recent - from the outside he looks like a patriot, however uncovering his past, making everything visible and transparent, would perhaps not be pretty. It is always important to remember that there are at least two sides of a story or accusation, that being said, people always have a reasoning for acting and saying what they do. Few people on this board, very visible though, seems to find that Ribadu is now the bad guy. I am not in a position to be the judge of who is right and who is wrong, I believe there is never one single perfect answer, most in this world is subjective, even when it comes to what we perceive to be reality.

Having followed the Ribadu case it seems that he has recently been subject to an unjust attacks on his person - unecessary humiliations, demotions without reasoning etc. He might selectively have chosen who to go after in the war against corruption, but to make it illegal you will probably have to prove he received favours in return. The media hype makes him a patriot though to the common man. Running away I agree is not the way to do it, however, justice in Nigeria is not what I perceive justice in the western world for instance. The man is running for his life, trying to escape a justice system with many flaws, where Naira often control who is a winner. Which judge in Nigeria will rule in favour of a man that is not wanted by the leaders of the country? How independent are the courts of law from the government? How transparent will a court case be? Will the state protect him from those who want to harm him? So should Ribadu stay back, likely risk his life, perhaps become another dead patriot - because it seems that majority of the Nigerians is in favour of him (looking at the media and the way they portrait him)? In Europe I would have faced my trial, I know I would be safe in most cases and be able to appeal any unjust decision knowing that in 99.999993% of cases truth will be heard - In Nigeria, I would have considered only, given the risk of an unjust trial or being killed - in a country where something as big as a presidential election is not transparent and fair. It is only unfortunate that running away automatically signals that you need to hide, that they might unveil something criminal about you. It is also the country where any evidence can be made up against you, where your house can be sold without your knowledge. In this country police has killed for as little as N50 some people claim, even if that number is N100,000 - something is wrong! I am held back driving my car at night because "it's weekend". Would I like to be thrown for the NPF and later a corrupt court, if I live that long, knowing that my superiors in a public system wants me out? What are the chances that they will dismiss charges if I am innocent and leave me in peace in my house in my old village? Small! Believeing you can get a chance to speak or a fair trial in Nigeria if your superiors in a public system are against you is ignorance (sorry to be subjective - who will challenge me?).

Let him go to a country and seek asylum based on the fact that he finds he is being treated unjustly by the government itself - that they, or entities within, wants him dead. Let the Nigerian authorities present the case - is it justified, bring him back! Being a patriot in Nigeria and going through legal system here am sure is not a nice thing to do! Is Ribadu a coward? Perhaps - he could choose to die for his case, if he is truly innocent - What I really need is to understand what he has done wrong, what are the charges against him, are they justified? Can the police not give a press statement on what he has done and what evidence they possess? If he is not wanted by the police, suppose he can freely leave the country like anyone else - it means he gets fired from his job, but he can still leave and should feel no danger coming back?

If this is about refusing to show up for work, then any developed country would have a legal court of justice you can report to and trust to serve your interest. Same has been done by Ribadu in Lagos and Abuja - should he then not have to show up for disciplinary actions etc., and have that court to handle the issue? If he truly feels that his employer in worst case could kill him? I think so. Let the court protecting his interests (his life!) appear for him.

Crea8tivity, you seem to be one of those against Ribadu and one who adds some weight as to why you are so, so like your views (consonlidated):
- What has Ribadu done wrong (Besides being selective and appointed by OBJ)?
- What makes him be above the law? Has Ribadu done anything illegal? Did he break the law and how? Will/should he face any charges?
- Will/Should the government protect him, knowing he has enemies and is in danger?
- Can Nigeria guarantee him protection and a fair trial?
- Has any evidence or indications of charges surfaced?
- Do you reckon that job by Ribadu is well done afterall - or a complete waste? Who others have done better?

From what I read there are arguments that he practised selective prosecution - that is only illegal if favours are returned or? Another one is that he undersold properties - who ever gave him the authority to sell, isn't that setting the man up for failure in the first place? He disobeyed senior officers - again, is he reporting to them? Should EFCC not be completely separate and not taking orders from i.e. police - again it seems like setting someone up for failure with conflict of interest.

My view right now is that Ribadu at least did an effort - yes certain people he could not touch and it might not be fair to be selective, however they are all criminals and should be prosecuted, one step at a time - sure the new chairman can the start pointing the other bad guys out, that Ribadu left behind. Ribadu moreover created awareness, attention to the problems, fear amongst offenders, proof that something can be done - if he didn't take all, then make sure you employ good people where bad ones left and the next EFCC takes care of the rest?

I appreciate the open discussions, I enjoy the open press - This is the beginning of something good, It will take more than a day to turn this country around - I just wish that Nigerians had some more "french" blood in terms of making officials aware through peoples revolutions, big or small. From my view far to few people get away with far too much (Where else in the world is it common that an official can commit fraud for USD 200 million?! Where is the transparency? Where are the small patriots that will bring fraud/crime to the attention of relevant authorities? Where are the upright leaders of the country? - They are here among 150 million people for sure, how will they get their say? 149 million good people - against 1 million bad? - or is corruption just truly in the veins of Nigerians?).

Just my 10 cents, I hope for a reply from Crea8tivity - for my view on the other side of the story, apart from the one I have seen most of and perceive more as justified.

thank u oyibo X that serves creativity well. Obasanjo regime is far better than Yara dua. the man seems to be less care about the project call nigeria.

Thank you Oyibo for your perspective. There seems to be a lot of venom directed at Ribadu for his supposed "selective" prosecution. My point always has been even if that is true, has he actually prosecuted any innocent people? The answer is no.

1) How can the EFCC fight corruption against an opponent that does not fight "fair"? Fighting "fair" against the big time government gangsterism that Nigerians term "corruption" is akin to getting into a street fight against someone armed with an AK47 by trying to stick to the Queensberry rules.

2) The methods employed by Ribadu (impeachment, guilty pleas for lighter sentences) are believe or not, perfectly normal and frequently employed methods of law enforcement around the world. The mechanisms are alternate versions of PLEA BARGAINING. That is where defendants are given lighter sentences in exchange for full confessions, and for testifying against or implicating their accomplices. The tactic has been very successful against the Mafia. Most Mafia dons are never convicted of murder and usually get sentenced for lesser offences such as racketeering or get implicated in money laundering by their subordinates' testimony. The Mafia analogy is the nearest analogy for the lawlessness and corrupt incompetence in Nigerian government circles.

3) Such methods of "squeezing" suspects are not perfect, but in a society as rotten as Nigeria, the law enforcer has no other way of securing convictions against men who use their stolen wealth to fight against those that seek to stop their looting. As for the "selectivity" of the EFCC - of course the EFCC has not got all corrupt politicians. That is obvious. But if Nigeria has 100 corrupt politicians and the EFCC imprisons 50 of them, one has to consider whether the cup is half full or half empty? My perspective is that taking 50 of them out of circulation is better than leaving all 100 free and waiting for such time as all of them can be removed. That is not a practical way to fight crime. Law enforcement is inherently selective. Even western law enforcement agencies often apply selectivity in their prosecutorial targets and often deliberately target a minority of criminals in an effort to create show trials that act as examples and deterrents to other offenders.

4) There is a famous English legal case where a lady protesting amongst hundreds of other protesters was randomly selected by the police, arrested and convicted of a public order offence. The court ignored her defence that the police "picked on her" and ignored the other offenders. The court's reasoning was that she was guilty of the offence for which she was charged and it did not matter how many others committed the same offence.

5) If the sort of reasoning being bandied on this thread is applied to its logical conclusion, no one would ever be convicted of a crime ever again, because every murderer, rapist and armed robber could always say "you can't arrest me - what about all the other criminals on the loose - you haven't arrested them, so why pick on me?"

''He who fights and run away leaves to fight another day''' We are entitled to diffr position in this country. Even those that served their fathers land well are still prone to questioning, Our views matters a lot. No one should disagree with another persons comments cos he/she is not on his side, As for me ribadu should just come out open and face questioning and thats all. That will be the greatest joy he will do for the country and he might prove his critics wrong, I believe OBJ wherever he is should be ashamed for putting us in this mess

@ Oyibo X

I like and appreciate your write-up and I believe you are right-on-the-money!

@ Cre8tivity

It is hard not to call you uncomplimentary names but you have a right to you opinions. Good enough, you will realize how your opinions weigh against the majority of opnions here.

CyberG:


@ Cre8tivity

It is hard not to call you uncomplimentary names but you have a right to you opinions. Good enough, you will realize how your opinions weigh against the majority of opnions here.

Its not about the majority of opinions but about having the right opinion.
The majority of opinions could be wrong.

Muza:

Its not about the majority of opinions but about having the right opinion.
The majority of opinions could be wrong.

Perception is reality. I don't believe that there is such a thing as the right or wrong opinion really - its subjective. Nobody can claim to have the right opinion.

It doesn't change the fact that of course everybody has a right to have an opinion and should not be judged/called names based on that - and fortunately we have different opinions - in an open discussion all input are valid.

i honestly feel that ribadu can not afford to answer most of these questions, and very soon it would all come out in the open. till ribadu comes out like a man and a true citizen of nigeria, his fight against corruption will continue to bear a label of corruption fighting corruption. for those of you that continue to take side, have you asked yourselves what exactly ribadu is hidding from? it's ribadu today, who will be next tomorrow to openly disobey the rules and regulations. this mess must stop, i don't care who you are or what you've done or what you're trying to do, you must obey the rules. this is the only way out of darkness.

cre8tivity:

i honestly feel that ribadu can not afford to answer most of these questions, and very soon it would all come out in the open. till ribadu comes out like a man and a true citizen of nigeria, his fight against corruption will continue to bear a label of corruption fighting corruption. for those of you that continue to take side, have you asked yourselves what exactly ribadu is hidding from? it's ribadu today, who will be next tomorrow to openly disobey the rules and regulations. this mess must stop, i don't care who you are or what you've done or what you're trying to do, you must obey the rules. this is the only way out of darkness.

I respect that view and perhaps he should step forward, there should be no issue with that, assuming that he has himself taken part of any corrupt transaction - however is there any protection for him and his familie, any guarantee as to his safety? If his life is really in danger, that issue must be addressed first and foremost.

My view is, especially considering this is Nigeria in an early stage of turning into a democracy, that "Rome wasn't built in one day" - it has to be one step at a time, demanding immediate transparency to any transaction taking place will never happen. I believe Ribadu's function is somewhat in between, he didn't capture all, but he got it started. I appreciate the efforts done by Ribadu, afterall he has shown some results - he is not under any suspicion of filling his own pockets from what I get. There is an issue about sold properties, which in the first place should have nothing to do with EFCC I think, secondly if he has not been filling his own or his friends pockets from these transactions, then how much of a liability should you as a chairman (or any other employee for that matter having made a mistake) have - none?! I will not defend Ribadu, I don't have the required details to know it all - but it does seem his could be in danger in Nigeria and as such that issue must be taken care of. The press statement by EFCC on Ribadu also states that he is invited for clarification and nothing else - but he still has a lot of enemies here and maybe not the support he needs from the government and former superiors/employer to safely step forward - if EFCC reckons he has done a good job, which they do, then they must also support him now and exempt him from the liability such a position can lead to - again assumed he is not corrupt.

EFCC recovers $5.6bn, blames judiciary (TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER 10/12/2008)
Lanre Adewole, Abuja -10.12.2008

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it had recovered over $5.6 billion while it accused the judiciary of frustrating expeditious trial of those accused of corrupt practices.


A statement issued by the commission’s spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, quoted the commission’s chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, as speaking at a forum marking the 2008 International Day against Corruption.


According to the statement, “ Waziri stated this at a forum convened to mark the 2008 International Day Against Corruption. The EFCC’s boss bared her mind on some challenges arising from long prosecution time circle in the courts, a situation, she said, was making the wheel of justice grind slowly.


“She also expressed worries over the slowness in obtaining judgments in corruption cases as against advance fee fraud cases. “It remains a puzzle that advance fee fraud cases are speedily tried and judgments rendered, but not so with corruption cases.

One challenge, therefore, that we need to urgently address is how to bring corruption cases to quick conclusion in the courts,” she said.


Besides, Waziri is disturbed by the increasing spate of granting ex parte injunctions by some courts in a bid to restrain anti-corruption bodies, including the EFCC from performing their statutory responsibilities. This tendency, she feared, might continue to pose serious hindrance to the fight against corruption.


====================================================================================================================

Creativity,

The statement above was credited to Mada Waziri. Obviously, all these funds and the over 290 convitions were under the sterwardship Mallam Ribadu. You can't tell me all these convictions or money were recovered from only Obasanjo's enemies.
The same Waziri, who just like you has been criticising Ribadu at every opportunity had the temerity of telling an International audience the work EFCC
has been doing in the last 5 years. Most if not all these accomplishments were done by Ribadu, and not Waziri and the money went into the Government treasury.

Mallam Ribadu could have been making deals with the ex governors, just like AGF and Waziri and could have been the richest man in Nigeria today.

She even ackowledged the great difficulty inherent in fighting corruption in Nigeria. It sounds okay to talk about the rule of law, but, you and i
know that Nigerian judiciary is compromised. You see ex-governors getting perpetual injunction against being investigated. If we rely on the
judiciary, you will see cases lasting for decades. How does that help in the fight against corruption? That will not instill fear of looting in our
criminal politicians.

Ribadu wasn't giving excuse, he had to use any means, even, extrajudicial means to achieve these results. We have to look at his motive, which was to use any available means and tool to instill fear in our leaders thus reducing their tendency to loot, thus impoverishing the populace. Look at ICPC, they make the right noise but have they been able to convict anyone? No!

The level of corruption and it's destructive infleunce in Nigeria society warrants tough decisions. We really need to take drastic actions and If need be, we may have to set up special courts. Fighting corruption in Nigeria is akin to a war, and even in western democracies, unconventional means have been adopted in war situations (guantanamo bay and millitary tribunals in USA).

We are all victims of corruption, and i am ready to dine with anyone including the devil as lond as their actions results in lowering the endemic
culture of corruption and ultimately, improving the life of fellow nigerians.

Creativity, i know the looters ar eimensely wealthy and have harem of women all over the world. I hope, you are not one of them. As for Musa, he is a typical northerner, with an unprogressive mindset, which has largely accounted for the backwardness of the North.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, may have sneaked out of the country.  

Last few weeks, the leadership of the Nigeria Police, some agents of the Yar’Adua government and some former governors, facing trial by the EFCC, have combined efforts to humiliate him.

After the humiliation, the police and the EFCC invited him for questioning on his past activities as boss of the anti-graft body. Ribadu declined the invitations on the excuse that he had already taken the police to court over his demotion. Some aggrieved politicians, who are currently being tried by the EFCC for fraud, have vowed to stop at nothing to disgrace him.

cre8tivity
i agree completely with your opinion concerning ribadu. you speak my mind. i dont understand why some nigerians are blinded by the make-believe of ribadu. Nigerians should wake up, not just opening eyes and not seeing anything. nigerians should be awake in their minds and brains. Ribadu has not done us any good. he only served his master OBJ, and he served him as if he does not have a brain of his own.
come to think of it, Ribadu is not fleeing the country because he is afraid of his life. he is fleeing because he is scared of the shame he will bring to hisslf and his entire supporters and innocent nigerians if the truth about his corruption fight is exposed. he definitely has somethings to hide.
if i may ask those calling him their role model, why did he not honour the invitation of the current EFCC, why did he not attend the police invitation and so many other things. Nigeria should be able to know what persecution is, Nobody is persecuting Ribadu. Nigeria is gradually moving to a point where every public official should one day give an account of his stay in office. Ribadu is not above the Nigeria constitution and nigerians and he should not feel or make to believe he is. it is we nigerians that are doing ourslves
why are u people trying to prevent justice from taking place, if Ribadu is innocent, let him stay around and present himslf for that justice. we waste so much time and attention for underserving things like Ribadu. selective justice is no justice. OBJ made and used RIbadu and we should put Ribadu in a place were we put others that have held public office and abused it. pls lets stop making a hero in whom there is none. Nigerians should wake up and stop allowing the weak in mind deceive us

ahwuyen
u are too quick to rush to conclusion. OBj can never be better than Yar adua govt even if Yar adua decides to be sleeping from now till 2011. pls not that. Besides we shld use 1 and 1/2 yrs to access yar adua and not 8 wasted yrs of obj

reindeer
it cannot be shame to nigeria but to those who think that revolution is ribadu and that Ribadu is a sacred cow. Ridadu shld be made to give account of his stewardship. period

@oturkpo
selective justice is no justice

very true

@ Otukpo
No one is saying that Ribadu should not be held accountable for his actions @ the helmsman of EFCC; Not at all; But there has been handwritings on the wall the wouldnt gave anybody in their sane mind the confidence of a fair hearing and guarantee their safety.
1. The manner in which he was removed from the EFCC- that never followed the rule of law or due process
2. His Demotion to 2level below; when the present IG and a whole lot of others were beneficiary of double promotion
3. He life is being threattned; he's been shot at
4. The Humiliation at the NIPSS graduation of both him and his families
The above would indicate to anybody that they are being witch hunted- Hence common sense should tell the person to flee for their lives; He's safety is not guarantee; in a country where an attorney general can be murdered and nothing happened.
The establishment were too much in a hurry to deal with him; if not they should have just left him as AIG; upon graduation the invite him to account for his stewardship; hence points 2-4 would have been removed and if he then refuses when can now say he has something to hide.

May God help our leaders and we the followers to think big.Yaradu is pursuing Ribadu while he has not even realised 1 out of his x point agenda.An the followers are shouting good for Ribadu!Good for Obj! What real impact will the arrest of Ribadu have on our economy?

Most Nigerians are in need because they are ignorant of the information they need.Can someone please tell me what concerns the common man with the arrest of Ribadu?

The concrete fact remains that Nuhu Ribadu didnt take time to read past history about the outcome of persons who happens to allow themselves to be used by their paymasters(sic OBJ) without following the dictates of their conscience.

Ribadu never fought corruption, but served as an instrument of political intimidation, just like Hitler used Himmler, and Goebbell for his own good.

The EFCC is a cesspool of bribery and corruption. How can some agents of EFCC account for their opulent wealth and chains of businesses? if EFCC could allow themselves to be probe and empty their cupboards, the devil will be ashamed of himself

It's easy to criticize but uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. I believe the good things Ribadu accomplished outweigh the wrong things he did. Some of the criticism directed at him here is unfortunate because I wonder how those doing so would have performed in his shoes under the same set of circumstances. The battered image of Nigeria was at least improved during his time than at any other time in recent history. This in turn led to investments and gains in various forms for the country.
If you think the FBI doesn't use the methods Ribadu employed then think again, they don't just do it as often and brazenly. The corruption war in Nigeria CANNOT be fought with a soft approach. I don't blame Ribadu really, in my opinion the problem is the EFCC Act. It should have been set up as a body independent from the police and less subject to the presidency. I don't think it is fair to criticize Ribadu the way some here have without appreciating all these things. I believe he performed adequately in a way that could have been built on.

Oyibo X,

Thanks for your fair and balanced contribution. As you already know this forum have been divided into pro and anti Ribadu but the real issue here for me is not about Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, it is actually Nigeria that is on trial and failing. It is a sensitive and painful issue.

Ribadu, whether you like it or not is the face of Anti-Corruption in Nigeria just like the likes of James Ibori, Mike Aandooka, Farida Waziri and Mike Okiro represents Pro Corruption.

Fighting that guy at this point in time is bad for this country because even his die hard critics cannot fault the fact that he fought corruption. All the achievements Madam Farida declared on world's anti-corruption day were Ribadu's achievements. She is been there for over 6 months now and we are yet to hear anything positive about her EFCC.

I love this part of your comment: My view right now is that Ribadu at least did an effort - yes certain people he could not touch and it might not be fair to be selective, [b]however they are all criminals and should be prosecuted, one step at a time - sure the new chairman can the start pointing the other bad guys out, that Ribadu left behind.[/b] Ribadu moreover created awareness, attention to the problems, fear amongst offenders, proof that something can be done - if he didn't take all, then make sure you employ good people where bad ones left and the next EFCC takes care of the rest?

For the guy's critics, please keep up the good works, it helps us all to have a better understanding of the whole drama. Please try and include evidence just like the Pro guys are doing. One Love Nigeria.

I believe the good things Ribadu accomplished outweigh the wrong things he did.

i disagree with you because we only know all his accomplishments, but what he did wrong has not been revealed as yet. therefore it makes no sense to come up with your conclusion at this time. and that's the title of the drama, mr ribadu prefers to run away before the truth about his other side comes out. nobody wants ribadu dead, if that is the case this would have been done many months ago. they just want him to take the same medication he has prescribed in the past for other citizens, and if ribadu was a real man that cares about this country and his supporters, he would have taken the medication without any struggle. do you know what ribadu did to nigerian citizens that did not acknowledge his invitation? we now have many cases still open because mr ribadu refuses to cooperate. during ribadu's time as the chairman of efcc, do you know what he did to nigerian citizens that didn't want to cooperate with him? come on now, we are citizens of the same country and everybody must be treated equally. nobody is above the law, by ribadu 2006.

My view right now is that Ribadu at least did an effort - yes certain people he could not touch and it might not be fair to be selective

nobody cares about all these stories, just come out like a man and a true citizen of nigeria to defend your era.

cre8tivity:

we now have many cases still open because mr ribadu refuses to cooperate. during ribadu's time as the chairman of efcc, do

U need to come up with better reasons that the above pls; Ribadu was not the only employee of EFCC; the person Waziri took over from was the chief operations officer; so he would know stuffs more indepthly than ribadu. Nigerians @ this stage are more informed and clever; so the masses may not revolt but they still know the truth; They are after Ribadu becos he has thwarted the ambitions of Odili; Ibori; Kalu & co of being Presidents in future hence they want revenge.

I feel no compasion for Ribadu, it's funny all this is happening under the nose of Yaradua ( the champion of "rule of law". Shame on Obasanjo, Shame on Yaradua, Shame on Nigeria, The biggest fool in Africa.

U need to come up with better reasons that the above please; Ribadu was not the only employee of EFCC; the person Waziri took over from was the chief operations officer; so he would know stuffs more indepthly than ribadu.

my dear moves, why do you sound like this? even you do no need the skill of running a small business or a knowledge of a 15 yr old to be able to figure this out. ribadu was the main man during those days, he was the man that authorized 99% of the arrests and he was directly responsible for the handling of the looted items. do not let us forget that the individual that took over from him used to work for him, ie ribadu was this man's boss. and just in-case you did not know, the current efcc administration has already met several times with the guy that took over from ribadu. obviously, something must still be missing for them to be inviting the main guy himself, mr ribadu. look, we do not need to sit here and discover several unrealistic method or ways to justify what ribadu continues to display to the world. even in united states of america or uk, ribadu would have been detained by now. what you do or what you've done doesn't void the rules and regulations. and i find it very difficult to believe how many of you here are trying to justify ribadu's behavior. i wonder why we've lived and continue to live in the darkness. a country that has no rules and regulations has no criminals. it doesn't matter what may be going on, the citizens must still obey the rules.

The undeniable truth is that Ribadu is only a victim of himself and an example of the failure of the Obasanjo regime ( along with the missing satalite ) I remeber him publicly saying IBB will never rule this contry. Now I'm not an IBB sUPPORTER BY A LONGSHOT!!! but was it his business to say that? is he saying that he and some people can some how influence who becomes President?, The Fool Ribadu should'nt have to look too far for his assailants, The lack of transparency that characterised the EFCC under his watch, won't score him any brownie points in my book, The anticoruption war waged by the obasanjo regiem was a huge joke, so is Ribadus insinuations that he is beign witch hunted, He's just getting a taste of his own medicine.

EFCC recovers $5.6bn, blames judiciary (TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER 10/12/2008)
Lanre Adewole, Abuja -10.12.2008

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it had recovered over $5.6 billion while it accused the judiciary of frustrating expeditious trial of those accused of corrupt practices.


A statement issued by the commission’s spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, quoted the commission’s chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, as speaking at a forum marking the 2008 International Day against Corruption.

There is your reason why Ribadu is respected in the world and has earned the respect of a good number of Nigerians. Granted, those who have "made it" in corruption or in Yahoo Biz, or those who hate OBJ with a passion will disagree. Also, anyone that does not see any connection between the recovery of $5.6 billion most of which are looted funds and the welfare of the common man in any given state, needs their heads examined.

I believe the Yar Adua's government has successfully merged the EFCC and ICPC as earlier proposed because what you have now is a toothless barking dog. You will continue to read statements like the above from Mrs Waziri and it will only be a surprise if her EFCC manages to even net any new conviction, maybe they can nab some nobody who may have robbed a pot of stew or hold up a recharge card booth center.

This country is the biggest joke in the world, and by large the attitude of its people as clearly stated by some here are the very reason. How someone can denounce a crime crusader for stopping Mr A, and Mr B, but not Mr C, Mr D, and Mr Z all whom we all know uses their state's funds like their play money beats me. How someone can't realize that its effectively a death sentence to send an officer who was stepping on the toes of the high and mighty to a post (with no protection) where he is an open target beats me. How someone blames an officer for being promoted by the President of the country for a job well done as confirmed by the the recent EFCC's statement above is beyond me. How a nation's government allows the issue of an officer's promotion to dominate the headlines daily and the lack of strategic thinking or PR awareness of that same government is appalling. The bottom line is that Yar Adua can make all this go away with one phone call, but don't hold your breath on that because "rule of law" is in vogue.