2011: EFCC seeks psychiatric test for aspirants
From Reuben Buhari in Kaduna, 09.29.2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Chairman of the Econo-mic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mrs. Waziri Farida, appears to have found her voice and she is using it strongly

The EFCC boss yesterday called for a psychiatric test for politicians jostling for public office in order to determine their level of mental and psychological suitability, ahead of the 2011 elections. The test in her summation is necessary given the primitive accumulation of wealth to the point of "madness" by officials duly elected or appointed to serve the public. Some of those officials might be suffering from "obsessive- compulsive psychiatric disorder", she declared. According to a statement signed by the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr Femi Babefemi, Waziri made her views known while delivering the keynote address on Transparency and Accountabi-lity in Public Service at a three-day workshop in Kaduna, yesterday. "Having dealt with many corruption cases, I am inclined to suggest that public officers should be subjected to some form of psychiatric evaluation to determine their suitability for public office," she said. She hammered away on the depth of rot she encountered during the discharge of her duties. “The extent of aggrandizement and gluttonous accumulation of wealth that I have observed suggests to me that some people are mentally and psychologically unsuitable for public office. We have observed people amassing public wealth to a point suggesting ‘madness’ or some form of obsessive- compulsive psychiatric disorder," she observed. In her paper titled: "Transpa-rency and Accountability in Public Service: The Role of Anti-Corruption Agencies", Waziri said the success of the anti-corruption fight partly depends on the passage of relevant laws such as the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI). Also, a "whistle blower act" is necessary for the success of EFCC's efforts, she added. "If we truly expect a public service that is accountable to the people of Nigeria, then the Freedom of Information Bill must be passed. If you deny the public the right to know, the anti- corruption war is lost," she declared. She called on relevant agencies to work together in order to create an environment that would checkmate corrupt activities. The EFCC boss claimed that the crisis rocking the banking industry had justified her efforts because sceptics earlier labelled it a "jamboree". According to her, the country's financial system would have been "rubbished" but for the intervention of the Central Bank (CBN). “You cannot afford to be neutral in this war. Make it your war," she urged. She asked the organisers of the event to set up an anti-corruption arm of the public service that could collaborate with the EFCC on information and intelligence gathering, budget tracking and project implementation, grassroots anti-corruption mobilization, anti-corruption education and awareness as well as whistle blower activity. Waziri accused state governors of frustrating the work of the agency across the country. She stated that those concerned selectively support or antagonise the agency based on whether their friends were implicated in corruption cases.

“We don’t have full support from some Nigerians. When I arrest your friends, you criticize me and call me all sort of names," said the EFCC boss.

“You say I have lost track and not doing my job the way it should be done, but when I arrest your enemy, you now say I am doing a great job. It mustn’t be so."

Waziri stressed that the fight against corruption could only succeed when states that vehemently oppose the agency turn around to support it's effort. In her view, most Nigerians view the fight against corruption as a government project.

Former Chief Justice of the Federation Muhammad Uwais, who spoke earlier during the opening ceremony, stated that the common notion that all Nigerians are corrupt is false.

He however, said that stealing from the community which had always been considered a serious offence had sadly failed to be transmitted into moral values of society. The result, he said, was that some who committed crime against the state were regarded as heroes by their traditional communities

Governor of Kaduna State, Namadi Sambo, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, stated the determination of the state government to pursue due process and transparency in the conduct of governance.


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I concur. Nice way to pass on the blame!

Do they have mental illness when they spend the money ?!