FORMER Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, has said that she was sacked by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan for trying to arrest some oil racketeers.

Mrs. Farida said there was a call from the Presidential Villa not to arrest the racketeers but she refused to be compromised on the case.



She said the late Minister for Information Prof. Dora Akunyili knew of the plot to remove her and asked her to beg Jonathan.

But she said she rejected Akunyili’s advice because it was totally against her “conscience and moral judgment.”

She said another highly-placed source said those in and around the Presidency did not like her because she did not contribute money for Jonathan’s elections in 2011.

As part of the countdown to her removal, she said ex- President Jonathan once summoned her on the rumours about her in office.

During the encounter, Jonathan asked her if she would like to go and rest but she was quick to reply if the ex-President wanted to sack her.



She said Jonathan only muttered “no.”

She said she was courageous enough to tell Jonathan not to throw her to the wolves.

Also, she said a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Pius Anyim offered her ambassadorial appointment in line with the agenda to oust her from office.

She said ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua was more committed to anti-graft war than any other person.

She said the death of Yar’Adua left her vulnerable because his demise broke the spine of the fight against corruption

The one-time EFCC chairman made these revelations in her book, “Farida Waziri, One Step Ahead”, which is due for public presentation in Abuja on Tuesday.

She exposed intrigues which trailed her tenure and an attempt to scandalise her out of office.

She said she was on the street of Abuja when the then Head of Media and Publicity at EFCC, Mr. Femi Babafemi broke the news of her sack to her.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan removed Mrs. Waziri from office on November 23, 2011 after spending three and a half years in charge of the anti-graft agency.

She said she got the news as follows: “Ma, have you heard the news?” I was driving on the street of Abuja when his call came in from the office. It was the voice of Femi Babafemi, Head of Media and Publicity at EFCC. I listened calmly to him. Instead of going to the office, I went home.

“I switched on the TV and waited for the news hour. It came on first on Channels, and shortly after, on NTA and AIT. My husband was sleeping upstairs. I went into his room to wake him.

“I have been sacked.” He grumbled about someone disturbing his sleep. “It’s too early for jokes this morning.”

“It is not a joke. I have been sacked. It is in the news. Come and see.” We went downstairs together. He watched the TV in silence. “It’s ok” was all he said.

But she attributed the immediate cause of the sack to the investigation of some oil racketeers.

The excerpts from the book read: “The date was November 23, 2011. It didn’t take me by surprise. There had been rumblings and maneuverings in the recent past to guess such an end was in the offing. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was an EFCC operation in Lagos.

“The agency got a tip-off about some oil racketeers who were in Nigeria for dubious dealings. People of interest were going to move money into Lagos. The tip-off came from outside the country, one of our reliable foreigner(sic) agents. We flew into Lagos and organised the operation. Detectives moved to the target office, to conduct a search and bring the suspect to Abuja. At the time they got into the office, the target was not on seat.

“I’d asked the team to invite the accountant and to bring along the computers. Few minutes after the arrival of the accountant and the machines, I got a call from Aso Rock, the Presidential Villa.

“The message was an order: ”Release the man immediately!” My calm explanation to the voice from the villa was “The person you are calling for is not arrested; it is his accountant we invited here.” “Ok, let the accountant go.”

“That put me in a dilemma. We had acted on intelligence. We spent days planning the operation. And indeed, we had on our hands a good case complete with evidence. How do I explain to my operatives that the case has to be jettisoned because of a call from Aso Rock? How do I disabuse their minds from thinking I had compromised?

“I asked the detectives to take the accountant’s statement and release him on bail. While we were at it, the caller from the Villa interrupted us again with another order: “Release the computers to him.” He tried to justify this by claiming, “he contributed so much to the campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan.”

“At that point, I asked him: “Is this instruction from Mr. President? “ Yes, the voice affirmed. I played my last card: “I can release the man on bail, but I won’t release the computers. “How did it end?” “The outcome was my sack a few weeks later. I guess this and other events contributed to my removal, although other events took place before this.”

The former EFCC chairman recalled what happened after his removal and how the late Prof. Dora Akunyili hinted her of her imminent sack.

Explaining why she rejected Mrs. Akunyili’s idea to beg Jonathan to avert her ouster, she said: “After listening to the news, I went to the office and packed my stuff. I didn’t call the President; neither did he call me. Nobody called me. I handed over to Ibrahim Lamorde, my deputy.

“The handwriting was on the wall a long time ago. My friend, the Minister for Information, Prof. Dora Akunyili, was the first person to hint me about the coming bombshell. Months earlier, she warned me of a plan to oust me from office.

“Out of concern, she advised me to go and see President Goodluck Jonathan. She told me what to say to the President. However, her advice was totally against my conscience and moral jugdement, and I rejected the idea.

“A few weeks later, Prof Akunyili called me to her office. “Sister, didn’t I advise you on what to do but you refused, now they have decided to remove you. Be prepared. Start packing your things little by little.

“Prof Akunyili had good connections to Aso Villa and couldn’t have been unsure of what she heard. I went back to my office and started packing my stuff gradually. In the meantime, the propaganda machine was still working.

“With President Yar’Adua no longer in the picture, my detractors had unfettered access to the Presidential Villa. They retooled, shifted gear and revved up.

“There was one brilliant piece of polemic in the newspaper. It was entitled the Lost Treasure. The grammar was excellent, but the logic was a red herring.
“It was an excellent article that chronicled the fight against corruption from inception. It cited efforts by each previous government, and how they cried and failed. The offensive commentary concluded: to retrieve the Lost Treasure is to get rid of that woman. “that woman” —that was what I had become.”

Mrs. Waziri narrated what she went through some months before her eventual removal.

She added: “The tips were coming from other sources. Someone highly-placed told me what higher executives discussed about me. “They don’t like you, because you did not contribute money for elections,” he told me. “They said you are just busy arresting people all over the place. They are just managing you. ’

“Also, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (5GP), Chief Pius Anyim, phoned, to report that the President directed that my husband’s name be included in a listing for ambassadorial positions. I broke into laughter-Anyim and me were quite friendly. I told him my husband would not take such an offer.

”We were there before, and he has had enough of it.” But Anyim insisted: ‘This is a directive from Mr. President. You better go and ask him.’

“I went upstairs and informed Ajuji (her late husband) about the phone call from the SGF. His response was predictable. He told me that he wasn’t growing any younger; and as a politician, he would prefer to remain at home to serve his people. He was nonetheless very grateful to Mr. President. He asked that I should go and thank the President on my husband’s behalf.

“I went straight first to the office of the SGF to give him my husband’s response. I thought it would end there. “What about you? “Anyim asked. “I did not enjoy being an ambassador’s wife. It will be worse if I become an ambassador myself.” He tried to change my mind, but I stuck to my position. “Let’s wait and see, I said. First, I have to complete my present appointment.” “And when is your tenure going to be over?” I told him. “if we include your name, by the time you finish, it will be a seamless transition,” he suggested. “Won’t it appear questionable that the EFCC chair just finished her tenure and is going for screening for an ambassadorial position?

“The truth is-with due respect to Chief Anyim-I didn’t believe him completely. I thought they were trying to set me up. Currently I didn’t know whom to trust anymore. After the exchange, I went to deliver my husband’s response to President Jonathan. I thanked him for the great honour extended to us as worthy of being ambassadors of Nigeria. I reiterated my husband’s reasons for declining, age.

“The President agreed it was a job for younger people. I regaled him with our hardship in Turkey, the tedium of travelling from Kano to Cairo, the waiting at the airport, the cash crunch and the minutiae of the downside of living in Turkey. After our conversation, I thanked him and departed the Villa.

“I reflected over the episode and concluded that my husband was not the target of the ambassadorial posting. It was me. If I accepted, it could have been a seamless transition for me from EFCC chair to an ambassador. The government knows how to circumvent laid-down procedures. My change would have been what they called “a soft landing.”

Mrs. Waziri also spoke of how Jonathan personally tried to gauge her mood before sacking her.

But she said she stood her ground by throwing a question back to Jonathan forcing the former President to eat his words that he had no plans to sack her.

She said: “Still, the pressure did not abate. One day, President Jonathan summoned me to express his concerns. “These rumours are too many. Would you want to go and rest?

“Sir, are you suggesting you want to sack me?” He said no, he was just concerned about the spate of negative publicity about me of late.

“I took the time to make a well-thought-out-speech, to remind him of how I had worked extra hard and maintained a hundred per cent loyalty to him. I noted that the job had earned me powerful enemies, and his suggestion was akin to throwing me to the wolves. When I ended my speech, he said “Chairman,” jocularly. He had joked about it. But the issue was no joke. I’d already been tipped-off by Prof. Akunyili.”

The former Chairman of EFCC said the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was more sincere in fighting corruption than Jonathan or any other person.

He said Yar’Adua’s death left her vulnerable because his demise broke the spine of the fight against corruption

She said: “I worked for two presidents. I hate to compare them. But I can’t stop talking about President Yar’Adua. Getting to any President inside Aso Villa could be rigorous, due to the ‘barricades’ by Presidential staffers.

“President Yar’Adua cleared the way for me. He assembled all his staff and instructed them thus: “I called you here because I want you to know that Farida, here, has free access to me twenty-four hours every day, either in this office or at my residence.” The respect accorded me after that address gave me easy access to the President.

Click below link to read full details

https://www.damsinier.com.ng/2020/02/jonathan-sacked-me-for-probing-oil.html

T

GEJ was / is a cheap crook. In fact the entire machinery that the biggest crook (the one in Otta) handed over to was the greatest organization of crooks Nigeria has ever seen.
I want to beg Nigerians to watch carefully and see how each if these guys will end. If you believe in God, just watch. Forget your emotions, sentiments and tribal urges. You will FEAR God.

Ok

Very interesting piece. Sadly, those who see Jonathan as their hero will come here to abuse the woman. Anybody that exposes the corruption of Jonathan is their enemy. I’m so glad the ineffectual buffoon was voted out of office in 2015. He would have ruined this country completely by now if we had allowed him to continue.

This very corrupt woman thinks it's time to change the story ..every body knows

The same Farida. Nigeria we hail...

This noisemaker never left any milestone in that office, look like the organization was bigger than her, doesn't have the experience and balls to operate in such environment filled with talented thieves, no wonder she drops cases filed against 28 ex- governor's by her predecessor.

Oga stealing is not corruption ....

Old news of 2014.

This cannot distract us from the curse called buhari and his fulani killer goons.

Nigeria is the only place fulani is King.

Dem no born Dem well to make noise for common Ghana!

Stealing is not corruption

agbangam:
Oga stealing is not corruption ....

IF Abacha never stole, why then should stealing be corruption?

Mahsums:
Stealing is not corruption

If Abacha was not corrupt, how can stealing be called corruption?

Explain...

Question carry 60 marks.

Your time starts now!

GEJ the name that sells Nigerian news and give APC orgasmz

Old and fake news by an incompetent police-harlot seeking attention from buhari to secure an appointment.

Lauretta onochie was chosen instead

ChoCho54:
If Abacha was not corrupt, how can stealing be called corruption?

Explain...

Question carry 60 marks.

Your time starts now!

the empty mumu go hide now He's only joinin the bandwagon to say what he does not understand.

But this story is old. Why bringing it up now because Nigerians ask the president to resign?

g

NigeriaIsDoomed:
the empty mumu go hide now He's only joinin the bandwagon to say what he does not understand.

The stupid woman was pandering to APC with hope of an appointment, the palmwine guzzler beat her to it

Voting for Buhari in 2015 has been one of the best decisions I have ever taken in my life

ChoCho54:
The stupid woman was pandering to APC with hope of an appointment, the palmwine guzzler beat her to it

APC in 2011?

See person pikin

BeardedMeat:
But this story is old. Why bringing it up now because Nigerians ask the president to resign?

They want to distract us from the killings everywhere by fulani militia.

All the "Goodluck Jonathan is a hero of democracy" chanters, oya come in here and see o. Come and see your hero in action.

Jonadumb destroyed Nigeria and handed the scraps to baba Fulani-terrorists apologist and that one kukuma decided to finish Nigeria totally.

I pray Karma visits Jonathan Goodluck and his family and his ardent supporters.

Ko le ye gbogbo yin bi ogo ti n je t'Olorun.

It's quite interesting to find out that Dora Akunyili was eventually compromised. What a pity!

God bless Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

Lol Gej is a father of corrupted politicians in Nigeria. But this woman worst past Jonathan. She is trying to justify her damage reputation.

Okoroawusa:

APC in 2011?

See person pikin

Yes APC was then in principle that represented chaos and daily heating up the polity with propaganda.

The northern agenda then was clear for all to see, aided by their SW collaborators, with the hope it's their turn after buhari. Every notherner including those in Jonathan's government keyed in as well.

seunmsg:
Very interesting piece. Sadly, those who see Jonathan as their hero will come here to abuse the woman. Anybody that exposes the corruption of Jonathan is their enemy. I’m so glad the ineffectual buffoon was voted out of office in 2015. He would have ruined this country completely by now if we had allowed him to continue.

Baba have helped him finish what he started.

FrLukas:
All the "Goodluck Jonathan is a hero of democracy" chanters, oya come in here and see o. Come and see your hero in action.

Jonadumb destroyed Nigeria and handed the scraps to baba Fulani-terrorists apologist and that one kukuma decided to finish Nigeria totally.

I pray Karma visits Jonathan Goodluck and his family and his ardent supporters.

Ko le ye gbogbo yin bi ogo ti n je t'Olorun.

It's quite interesting to find out that Dora Akunyili was eventually compromised. What a pity!

God bless Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

With your fever pitch reaction, seems you are just reading this after several years and most probably hasn't read the government's response to her tantrums.

Me here be thinking you are wizened

An aged moniker for a small boy.

Okoroawusa:
Voting for Buhari in 2015 has been one of the best decisions I have ever taken in my life

You may be right. Different strokes for different folks.


Me and you are living witnesses to some Nigerians who preferred to be with Boko Haram than free citizens.

ChoCho54:
[s]With your fever pitch reaction, seems you are just reading this after several years and most probably hasn't read the government's response to her tantrums.

Me here be thinking you are wizened

An aged moniker for a small boy.[/s]

Cho cho cho cho cho, you won't go and rest somewhere.

You expect the government indicted in the story to come out and nod their head and say yes, that's true?

Shior, your moniker reveals your personality. Talk first before thinking about it. A common affliction for gossips.