Waziri turns US against EFCC

By Idris Akinbajo

March 13, 2011 06:17AM


On March 14, 2009, Ojo Maduekwe, former minister of foreign affairs, placed a call to Robin Sanders, former United States ambassador to Nigeria. Mr. Maduekwe asked to have a lunch meeting with Ms. Sanders in his private residence in the posh district of Maitama, in Abuja, popularly called Ministers Hill. The agenda, the minister said, was the African Union Mission in Somalia. As detailed in a US diplomatic cable made available to NEXT, Ms. Sanders hurried to the minister’s home. But on arrival, she realized that Mr. Maduekwe had lied to her about the essence of the meeting. The minister had set up another meeting for the US ambassador, and the agenda was far from being about AMISOM, as the Somali peacekeeping mission was known. After exchanging pleasantries with the ambassador, Mr. Maduekwe told her that there was someone he wanted her to meet and that he had “at the last minute” invited the person for the lunch meeting. Ms. Sanders was surprised that the minister could set up a meeting with a third party without giving her advance notice. Her shock at this “unprofessional behaviour” of the minister was further worsened when the identity of the invitee was made known.

“Once the dark glasses were off, the visitor was revealed to be Farida Waziri, chairwoman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” Ms. Sanders said in a report she sent to her bosses in Washington soon after the meeting.

Avoiding Waziri like a leper

Mr. Maduekwe’s decision to trick the US ambassador into meeting with Mrs. Waziri was part of desperate efforts by the Nigerian government to persuade the American government to reconsider its opposition to the EFCC and rescind its decision not to have anything to do with the organisation’s chairperson and her agency until there was visible progress in the anti-corruption war. Several diplomatic exchanges between US government officials serving in Nigeria and their superiors in Washington over a two-year period, between December 2007 and September 2009, demonstrated the fierce diplomatic row between the US and Nigeria over the EFCC[b]. The cables catalogue how, within six months of Umaru Yar’Adua’s presidency, the US had become increasingly disillusioned with the new administration’s stance on fighting corruption. The US government had grown progressively alarmed that Mrs. Waziri, allied with the attorney general, Michael Aondoakaa, the disgraced former Delta governor James Ibori, and even President Yar’Adua, had joined forces to truncate high profile corruption cases and weaken the anti-graft war[/b]. The cables detailed conversations that US embassy staff had with Mrs. Waziri; former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Babagana Kingibe; current SGF, Yayale Ahmed; Mr. Maduekwe; Mr. Aondoakaa and other relevant government officials. [b]Taken together, the cables offer a rare insight into the politics of fighting corruption, the dysfunctional nature of the Yar’Adua government, and the unwillingness of the enfeebled president to maintain even the appearance of sustaining, in some form, the anti-corruption war waged under his predecessor. [/b]As far as the US government was concerned at the time, the Nigerian government had mishandled the anti-graft fight, following the removal of the founding chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, four years after the commission started its groundbreaking work in the fight against corruption. Angered by the situation, the US withdrew its support for the EFCC and cut off communication with the leadership of the agency.

Waziri ordered out of lunch meeting

On that March afternoon, as she sat stewing in Mr. Maduekwe’s living room on Ministers Hill, a livid Ms. Sanders was quick to reprimand the foreign minister for deceiving her. She told Mr. Maduekwe that “she was under instructions not to have any contact with Mrs. Waziri,” and demanded that Mrs. Waziri be asked to leave. Mr. Maduekwe, who appeared “stunned”, told the ambassador that “he understood there was a big impasse between our two nations over the EFCC, but did not interpret this as a direct instruction from Washington.”

At Ms. Sanders’ insistence, Mr. Maduekwe was compelled to ask Mrs. Waziri to leave and had his wife escort the EFCC boss out of their house before proceeding with his meeting with the ambassador.

Before Mrs. Waziri’s exit however, the ambassador had a few words for the EFCC chairperson. Ms. Sanders reiterated the position of the US government that “there would be no meetings with her; that she would not be received by United States government officials if she visited the US, though she certainly was not barred from travelling to the US for personal reasons; and that constantly seeking a meeting with or inviting the ambassador to her events only put the ambassador in the position of being rude in not being able to respond”.

The ambassador, who said she had informed the EFCC boss of her country’s decision in an earlier telephone conversation, used the opportunity to restate the reason for her country’s actions.

“The USG wanted to see progress on cases like that of ex-Delta Governor Ibori and others; that there was no confidence that Waziri had any political independence, and indeed that we thought she was being manipulated by Ibori and others; and that there was still a fair amount of consternation over the redeployment of previously USG-trained EFCC officials.” Ms. Sanders told the EFCC boss.

Nevertheless, an embarrassed Mrs. Waziri was excused from the meeting.

Maduekwe the “rascal”

After Mrs. Waziri left, the American ambassador descended on Mr. Maduekwe, telling him that “blindsiding her was not the way to proceed, particularly since she was sure the FonMin (foreign minister) knew that if he had told her Mrs. Waziri was to be at lunch, the ambassador would not have come.”

Ms. Sanders also added a mild threat to her dissatisfaction at Mr. Maduekwe whom she accused of “little play,” when she told the minister that “she would be sharing what happened with the Department [of State], and was not sure of their reaction, particularly coming on the eve of the minister’s Washington trip.”

Understanding the implication of the threat, Mr. Maduekwe, according to the cable, wilted. He told the ambassador that he “was willing to take the full blame for being a ‘rascal’.”

Repeated attempts to contact Mr. Maduekwe, who was dropped from the cabinet after Vice President Goodluck Jonathan rose to the presidency a year ago, were unsuccessful. The former minister did not respond to phone calls or text messages.

Why Maduekwe intervened

Seven months before Mr. Maduekwe set up the failed meeting, American embassy officials met separately with Mr. Aondoakaa and Mr. Kingibe on August 7, 2008 to deliver a petition on the EFCC. In the petition, the ambassador complained about the redeployment of a high number of US-trained investigators from the EFCC, about the lull in the prosecution of high profile cases, and about the growing influence of indicted ex-governors and their cronies in the federal government. According to a cable sent to Washington on August 8, 2008, after listening to a point-by-point defence of the petition by an embassy official, Mr. Aondoakaa “launched into a lengthy, rambling response.” The former attorney general — in his bid to defend Mrs. Waziri and cast aspersions on the former EFCC boss, Mr. Ribadu — lied to the US embassy staff and avoided answering any direct questions about Mr. Ibori.

Mr. Aondoakaa also lied when he told the US officials that he was unaware that President Yar’Adua had just appointed David Edevbie as his principal private secretary. Mr. Edevbie, Mr. Ibori’s commissioner of finance during his tenure as governor, was one of those accused by British authorities of aiding the plundering of the state’s resources.

Mr. Kingibe, on his part, appealed for caution from the United States government and asked that the US take a less confrontational approach on the issues raised.

When contacted on Friday, Mr. Aondoakaa denied meeting with Ms. Sanders or any embassy official on Aug 7, 2008 to discuss any petition.

“If she did submit any report, I’m not aware of it,” he said. “I did not meet with her or anybody over any oral or written complaint. It looks like somebody wanted to damage my reputation before the American government. If the president has appointed someone as his private secretary, is it necessary for the president to inform me before he appoints a private secretary? Why should I know about that?”

He also denied claims that he took over the case of Mr. Ibori and other “politically sensitive” cases from the EFCC. “That is not true,” he said. “He was being prosecuted in Asaba. How could I have taken over when he was being prosecuted by the EFCC in Asaba? It was handled by the EFCC, not me. After that, they also took the case of Bode George to court, then other governors — Saminu Turaki, the Nasarawa man. I did not interfere in their work.”

Things fall apart

Controversy trailed the appointment of Mrs. Waziri as EFCC boss in May 2008. Her alleged relationship with indicted former governors like George Akume of Benue State and Mr. Ibori, as well as Mr. Aondoakaa, was a major concern. Furthermore, the exit of her predecessor, Nuhu Ribadu, in controversial circumstances, also raised questions about Mrs. Waziri’s appointment and her competence. Ms. Sanders was the new EFCC chairperson’s first official visitor. On June 11, 2008, Ms. Sanders sent a cable to Washington, expressing her government’s intentions to continue to partner with the EFCC on the condition that the commission would “continue to pursue its investigations and fight corruption with the same vigour and commitment it has shown in the past.”

After the meeting, where the EFCC boss expressed her readiness to fight corruption, Ms. Sanders wrote to Washington that “the true test of Waziri’s commitment to fighting corruption will be the extent to which she proceeds with EFCC cases against Ibori, the Saraki family, Akume, and other big fish currently under investigation.” Ms. Sanders noted to her superiors that “one month is too short a period to make a sound judgment on Waziri and her ultimate intentions.”

Re-deploying EFCC staff

But as Ms. Sanders was writing to her principals in Washington, Mrs. Waziri was “restructuring” the EFCC, moving several key American-trained officials out of duty posts. Although Mrs. Waziri would later claim that only about 10 US-trained employees had been redeployed by the EFCC, multiple sources within the anti-graft agency told American embassy officials that between 40 and 60 EFCC personnel were redeployed. In a cable dated July 11, 2008, the American ambassador commented that “the redeployments may just be an attempt to gut the institution’s operational capacity, given the concerns that were raised over Waziri’s close ties to some governors, political ‘godfathers’ and others who were the subjects of ongoing investigations in the EFCC.”

Ten days later, in a meeting with the American ambassador, Mrs. Waziri, who didn’t deny the redeployments, explained to Ms. Sanders that “the redeployments were meant to remove those she felt leaked information to the press, were disloyal to the EFCC as an institution, or were disloyal to her personally.”

Waziri is embarrassed

Four days after the US officials made their grouse with the EFCC known, Mrs. Waziri, in a response dated August 11, 2008, and signed by her as Chief (Mrs.) Farida Waziri, AIG (RTD), said she felt “personally embarrassed” when she received the petition. The EFCC boss claimed to have achieved a lot in her short time in office. She professed ignorance of corrupt former officials with considerable influence within the Nigerian government, and also claimed that only five officials of the EFCC who had been trained by the US government were redeployed. In reviewing Mrs. Waziri’s response, the American embassy stated that it “found two of Waziri’s claims particularly questionable.” In a cable dated August 21, 2010, and classified by an official, Walter Pflaumer, the American embassy noted that “Waziri’s letter may be more for Yar’Adua’s consumption than ours, perhaps an attempt by some of those around him to suggest that we are overreacting to what is happening at the EFCC, and that he should therefore push back.” “Alternatively,” the cable stated, “others think Yar’Adua is perfectly aware of what is happening to the commission and supports it, whatever line he may take with us.”

EFCC chairperson reacts

When contacted, Mrs. Waziri’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said that there were contradictions in Ms. Sanders’ narratives. “That is baseless and fiction,” he said. “If somebody is claiming that the EFCC chairman was walked out of a meeting, it’s not true. I’m sure you are aware that Mrs. Waziri has been to the US severally. That contradicts whatever you may have.”

On the US petition on the EFCC, Mr. Babafemi, who said his commission has a fantastic relationship with the US government, said: “Yes, there was a letter that was unsigned. It was not only written to Mrs. Waziri. But the aspect that concerned Mrs. Waziri, she responded to the ambassador accordingly.”