Everywhere (EFCC, ICPC, CCB) Stink
It is important to investigate past and present sensitive appointments and where genuine mistakes were made, they should be decisively corrected. One of such is the appointment of EFCC the boss, Waziri Farida. Was Farida ever James Ibori's attorney? It is being revealed that Farida was defense lawyer of former Governor Ibori and Governor Suswan during Nuhu Ribadu's tenure at the EFCC. With this singular revelation, Farida should not only be queried, sacked but also investigated on her role in Ibori's escape saga. The time when the former AGF Aoandoakaa was sacked was when Farida should have been relieved of her present post. Though it was the late Yar'Adua that appointed Farida, President Jonathan should always conduct thorough due diligence before making appointments.
Thereafter he should not delay in executing such appointments because it was such delay that allowed indecision to set in against his plan to establish auspiciously, another Commission that would have been monitoring all the other anti-graft agencies; this was to be headed by the crime czar, Ribadu. There were many matters which Farida glossed over. Few of those were: A governor's brother/Personal Assistant approached a foreign Embassy (for Visa) carrying a personal bank statement that had billions of Naira lodgements in it. She also was credited in the media unambiguously that a first term governor who in 2007 barely spent few months in office bought property worth billions of Naira in Abuja; but she left out investigation. There were accusations that she receives gifts (one of which was N42million SUV Benz Jeep) from corrupt politicians.
Her husband served (for about one year) as a Senator of the Federal Republic; made possible through by-election. During the 2011 PDP primaries he tried a come-back but for strong resistance put up by Gombe State PDP members who reported Mrs. Farida Waziri's interference to the PDP Abuja headquarters. Mrs. Waziri in The Guardian 9/6/11 said that if she was found wanting she would resign. If the above are not enough to prove that she has been found wanting, what else would?
The acting Chairman of ICPC, Alhaji Abudullahi Bako in Daily Trust of 8/6/11 mulled 8-member internal monitoring committee within the ICPC saying that before the Commission could justifiably investigate outsiders, it should clean its house. Good talk; but those in the committee are the same staff of the ICPC and that is not the type of check and balances required to bring fairness and transparency.
Meanwhile, a Rivers State PDP stalwart, Francis Ugochukwu Elechi, has been positioned to fill in the chairmanship of the ICPC after the Senate rejected the nomination of retired Justice Pius Aderemi. Ike Ohia, PhD
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