Anti-corruption ambassador: I am dismayed by EFCC denial, says Ekweremadu

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has reacted angrily to the denial of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to decorating him as an anti-corruption ambassador.

Ekweremadu in a statement issued by his media Adviser, Uche Anichukwu, on Wednesday noted with dismay at the commission’s denial.

According to the statement,  it is on record that the EFCC Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, Mr. Suleiman Bakari and his team applied for and subsequently visited him in his office on Tuesday.

Anichukwu said in the statement titled “Anti-Corruption Ambassador: EFCC's baffling denial” that taking cognizance of the command structure of the agency, the deputy Senate president said it is doubtful if Mr. Bakari could have acted on his own or read from a prepared text without recourse to the commission which he represents, especially as the visit and decoration was never solicited for in the first place.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Office of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has been drawn to a statement purportedly issued by the spokesperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, denying that the agency decorated the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu as its Anti-Corruption Ambassador.

“We want to put it on record that the EFCC Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, Mr. Suleiman Bakari, and his team, applied for and subsequently paid a courtesy call on the Deputy President of the Senate in his office on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.

'Mr. Bakari, amongst other issues he raised, solicited the support of the Senate and National Assembly towards the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration and even presented a frame with a bold picture of President Muhammadu Buhari bearing the inscription: “If we don't kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

“Mr. Bakari also, on behalf of the Acting Chairman, management, and staff of the EFCC decorated Senator Ekweremadu as an Anti-Corruption Ambassador of the EFCC.

“Mr. Bakari's words: 'It is, therefore my honour, Your Excellency, to on behalf of my Acting Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Mustafa Magu and the entire management and staff of the EFCC, decorate you as an Anti-Corruption Ambassador and formally present this frame as a token of our appreciation to your person and office, and as a symbol of institutional partnership between the EFCC and the National Assembly.”