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| Olusegun Obasanjo |
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, investigated him and his late wife, Stella, even when he was in charge as the nation’s leader.
Obasanjo, whose administration created the anti-graft agency, also alleged that the manner Ribadu carried out the war against corruption created enemies for him (Obasanjo).
He made the claims after the former EFCC boss presented a paper titled, “Illicit Financial Flow and Governance of Natural Resources,” at the 3rd Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa in Badir Dar, Ethiopia at the weekend.
The former President said that rather than being afraid of the enemies Ribadu created for him, “it is rather them that fear me.”Obasanjo, who acknowledged that the fight against corruption “comes with enemies,” did not tell the audience about the outcome of the investigations against him, Stella, and his close associates. He also did not name the enemies that Ribadu created for him.
But the former President disclosed that Ribadu almost lost his life when he was poisoned in the course of his duty. He described the incident as a serious case that was “a matter of life and death.” He told the gathering how a serving minister in his administration, who was his senior in secondary school, was found wanting by the EFCC and “there was no issue of senior again.”
Obasanjo, who is also the chairman of the Tana Forum, agreed with Ribadu’s submission that a willing political leadership was the epicentre of any anti-corruption campaign.
Stating that leadership needed relevant laws to work with, he recalled how the bill establishing the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences Commission was whittled down by the National Assembly members who felt they could be victims if it became a law.
Ribadu had in his presentation offered strategies that African countries could follow to check illicit financial flow and repatriate looted funds stashed away in other countries.
He said that African countries needed honest and committed leadership examples.
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