About Me
- Funmi Iyanda
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Funmi Iyanda is a multi award-winning producer and broadcast journalist. She is the CEO of Ignite Media and Executive Director of Creation Television
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- Back to school Ribadu
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2008
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January(20)
- Rantings of the fanatic
- Right to life and live
- SPH (Strongly Pro Human)
- Now for some monkey business
- OOPS!!
- Hope Rising
- Watch the ball
- You may have seen this....
- Between the Black Person and the Female Person
- Play the ball
- Bedtime conversation with the scrimp
- Drive through News
- Back to school Ribadu
- Moving Awo
- His father’s son
- PLAY HARD
- All my girls 2
- Resolution 2008
- ALL MY GIRLS
- The morning after
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Back to school Ribadu
Now we will all siddon look, as he goes on study leave, we will study the newish (sebi na EFCC man too) man and developments at the EFCC.
What would be good is to see a building on the success of Ribadu and a plugging of holes where his style fails. That can be achieved not by slogany due process but the sort of reverence for law and attention to details that true due process demands such that we see less and less cases of people submitting themselves for EFCC interrogation but such people simply being picked up by IG/AGF’s office after the EFCC has built a rock solid, airtight criminal case against them. Then we will see less and less sick, cry babies (why don’t they at least fix the prisons whilst in office especially there is such a high likely hood that they will end up there) walking away to freedom after a media trial. The attempt to merge EFCC and ICPC has cringe worthily mouthed by Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson of the kidnapped mum drama is not a bright idea. Let me reproduce what he said, italics are mine.
According to Dickson, “What I believe in as a person is that there must be harmonisation of the anti-corruption agencies or they should be merged. I believe strongly in that. EFCC and ICPC must be merged. We cannot afford the multiplicity of anti-corruption agencies doing the same thing, funded separately both in terms of capital and recurrent expenditure, doing the same thing. It is wasteful. It is best to keep all of them together so that they can concentrate and get better funded.”
(So declares a member of the unwasteful national assembly)
EFCC did not initially receive funding and a lot of the funding still comes from outside the national coffers). Dickson, the immediate past Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in
”Crime is crime. As a matter of fact, nothing stops the Inspector General of Police from directing anybody or any police officer under him to investigate any case of corruption because the agency that has primary mandate for investigation and prosecution and prevention of crime and protection of lives and property is the Nigeria Police. (yes of course, nothing stops him just like nothing stops us from wondering why this has never happened in recent history and what has changed to imagine it will happen now. Wasn’t Tafa an IG?)
”The EFCC and ICPC are children of circumstance because the capacity of the police is so weakened. (I repeat, has this capacity been strengthened, as I recall, the police should have been the primary agency responsible for kidnap such as the case of the honourable’s dear mum, was a special force not needed?) And these special interest in crimes for which the former President thought and I believe rightly, is that we need an agency to specifically tackle. (Have these crimes abated?)
”EFCC has done a good job, fantastic job. Ribadu and his men have done fantastic service to this country, which I think we must be grateful for. (Give him a medal, shove him aside, let’s get on with our business) Like everything human, I don’t expect them to be perfect. The same goes for the ICPC. But I believe that in this era of due process, (new slogan) in this era of transparency, (aging slogan) there must be institutional transparency (newest slogan) as well. The EFCC and ICPC must be made to function together” the committee chairman added.
On the Acts establishing the agencies, Dickson said the National Assembly had powers to repeal any Act. He said only the CCT would not be left intact because it is a creation of the constitution.
He said: “The Acts will be amended and repealed when necessary. That is why we are a parliament. Parliament can repeal any law. The only law that we cannot repeal on our own is the constitution. We can repeal or amend any law. (Usually, this should be a long tedious process but I suspect it can be fast tracked whenever needed)
”It is a question of amending the EFCC Act and then repealing the ICPC Act and transferring all the functions and duties of the ICPC to EFCC or vice versa and the other one ceases to exist. All the officers will still maintain their offices. The powers are still the same.
”The case of Code of Conduct Tribunal is a special one because it is a creation of the constitution and we have no powers on our own to amend the constitution.”
The ICPC Chairman, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, had condemned the proposed merger. Ayoola had said the ICPC would oppose the merger, adding that each of the agencies had clearly stated statutory functions contained in the Act establishing them that would make merger impossible.
That’s my conspiracy theory and I’m sticking to it.
5 comments:
To be honest Funmi! Ribadu had to go. Like you, I believe that he started well with the fraudsters & Tafa but derailed during the 3rd term.
I really lost respect for him recently with his public spat with Dele Momodu on thisday. Momodu raised some valid points in his column (rather unusually) about Ribadu's anti corruption war & EFCC's response was to fabricate lies about Momodu & Ghana.
I thought that was really cheap and Ribadu should have stuck to the issues.
This issue just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. With Ribadu's record and the 'new' administration, this was a good opportunity for him to start afresh. Yes he may have been derailed but we all know the man has great potential. Why not explore that instead of simply discarding him.
I think there's so much more politics beneath this than our 'cofferment' will admit. I hope the new guy surpasses Ribadu achievements although I suspect that he wont, simply because of the atmosphere of conspiracy and bad belle in which he was chose.
I have been trying to make up my mind for a while but I think I know now- I don't like Yar'Adua. This lukewarmness is unbecoming. I'd rather he was hot or cold but he is bang in the middle and I would love to spew him out.
You guys why all this cry about Ribadu. Lets focus on building institutions and not personality cults. If Ribadu dies today, are we now saying that the anti corruption war wont go on? No man is indispensable o jare.
I thought Ribadu was a rabble rouser with a penchant for personal publicity. When he was working at EFCC and OBJ's govt was given him double promotion as a police officer, he was proud to be a member of the force o but when the same police force sent him on a course - He said he is only answerable to the President. Ehn? why accept police double promotion in the past then. This Nigerian double standards is sickening.
No matter the misdemeanor of Ribadu, I still regard him as one of the finest public servant. The man tried. Truth is, in Naija, there is no way you and me can serve this country that you wont ever regret doing so. Tell me who had been a public servant and ended up a saint man in Naija, None I think. Kudos Ribadu for a job well done, you cant satisfy everyone's yardstick of a good man.
I think Ribadu in his own way has contributed his best and as such people should just appreciate the little good thing we have in Nigeria. I don't understand these people in the house of Asssembly, they are making so much noise about EFCC/ICPC merger when they have not been able to do any form of visible work in the chambers like passing the budget for one. I just think they are afraid of EFCC and what can happen to them cos they are witnesses to what Ribadu/EFCC are capaable of doing to them as well.