Yar’Adua bows to pressure - Appoints Ribadu’s Assistant as Acting EFCC’s Boss
Abuja - The current EFCC’s Director of Operations and second-in-command to outgoing EFCC Chairman, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Lamorde, has been named the acting chief of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission.
The statement to that effect was released by the Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, and it read thus:
Further to his approval of AIG Nuhu Ribadu’s nomination for a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has approved the appointment of Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Lamorde as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
It will be recalled that out-of-favour EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu was ordered to proceed to a course at the NIPSS despite public and international oppositions to that effect.
ACP Lamorde was initially speculated to take over the reins at the anti-corruption commission, but was later said to be out of contention for the post by various mainstream media. However, it appears President Yar’Adua may have resolved to save face by naming Ribadu’s assistant in acting capacity to test the waters, while a more permanent replacement is found (or named).
It will however be a shame if the wings of the commission is tamed by either making it directly answerable to the in-justice ministry headed by Aondoakaa or the office of the IG of Police. This will render the commission literally useless. Nigerians and the International community should not rest on our oasis to continue piling pressure on the Yar’Adua administration, if corruption is ever going to be a thing of the past in the country.
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