Apparently in continuation of the recent verbal attack between Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu over the latter’s negative comment about the president’s administration, Ribadu has declared that only a corrupt-free and determined president can effectively fight corruption in Nigeria.
Ribadu and Abati had engaged in a verbal warfare over the former’s statement describing Nigeria as a sinking ship, Abati describing him as desperate, hypocritical and self-serving.
Ribadu also said Abati’s statement, typical of his increasingly desperate personality, has exposed him as a fraud of a presidential spokesman who does not have the simplest level of media literacy
“It is unfortunate that he stands on crooked crutches of rehashed falsehoods fabricated by corrupt politicians prosecuted by Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, in his desperate attempt to hold on to his job,” Ribadu had said.
On Sunday while delivering a pre-Ramadan lecture in Lagos, the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 election further lamented the impunity with which corrupt people flaunt their ill-gotten wealth, lamenting further what he called the lack of political will to fight it.
He said apart from the fact that there is lack of zeal to subject the presidential aides to scrutiny and discourage them from corruption, Nigeria is in a situation where those at the top interfere in the works of the anti-corruption as well as law enforcement agencies.
Ribadu, who also blamed some provisions in the justice administration of the country as reason for the festering corruption in the country, said corruption in Nigeria is on the increase to the extent that it had become worrisome to citizens and the international community.
He decried the light sentence given to those who are convicted just as he said many others end up not facing justice as they are either pardoned by the government or made government allies.
He recalled the case of the Malabu oil deal, the report of the Presidential Task Force on Oil Revenue and how the Presidency kept silent as if such report was not available.
Ribadu, who slammed the president for granting state pardon to some allegedly corrupt Nigerians, said many corrupt people get away with their acts, largely because of their relationships with heads of institutions that ought to counter or expose their abuse of office.
“Some convicts are being granted state pardon, thereby rubbishing the whole effort at corruption. These practices have turned corruption into a sort of culturally or ethically accepted trend.”
He criticised the call for special courts for corruption as according to him, what is needed is a review of the laws and sincere application of the laws by the court.
He advised Nigerians to elect credible leaders who show the zeal to fight corruption. He also advised the country’s legislative arm to take issues of oversight seriously as this is one sure way to tackle corruption. The Lecture was organised by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni and had the theme, Corruption and Justice in Nigeria.
