EFCC boss Farida Waziri was recently is in the news over her organisation’s controversial advisory which lists out allegedly corrupt government officials. Weekly Trust spoke to her on that, as well as other issues. Excerpts:
Weekly Trust: What informed the release of the advisory even after it is obvious that the Supreme Court ruling in 2007 clearly said that the EFCC could not ban politicians from contesting election?
Farida Waziri: Let me make it crystal clear that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is not the Independent National Electoral Commission and its mandate does not extend to the issue of election. The so-called advisory is an interpretational fallacy by those who love to cry wolf where there is none. There is no list specially prepared by the EFCC to achieve any sinister motive. As a law enforcement agency, we keep records of all our prosecutions and convictions. This is obtainable on our website. The record has always been there. If a newspaper visits the website and publishes such a record for public consumption, both the newspaper and the EFCC have done nothing wrong. I really don’t understand why we are making an issue of a normal, routine issue like this.
The Supreme Court ruling has nothing to do with this issue because we have not made any statement of any kind to suggest a contravention or contempt of the highest court in the land. Even the Supreme Court has a record of its convictions in its registry. So, what are we talking about? There is hardly any agency or even private company today that does not keep a record of its activities on its website. So, why the hue and cry about EFCC maintaining a record of its activities on its website? Politicians and their agents know how to make a mountain out of a molehill because there is an agenda they want to pursue. The EFCC is not partisan and will never be. Our mandate is clear and we have no problem keeping to it.
WT: But the advisory is coming few weeks after EFCC said it will advise political parties on those to field for election…
Waziri: The two are not related, though the ambience may suggest so. The EFCC never set out to short-circuit the political process by hinting at any form of exclusion of politicians in the game they know too well. Democracy is about inclusion and a level-playing field for all. What we have is a record of investigation and prosecution activities and not any advisory list as you will want to tag it but it is beyond my control to determine what an organization or someone else does with information that is in the public domain.
It is not helpful to link two separate incidences all in a bid to draw some conclusions that may not follow from the premises. If the EFCC feels that political parties should take a decision on some accused persons standing trial in any court, the decision will not be made by us. Parties have their guidelines, internal modalities that can be employed to achieve any purpose they seek to achieve.
WT: There was also a reported secret meeting between the EFCC chairman and the PDP that also fueled the belief that the commission is acting the presidency script…
Waziri: There is no script anywhere. If there was a secret meeting, how come it was reported as you said? It was a normal interactive meeting, the kind of meeting you would expect between two institutions working together for the progress of the nation.
WT: Then on the visit of the EFCC to Rivers, Jigawa and Kwara states at the height of the zoning debate. Don’t you think that the people are justified to put one and two together to arrive at their conclusions having seen the EFCC act this way during the time of Nuhu Ribadu?
Waziri: The EFCC is always working. The timing of any of our visit to any state, institution or individual has nothing to do with the political mood of the nation. We are just doing our work.
WT: One of the controversial actions of Ribadu while in office has to do with his attempt in 2007 to stop politicians who had problems with former President Olusegun Obasanjo from contesting election. Why does the EFCC appear to be treading the same path?
Waziri: There is no controversy anywhere because the EFCC is not treading any mischievous path. Let me emphasize it here that the EFCC is not interested in the vocation of anyone having matters being looked into either at the investigative level or at prosecution level. We are not bothered whether a politician, banker, surveyor, journalist or hotelier has a matter we are working on. What we are interested in is the integrity of the work we are doing.
WT: What is your reaction to outbursts by politicians, some of who have tagged it ‘adversary list’ to poke fun at it and some even calling on you to resign…
Waziri: There is no trouble whatsoever with any politician because we are not on the same terrain. Well, you talked about outburst. Let it remain so. Should I resign just on the basis of an outburst? It is not the gesture you make to people that matters but the way it is interpreted. The EFCC’s gesture is clear: clean and honest people have no trouble with us.
WT: So you are saying the EFCC isn’t being used by the Presidency to hunt its enemies?
Waziri: And who are these enemies of the government? As much as I know, President Goodluck Jonathan is a President of every Nigerian.
WT: When you took over there were high expectation that you will chart a new course. Don’t you think that these political issues are unnecessarily making EFCC more controversial?
Waziri: Those who had high expectation that I would chart a new course have never been disappointed and they will never be. The truth is that there has been a paradigm shift in EFCC. The progress has been steady and consistent. A professional EFCC has emerged. A confident and globally-competitive law enforcement agency has been built.
WT: You once said that Nuhu Ribadu never gave a handover note to you except one sheet of paper. Now that he is back, has he come to do a proper handover?
Waziri: Thank God you know he is back. Why don’t you ask him if he has come to do that?
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