Posted by By Oluokun Ayorinde/Abuja on
The woes of the former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, are being compounded by the day, following his demotion from Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), along with 139 police officers.
The woes of the former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, are being compounded by the day, following his demotion from Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), along with 139 police officers.
His latest albatross is that he is being wanted by security operatives over what was described as treason. Sources told P.M.News this morning, that Ribadu is allegedly in possession of classified documents that he wants to use against the Federal Government.
It was also gathered that information available to the security agencies indicates that Ribadu is trying to influence Supreme Court judges to rule against President Umaru Yar'Adua over his victory in the April 2007 presidential election, which was challenged by Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress and ANPP's candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).
Although the Elections Petitions Tribunal upheld Yar'Adua's victory, the other candidates challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court, and Ribadu is allegedly trying to influence the judges to rule against Yar'Adua.
Sources said Ribadu, who returned last weekend from Sierra Leone with his course mates at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, where he is undergoing a nine-month capacity building course, was sighted yesterday at NIPSS, but was said to have escaped this morning, when operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) went there to arrest him.
He was said to have got wind of the impending arrest and escaped hours before the security operatives swooped on him. Last week SSS operatives also tried to pick him up but he also escaped.
Already, the Federal Government is reported to have given the new EFCC boss, Farida Waziri, the nod to probe the petitions against Ribadu. The petitions border on how he spent the foreign grants he received during his tenure as EFCC boss.
Also, the dust raised by his demotion from AIG to DCP is yet to settle as there are indications that he may be thrown out of NIPSS. The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, is said to be in a dilemma over what to do with Ribadu now that he has been demoted. This is because a police officer of the rank of DCP cannot attend the NIPSS.
According to sources, Okiro said the Police Service Commission did not consider the wider implications of the demotions before making the announcement.
The Police Service Commission had ordered Ribadu, who was given accelerated promotion to Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG, under former president Olusegun Obasanjo, to revert to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP with effect from 1 October, 2005. Okiro is said to be consulting with people on what to do with Ribadu.
P.M.News, however, gathered that following his demotion, Ribadu is no longer qualified to attend the course as it is meant for those in the rank of Commissioner and above in the police force. Ribadu was sent on the course in controversial circumstances last February.
It was gathered that the management of NIPPS are now in a dilemma on how to handle the Ribadu situation as such a situation has not been witnessed at the institution before.
This was confirmed by Maryam Amedu, Public Relations Officer, NIPPS. It was gathered that enemies of Ribadu, especially some former governors currently under prosecution for corruption, and who are bent on disgracing the former EFCC boss, may pile pressure on the management of NIPPS to expel Ribadu.
Meanwhile, nobody knows the whereabouts of Ribadu as our attempts to contact him on the recent developments hit a brickwall.