Posted by From JAMES OJO, Abuja. on
Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC], Mrs Farida Waziri yesterday disclosed that the commission has no respect for anybody that breaks the law, as it beams light on the National Assembly.
Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC], Mrs Farida Waziri yesterday disclosed that the commission has no respect for anybody that breaks the law, as it beams light on the National Assembly. After about two hours closed door meeting with the Speaker of House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, Farida said that the war against graft is total as' nobody is above the law and that whosoever breaks the law of the land would be taken on.'
The EFCC boss told newsmen that the commission was working on a lot of corrupt government and private individuals, which it has received petition, while dismissing innuendoes that the EFCC was only interested in top political office holders.
As a result, she added that members of the National Assembly are not exemption in the on-going mass probe of public officials even though they are lawmakers.
'Nobody is above the laws of the land. We are working on everybody who is corrupt in this country. There is nothing special about members; everybody who breaks the laws of the land would be taken on,' the EFCC boss said.
In efforts to comb every nooks and crannies of the nation for corrupt people, she disclosed that the Commission had already sent its intelligence officials to some states of the federal with the mandate to monitor the activities of political office holders at the grass roots.
She said that the effort of the commission in this respect was already yielding results with the recent report from Kogi, Anambra and some other states of the federation .
'Did you not read what we brought in from Kogi State, from Anambra state? We are working on it. Our intelligence officials have been going there to monitor the activities on the ground. We are working on everybody; private sector, public sector, where there is corruption, everybody,' she said.
On the probe of some failed bank chiefs by the House, Mrs Farida said she was not sure of the outcome of the exercise, but that the Commission would never leave any sector where corruption had been alleged.
Mrs Farida was summoned by the Joint Committee of Capital Market and Banking and Currency of the House after the discovery of huge sums of money stolen by Managing Directors of some failed bank Chiefs, particularly Hallmark and All States banks.
She claimed not to be aware of the probe and asked journalist to forward their questions on the failed banks to her office so that she could cross check the matter.
'Which bank chiefs? Do I know about this question you are asking? Please send in your questions, maybe we will find out, I don't know about it,' she said.