Posted by From Murphy Ganagana, Abuja on
Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, has called for more support for the commission from the international community, especially in capacity building, saying that is the only way Nigeria could benefit from countries that had made marks in the fight against corruption.
Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, has called for more support for the commission from the international community, especially in capacity building, saying that is the only way Nigeria could benefit from countries that had made marks in the fight against corruption.
Her call, which came on the heels of the commissioning of the EFCC Data Centre, was made while receiving the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Mr Arie van der Wiel, on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at her office in Abuja.
She reinstated her resolve to eradicate corruption or at least, reduce it to the minimal level, noting that capacity building is a means towards achieving the feat. 'Eradication of corruption could be accomplished through capacity building of officials involved in this fight and I am looking forward to countries that have achieved so much in this war like your country, to avail us of opportunities for training either here or oversea,' she stated.
Waziri acknowledged Netherlands's support to EFCC through its membership of the European Union, which has tremendously supported the commission. 'I am happy to note that EFCC already has a bilateral relationship with you and in fact, your contribution to us through the EU got to the climax today with the commissioning of our data centre. It is a beautiful project that will serve the commission very effectively.'
Earlier while congratulating the chairman on her assumption of office as the head of the commission and the successful opening of the EFCC data centre, Mr. Wiel said it was gratifying to note Nigeria's positive downward slide in the Transparency International (TI) corruption index. 'We have Nigeria's fight against corruption very high on our agenda. We are very pleased about what your government has done in this fight over the last few years.'
Meanwhile, the agency has said there is no massive redeployment of its investigators as being insinuated in some quarters.
EFCC spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement that the clarification became necessary to dispel rumours and falsehood being peddled by mischief makers and put the facts straight.
'So far, only 10 police investigators have been redeployed. Of this figure, one is a legal officer and another, a transport officer. Beside the 10 police officers, other policemen affected are those who keep guards at the Commission and who have nothing absolutely to do with cases.
The affected officers include Magu Ibrahim (CSP), Ciroma Bala (CSP), Mohammed Bunu (CSP), Atteh Seidu K (SP), Chemmy Panda (SP), Emeka Nwonyi (SP), Danjuma Mohammed (DSP), Madaki Abubakar (DSP), Mohammed Yerima (DSP), Bello Yahaya (DSP).
For the avoidance of doubt, EFCC cases are investigated by teams headed by team leaders and all members of these teams are familiar with investigations being handled by them and can always follow up. As such, no investigation can suffer on the account of the deployment of one officer. All cases being handled by the EFCC are going on well. Members of the public are therefore advised not to be misled by mischief makers and people with ulterior motives,' he said.