The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mr Ibrahim Magu has condemned news making the rounds that the commission is selective in its fight against corruption in the country.
The EFCC boss went further to inform the 15th Anti-corruption Situation Room organized by Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) in Kaduna on Tuesday that those accusing the commission of being selective in fight against corruption were the most corrupt individuals in the country.
Ably represented by the Spokesperson of the Commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, he said that most of the suspected corrupt individuals arrested by the commission had never denied their involvement in the allegations against them.
“ So tell me what is selective about EFCC, have you seen anybody arrested by EFCC that comes out to say he or she didn’t know anything about the allegations level against them. What they always tell the public is that the commission is going after them because they belong to one political party or the other.
“But for us, whether you are in Party A or B, it’s in-material because as you committed a crime, you should be prepared to answer for your crime without considering your political affiliation.
“Those who are making allegations of selectivity are actually the corrupt people who want to divert attention. This is why I’m making this clarification that EFCC is not selective, ” he said.
He went further to say that, all the crises witness in the country today is as a result of corruption, that EFCC is doing all it can to ensure that all stolen resources are recovered and returned to the coffer of the country.
Early, the keynote Speaker, Prof. Adam Ahmed Abere, who dwell on the topic, ‘Corruption and it’s Threat to Peaceful Coexistence: A Critical Review of Feuding Communities and Management of Scarce Resources’, said all forms of insecurity in Nigeria from Boko Haram, kidnapping, armed banditry xenophobia in South Africa and poor treatment of Nigerians outside the country are all manifestations of corruption over the years.Abere, categorised cost of corruption into “political, economic, social and environment. Corruption hinders true democracy. Banditry in Zamfara and Katsina states are consequence of mining operations in the two states. The plan is to make the area an ungovernable environment to bring arms in and control the mining activities fully but Federal Government’s ban on mining activities helped to reduce the crises”.
The Executive Director HEDA, Mr Olanrewaju Suraju said that the Anti Corruption Situation Room that has taken place in many parts of the country is designed to facilitate interaction between stakeholders in promoting anti corruption and good governance. “We have ween various feuds Ife – Modakeke, Jukun – Tiv, Zango Kataf crises, that we need to start looking at how we got there.”The programme was supported by Upright for Nigeria, MacArthur Foundation, National Orientation Agency among others.
