Pioneer chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu allegedly described corruption
under President Olusegun Obasanjo as worse
than that of late General Sani Abacha,
according to United States cable obtained by
Wikileaks.
The report released by Wikileaks stated that
a meeting which the former US Ambassador
to Nigeria, Robin Sanders had with Mallam
Ribadu to discuss his removal from the
EFCC, Ribadu told the US ambassador that
Obasanjo was good at covering his tracks
while admitting that corruption was worse
under Obasanjo. Ribadu was quoted as
saying that former President Obasanjo knew
how to play the game. “Although he created
the EFCC and understood its importance for
him with the international community, Ribadu
explained, that by far and even more than
the Abacha days, corruption under
Obasanjo’s eight years was far worse.
See extracts of the cable below:
Classified by Ambassador Robin Sanders for
Reasons 1.4 (b, c, & d).
1. (S) Summary: Ambassador had 4-hour
private discussion with Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission Chairman
(EFCC) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on the evening
of December 28 at her residence to hear his
views on the recent announcement that he
will be transferred from the EFCC to the
country’s leadership school, the National
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies
(NIPSS). Ribadu took the opportunity to
cover not only the politics behind this move,
but also spent several hours discussing a
range of EFCC pending cases that he
wanted to share, including his personal
views on Yar’Adua, former President
Obasanjo, recently indicted former Delta
State Governor Ibori, and the illicit
enrichment open cases on the Police
Inspector General Mike Okiro and Attorney
General Aondoakaa.
It seemed that he wanted someone outside
of the EFCC to know the details of active
investigations as a possible failsafe given
the current negative political climate
surrounding his pending transfer.
Ribadu also said he planned to show up to
his office on December 31, 2007, as usual
and would continue to do so )- unless he
was physically blocked — until the effective
date of his transfer (February 2008). Ribadu
said, without a doubt, yes, the warrant on
Ibori was the seminal action that made
Yar’Adua support the transfer.
He added that he was worried that Yar’Adua
was not strong enough to balance the
pressures on him from his inner circle —
many he had already blocked from illicit
enrichment The Ambassador expressed to
him the U.S.’s strong concerns over the
tenor of events and how unsettling this is
given what appears to be a reversal of
Yar’Adua’s strong anti-corruption messages
while in Washington. Coming on the heels of
the U.S. visit, this action has hurt our initial
sense of his commitment on these key
democracy pillars. The EFCC Chair was
pleased to hear of the international interest
in the situation and added that anything is
still possible in terms of a reversal as
Yar’Adua tends to respond to the last person
who speaks with him. He thought pressure
from the international community could be
useful. Ribadu said if the transfer prevails
then his Lagos deputy, Lamorde, would likely
be brought up to serve as Acting. He then
praised the USG training provided by
Treasury’s FinCen, and said whether he was
at the EFCC or not, the USG should continue
its efforts to help as his team was dedicated
and committed. Ribadu said that the EFCC
needed a few more concrete tools such as a
Crime Center, housing a data base on all
criminal activity, and hoped the U.S. would
help on this.
Ambassador provided the EFCC Chair with
all her contact information, noted she had a
pending weekend response call from the
President, and told him that he had active
supporters who would be following this
issue, notwithstanding the Ambassador.
2. (S) Following Yar’Adua’s positive U.S. trip,
fairly upbeat sentiments by Nigerians at
year’s end on his tenure, and his own end of
year national address calling on adherence
to transparency, not only do we need to be
concerned about this action, but also what
appears to be other steps against the EFCC.
Even if Ribadu is gone or if ours or other
efforts prevail, there are potentially other
possible actions on the horizon to reduce
the EFCC’s prowess by such as removing
others on Ribadu’s team, and merging it with
other less focused and effective entities
such as the Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission (ICPC). Whatever his motives,
Yar’Adua has made a major political misstep
as his tribunal results loom near. End
Summary
Ribadu: Discusses the Run-up to his
Transfer:
¶3. (S) The Ambassador had a 4-hour
discussion (8pm-midnight) at her residence
December 29 with about-to-be transferred
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) Chair Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. Rumors
began on the move late December 27,
followed up by an official press
announcement by Police Inspector General
Mike Okiro December 28. Ribadu was
seconded from the police senior leadership
in April 2003 to lead the then newly created
EFCC by former President Obasanjo. Ribadu
is officially being transferred to the
country’s National Institute for Policy and
Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in February 2008.
Ribadu told Ambassador that the transfer
was not only official, but had been approved
by President Yar’Adua. The Ambassador
asked Nigeria’s anti-corruption czar if he
thought that there could be a reversal of the
pending transfer if there was significant
outcry. Ribadu said in his dealings to date
with the President, that he did not view him
as a strong man (said in both the sense of
not only his health, but his style and
demeanor), and that he is easily swayed by
the last person that speaks with him. He
added that he did not see Yar’Adua as
corrupt and was a nice guy, but said quite
frankly that he thought he was weak, as a
result of his low key personality, his lack of
international exposure, and his lack of a
political base. Ribadu said Yar’Adua is very
worried about his election being overturned
and is getting advice from some whose
hands are tarnished with illicit enrichment on
how to secure a positive outcome of the
pending February or March 2008 tribunal
decision.
The EFCC czar then commented that despite
his overall problems with the judiciary as
judges were always being bribed, it had held
up democracy more than some of the other
government branches. The judiciary and
judges here are very corruptible and this
corruption has played a role in some of the
tribunal cases to date, he commented.
Nigeria needs something in its constitution to
put a check and balance on the judiciary.
¶4. (S) The Ambassador then asked whether
the warrant on the former Delta State
Governor Ibori was the trigger on his ouster
now, given that pressure to remove him was
not new. Ribadu said without a doubt yes.
He added that Ibori had promised to help
Yar,Adua several weeks ago (prior to the
latter’s Washington trip) with the tribunal if
he got the EFCC Chair off his back.
Yar’Adua had resisted to date, but as his
tribunal results loom near in early February
or March 2008, the President has a sense
that the verdict could go either way (ref a).
He is very unsettled about his prospects,
Ribadu noted. Without direct reference to
the Foreign Minister, who mentioned this
issue in a December 28 telecon, the
Ambassador asked Ribadu what his
relationship had been with the President up
to this point (ref C). Ribadu then described
in detail his last meetings with both the
President and separately with Ibori.
¶5. (S) The EFCC chief noted that the
President had always wanted him to cool
down a bit as he thought he could do things
more quietly. But despite this, he was
always able to reach the President and they
never had cross words. However, he added
he felt that the support he would need to
bring in some of the bigger political fish was
not there )primarily because the President
does not have his own political soldiers
within the PDP, the media, or among
Nigeria’s novo rich power brokers, nor his
own thugs or the overall clout of former
President Obasanjo. Ribadu said that Ibori
had also tried to bribe him to drop the
investigation, coming to him with a box that
contained $ 15 million (USD) in cash as an
offering to leave him alone.
Ribadu laughing said, can you imagine $15
million in cash in a box; this will be used
against him in the trial. We have it locked up
as evidence. He added that they have thus
far found only $300 million (USD) that Ibori
has stolen, but knows that he stole much
more, estimating that during his eight years
in office he took roughly 60 per cent of the
Delta State treasury for his own use,
including buying three planes and ownership
in several public and private corporations.
¶6. (S) Turning back to President Yar,Adua,
the Ambassador asked who the bad apples
around Yar,Adua were and was there anyone
in his inner circle that he would deem not
only credible but also incorruptible.
Continuing, the Ambassador asked if there
are any good guys in the Villa? He said the
only person who was truly respectable,
honest and trying always to do the right
thing was the President’s Chief of Staff,
Maj. Gen. Abdullahi Mohammed, but he likes
to stay away from both policy and politics.
Pending Investigations: A Who’s Who of
Criminal Activity
7. (S) Ribadu, seeming to be in an
environment where he felt comfortable and
relaxed, told the Ambassador he wanted to
share some more of what is really going on.
He began with a list of pending
investigations. At the top of the list were
both Attorney General (AG) Aondoakaa and
Police Inspector General Mike Okiro. Of note,
the EFCC chairman said that, we came very
close to catching Okiro in the act in a
parked car receiving several million dollars
from Ibori in cash,
but he added, we were not able to close the
deal as we could not catch the actual
handover, and my investigators feared
getting any closer to the cars. On the AG,
Ribadu continued, we have a dossier on him
and his illegal money dealings, including
getting money from Ibori, but we need to
catch him, and we will. In addition, Ribadu
said the EFCC has criminal investigations
open on 100 Nigeria individuals (mostly
government officials from the Obasanjo era)
and is following roughly 200 Nigerian
criminal organizations. This is why my next
step is to create a Crime Center, which
would have a data base that all law
enforcement agencies could access. The
EFCC Chief stated that the USG had played
an enormous role in the capacity building,
expertise and integrity of the EFCC, as the
U.S. set the best example on these issues.
He knew that his team was dedicated,
honest and committed as they all want to
see a better Nigeria and improve Nigeria,s
image around the world. &Whether I am at
the EFCC or not, whatever the U.S. can do
to continue to improve the Commission’s
capacity would be welcomed,8 he
commented. Ambassador said she would
discuss not only the Crime Center idea he
had with her team and Washington, but also
ensure that Treasury was aware of the
importance of continuing overall technical
assistance when possible to the EFCC. She
added though, if his transfer prevailed
despite her efforts and others, we would be
as active as possible to encourage any new
EFCC leadership to continue on the same
path.
On Obasanjo and his daughter Iyabo:
¶8. (S) Ambassador asked about Obasanjo
and his daughter, National Assembly Senator
Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, who is currently being
investigated over contracts to an Austrian
company. Ribadu said that the EFCC had
called her in on December 27 and questioned
her for hours. They also had documents on
the transactions and questioned the head of
the Austrian company. In the end, he added,
we determined that there was no illicit
enrichment of state funds, but a business
deal gone badly between two parties, where
promises were made and not kept, and one
party getting mad at the other. On former
president Obasanjo, the Commissioner said,
he really knew how to play the game.
Although he created the EFCC and
understood its importance for him with the
international community, Ribadu explained,
that by far even more than the Abacha days
where he was the sole thief, corruption
under Obasanjo’s eight years was far worse.
However, he added, Oba was a political
machine and knew how to play the game for
the international community, cover his tracks
and for good or bad got it as regards to
what the EFCC’s role was and should be.”
No comments:
Post a Comment