It was in late 2008 and the mood inside the British Airways flight from London to Lagos was solemn as most of the passengers on flight were fast asleep. But two passengers attracted attention as they were discussing a major issue, which has remained in the front burner of discussion back home in Nigeria. One of them, Victor Nwajeh, spoke unequivocally about the imminent changes in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He told his friend that two major redeployments would take place in the commission in the next two weeks. To rub in his assertion, this gentleman specifically told his bemused friend that two principal staff of the commission, who had hitherto become a pain in the neck of its chairman, Farida Waziri, would be redeployed out of the commission in a matter of days. For someone who is based in London, one is tempted to wave off Nwajeh's declaration but indeed he was speaking as an insider in the anti-graft agency. He boasted about his acquaintance with the EFCC boss and the grand plan to ease out the then Director of Operations of the commission, Tokunbo Ogunshakin, and the Secretary, Emmanuel Akumayi respectively. Both had been in intense power play with the EFCC boss. Investigation revealed that Nwajeh is not just an acquaintance of the commission boss; he was also alleged to be a business partner and agent, who had allegedly acted as front for the former police officer in many sordid deals. To close friends, Nwajeh is alleged to be a greedy blackmailer, who never missed the opportunity at reaping unduly from those who have run foul of the law, especially corrupt government officials and he was alleged to found a willing.

In the corruption pit called the Nigeria Police, Farida lived comfortably when she was in charge of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Alagbon. She was alleged to be what honey is to bees to the 419 clan when she held sway as the unit boss. Her alleged corrupt tendencies found expression in her alleged closeness to419 kingpin, Fred Ajudua. At Alagbon, the notorious fraudster was Farida's regular visitor. In one of his numerous visits to the SFU building, the Delta State-born fraudster allegedly parked his car at the parking lot allotted to senior police officers to the chagrin of retired AIG Ojomo, who ordered the deflation of the car tyre. Though Ajudua later apologized, he had succeeded in nonetheless demonstrating his closeness to the police high authority. An informed police source told The Premier that Farida's stint as the officer in charge of the anti-fraud unit was not too impressive. Her reign cannot be said to have improved the image of the police. It, therefore, did not come as a surprise when she allegedly cleared another notorious fraudster, Late Maurice Ibekwe, of the 419 charges levied against him by one of his foreign victims. Ibekwe would later die in prison while undergoing prosecution when his 419 case was revived by Farida's predecessor at the EFCC, Mallam

Two years ago, shortly before she assumed duty as the commission boss, she equally stood as surety for the former governor of Benue State, George Akume, who was hauled before the anti-graft agency on allegation of corruption and embezzlement of the state resources. Akume's case file was among the numerous files on corrupt former governors allegedly handed over to her on assumption of duty. Interestingly, no action has been taken on Akume's file with many suspecting that the case may have died a natural death.

For those who know her too well, Farida has been alleged not to be short of patronage from those who had fell on the wrong side of the law and she was alleged to be ever willing to help even if it means staking her reputation. She is also gold merchant whose clients include wives of state governors, senators, ministers and top government functionaries. But none of these could be compared to her present job. In her new post, it has become business as usual for the anti-corruption czar. She allegedly recruited many personnel of questionable characters as agents whose brief is to negotiate for soft landing for corrupt individuals, allegedly, on her behalf. The Premier's findings, Farida hobnobbed with notorious moneybag, Terry Waya, allegedly as her coordinator in some of her alleged dirty deals in the commission. Her association with Waya snapped when he (Waya) reportedly tried a fast one on her. Waya's subsequent arrest was seen as playing to the gallery, at least to tell the public that she had nothing to do with him. Indeed, the arrest was a hoax as the Benue-born controversial business man regained freedom 40 minutes after his arrest on Farida's order whom the former claimed had knowledge of his activities. It is believed that the appointment of one Yisa Terya Moses, her blood brother, as a special assistant, was aimed at continuing alleged corruption rites allegedly perpetrated by her while in the Nigeria Police. The fear of corrupt tendencies wrought by her while in the police service was confirmed when she curiously created an information fund which she mandated Moses to coordinate. Moses has not disappointed in his mission at the EFCC which allegedly is helping his sister to cover track of any sleaze trailing her as the boss of the commission. Moses competence in fraud management loudly found expression in the controversy trailing his withdrawal of N75 million allegedly on behalf of his sister for the information fund. The Premier checks revealed that the commission has no such provision for such fund. In order not to leave any trace on the spending of the information fund which runs into millions of Naira, Farida allegedly recruited one James Uandefan Tersuah, a police officer from her home town, to take charge of the accounts department of the commission. Information has it that the breakdown of the withdrawal spent on information goes thus: On August 2, 2008, a cash withdrawal of N2 million followed by another withdrawal of N3 million on August 14, 2008. On September 20 and October 4, 2008, N20 million was withdrawn. In June 26, 2008, a withdrawal of N15 million was effected, three days later another N15 million was withdrawn. July 22, 2008, witnessed the withdrawal of N15 million.

The Premier checks revealed that the money withdrawn was never spent on information management as claimed. Worst still, those withdrawals were nowhere reflected in the accounts books of the commission. If the above is to be branded by her spin doctors as mere speculation, that surely cannot be said of the land deal in which she was allegedly involved in Abuja. When she took over from Ribadu, she had the mandate of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to probe the activities of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and make recommendati ons. It was gathered that it was in the process of probing El-Rufai that she stumbled on alleged dirty files of Modibbo Aliyu Muhammad, predecessor of Adamu Aliero, current Minister of FCT. Negotiation allegedly triggered off between Modibbo and Waziri. The alleged product of that negotiation was a parcel of land in Abuja. The Premier learnt that Farida was allegedly bribed with a parcel of land in order to erase any track of corruption linking Modibbo when he was FCT Minister. Being a smart alec, Waziri allegedly prompted the revocation of the certificate of occupancy (C of O) issued her to wipe out her link to the ownership of the land. After the revocation of the C of O, she allegedly used her daughter's name to re-purchase the land. The
parcel of land in question is located at Plot 1460, 25 Trent River Street, Maitama, Abuja, with the number 60219 in Cadastral Zone B06 of MABUSAI. The letter revoking the earlier C of O given to Waziri reads: “Notice of withdrawal of right of occupancy. Your right of occupancy to Plot1460 within B06 Mabushi was revoked by discretion of the
authority.” At press time, her daughter, Zainab Naomi Salawu, had the C of O of the land in her kitty.
Farida's alleged sins are legion. Despite the parade of one Chief Egbe Akparakwu by the anti-graft agency on television for purportedly using the agency to extort money from members of the public, the way and manner the case was handled by the agency smacks of cover up. The commission told the general public that Akparakwu would be arraigned in court. But on the appointed day, he was not arraigned in any court either in Lagos or Abuja. Lawyer to Akparakwu told The Premier that he was surprised to see his client a free man without being charged to court even when he was paraded on the national television as a common criminal. However, Femi Babafemi, the commission's spokesperson, told The Premier that Akaparakwu was given administrative bail. Said he: “Akparakwu is not the only Nigerian that has been granted such bail by the commission.” What failed to add up in Babafemi's response is that Akaparakwu, a suspect, should not have been paraded if there was no concrete evidence against him. Worse still, not a few were amazed penultimate week when the EFCC again paraded Nwajeh, Farida's ally on charges bothering on fraud. In EFCC's account, Nwajeh was arrested following an intelligence report on his past criminal activities. In the usual tradition of the antigraft agency, Babafemi said Nwajeh was arrested at his Wuse, Abuja residence after a peep into his past. An informed source revealed Nwajeh's parade was a direct fall out of an alleged extortion of US$2 million from an influential bank executive being investigated by the commission. Sources said that the prompt manner in which Nwajeh was paraded was a smart way of silencing him from leaking the name of the influential figure behind him, adding that Waziri could not claim ignorance of Nwajeh's activities. It was gathered that Nwajeh, who was earlier based in London, relocated to the country due to the arrangement he allegedly had with Waziri. Investigation revealed that the relationship between Farida and Nwajeh was reportedly struck when the latter blew the lid on monumental fraud allegedly perpetrated by River State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi and some of his aides. Nwajeh was the architect of the petition which the EFCC acted upon to arrest and detain three top functionaries of the state in 2008. Since then, Nwajeh was said to have become an agent to the commission while also compiling dossiers on corrupt government officials. A shocked Nwajeh had told the commission that if he was pushed to the wall he would spill the bin. His threat was said to have forced the commission to handle his case the way Akparakwu's case was handled. Although Babafemi told The Premier that he would be charged to court this week, information emanating from the commission revealed that much would not be achieved in the case because Waziri could not totally deny knowledge of Nwajeh's activities.

The Premier's investigation also revealed that one Godwin Obla, an external solicitor to the commission, allegedly collected N7 million from the Nigerian Energy and Regulatory Commission (NERC) for a job he allegedly never delivered. Since the case was reported, the commission is yet
to summon enough courage to prosecute Obla. When Babafemi was contacted for comment on the matter, he told The Premier that he is not “the spokesperson to Obla. That question should be directed to the man in question not the commission.”

Shockingly, since Waziri's assumption of duty as EFCC boss, mysterious things have allegedly been happening in the commission. A few weeks after she took over, the case files of former governors who have corruption cases to answer disappeared. Even some of the governors' cases grudgingly handled by Waziri ended up in controversy. How the case of former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, was handled baffled not a few Nigerians. The Premier was told that part of the assignment of Waziri in up the commission's credibility problem which started as a result of her headship of the commission. Reports have it that much will not be achieved in the trial of the bank executives which may likely go the way of the former governors. Amongst the alleged many sins of the EFCC boss are the many failed promises to bring to book prominent politicians who were alleged to have been involved in massive looting of public fund. In the era of the immediate past chairman of the commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, was accused of monumental fraud running into billions of naira. The commission in fact published its findings on its website where it alleged that about N89 billion may have gone down the drain. But due to the fact that the governor enjoyed immunity from prosecution at the time, the commission under Ribadu could not prosecute Odili. But shortly before Mallam Ribadu was removed from office, Odili approached a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, on 13th September 2007, for an order restraining the commission from either arresting or prosecuting him based on the report by the EFCC.

With the decision of Justice Reginald Nwodo not to grant the reliefs sought by the ex-governor, Odili quickly headed for the Rivers State High Court presided over by Justice Ibrahim Buba. What he couldn't get at the Federal High Court, he got at the state high court. On assumption of office, Farida Waziri, was quoted to have said that the commission was going to appeal the decision of the court. But almost two years into her tenure at the commission, nothing has been done. Odili still walks the streets of the country a free man in spite of the existence of the damning EFCC report. There is no doubting the fact that Nigeria is a classical case of corruption in high places. What has, however, continued to baffle many is that having acquired this ill-gotten wealth, those who should otherwise cover their faces in shame don't give a damn about flaunting their wealth before the very eyes of ordinary Nigerians. Chief James Onanafe Ibori, immediate past governor of Delta State falls into this category. Ibori, who allegedly played prominent role in the nomination and election of the ailing President Umar Musa Yar'Adua, has assumed a somewhat larger than life status. Actively aided by the nation's Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, Ibori has continued to evade prosecution both home and abroad. Only a few weeks ago, he was discharged and acquitted by a Federal High Court in Asaba. This was after questionable transfer his case from Kaduna State to Delta State. The court absolved him of any complicity in the alleged financial misappropriation leveled against him by the EFCC. Again, the EFCC promised to appeal that decision, but weeks after the judgment was delivered, the commission is yet to take any step on the issue.         

The case of Chief Lucky Igbinedion, former Governor of Edo State, is perhaps the most preposterous of all the cases of corruption handled by the Farida Waziri- led EFCC. Son of the defunct Okada Air boss, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, enjoyed the most outstanding accolade as one of the worst performing chief executives of a state during his eight years sojourn in the Big Heart State. As a demonstration of his nonperformance, his father was said to have rhetorically asked Edo indigenes who were clamouring for his non-return in 2003 whether if their son failed in an examination, they would not be disposed to having him retake the examination? Indeed, while the state groaned under lack of infrastructural development, the media was awash with stories of how the governor continued to siphon resources of the state for personal use. Many were, therefore, happy when Lucky Igbinedion was arrested by the EFCC and charged to court. However, before one could say Jack Robinson, news filtered out that the erstwhile governor was negotiating with the commission for a plea bargaining agreement. What later turned out was mockery of the arraignment and subsequent trial of the erstwhile governor. Despite being accused of siphoning millions of naira, Igbinedion was left off the hook with a paltry fine of few millions of naira which was paid in a jiffy. Madam Farida, of course, came out to denounce the judgment and promised to appeal, but years on, nothing has been done. The cases of other ex-governors such Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Boni Haruna (Adamawa), Joshua Dariye (Plateau), Saminu Turaki (Jigawa), Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Rasheed Ladoja (Oyo) and Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti) are not different. These cases have been on for about two years and there are fears that they may ended up like those before them.

http://www.saharareporters.com/component/content/article/139-sr-bloggers/5414-dirty-deals-of-farida-waziri-of-efcc.html

God helps us in this country - what a cesspit of evil , where people put their personal interest before the nation's own interest.

Did the article call her anti corruption Czar?

hail the high thieves of nigeria.

what do you expect with Nigerians mentality
E.g. see this thread https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-408354.0.html

Nigerians! We hail thee.

We have still not attained the status of nationhood and i dont see how we can develop at the rate we are going, bunch of selfish and self centered are the one leading us

When you think nairaland is full of junks then come some article with such compelling facts, dates, names and events that you cannot ignore. That is why I love nairaland.com