EFCC TO EKWEREMADU: No scare-mongering will stop us

The EFCC has said that no amount of scare-mongering will dissuade it from “vigorously enforcing its mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption”.

The commission was responding to an alarm by Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu that it plans to set him up by planting cash and weapons at his houses, to be unearthed during a planned raid.

Ekweremadu, had raised the alarm when he read a letter at plenary on Wednesday, reportedly written to him by an unnamed Nigerian.

He said the move is to force him out of office and give the impression that he is a corrupt politician, unfit to hold any public office.

But the agency in a statement on Wednesday night, said “The Commission’s candid advice to Ekweremadu is to sleep easy if he is not involved in the looting spree that seems to be the pastime of many Nigerians in the corridors of power. Let it be known however, that there will be no amount of scare-mongering that will dissuade the EFCC from vigorously enforcing its mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption”.

The statement read in part, “The Commission wishes to state in very strong terms that it is not aware of any plot to set up Ekweremadu for any arrest. If any agency is plotting to plant monies and guns in Ekweremadu’s residence, it is certainly not the EFCC as such antics are alien to the Commission.

Read also: EKWEREMADU: EFCC plans to plant money, ammunition in my houses

“Nevertheless, the Commission is worried by the alarm and the fact that the highly-regarded Deputy President of the Nigerian senate would go public with such unverified information without first double-checking with the Commission. This is not only very strange but smacks of a scripted propaganda campaign to distract the Commission by putting it on the defensive.

“It must be emphatically stated for the benefit of Senator Ekweremadu and others who share similar misconception and jaundiced views of the EFCC, that the Commission does not need any grand plot to arrest and prosecute him if he is found to have violated any law that EFCC enforces. He does not belong in the category of public officers that enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution by law enforcement agencies.

“Once again, the alleged plot by EFCC to raid Senator Ekweremadu’s house on May 6 2017, exists only in the very fertile imagination of the Distinguished Deputy Senate President’s questionable “source”, whom he claims is “Close to the EFCC”.

 

RipplesNigeria ….without borders, without fears

Click here to download the Ripples Nigeria App for latest updates

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now