Obasanjo hits EFCC, says it is a toothless bulldog

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commision, EFCC, has come under the critical appraisal of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who described it as a toothless bulldog under its present leadership.

The former President, who called on the Federal Government to make the anti-corruption war more effective and ensure the safety of Nigerians in midst of security threat, stated this on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun state, a function organised to mark his 79th birthday.

When comapring the EFCC under its pioneer chairman, Nuhu Ribadu and what obtains at the moment, it is regrettable that the anti – graft agency has become a “toothless bull – dog.”

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According to him, it was important to do an appraisal to know why the EFCC which was dreaded because of its effectiveness during his administration, began to lose courage, adding it is also crucial so that the nation does not take one step forwards and take three steps backward.

He said: “the good thing is that we all enjoyed the work and we all felt that we were contributing our own meaningful quota to the development of the country.

“As all know, when Nuhu Ribadu was handling the EFCC, he handled it in such a way that people coined the saying that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Ribadu.

”And the thing you will ask is how did we go down, how did we lose that, how did we? Nuhu Ribadu is still here, he is still alive, the institution that we started together is still there, what made the institution to become a toothless bull dog.

“We need to work things out so that we don’t take two steps forward, one step and three steps backward.”

On terrorism, Obasanjo said the solutions lie at home, the church, mosque, society, state and the International community.

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