President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua has approved the appointment of Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Lamorde, as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EF-CC).
A statement yesterday by the Special Adviser to the President on Communica-tions, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, said ACP Lamorde, currently the EFCC�s director of operations was appointed following President Yar�Adua�s approval of AIG Nuhu Ribadu�s nomination for a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.
The statement reads: �Further to his approval of AIG Nuhu Ribadu�s nomination for a course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua has approved the appointment of Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Lamorde as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). ACP Lamorde is currently the EFCC�s Director of Operations.�
The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro had in December last year announced the decision of the police high command to send the EFCC chairman on a nine-month course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, in Plateau State.
The IG noted while making the announcement: “His going on course does not remove him from being a police officer or stop him from performing his anti-graft duties. Going on course will only make him a better officer and improve him for the job.
“Ribadu is first and foremost, a police officer and an AIG for that matter. As you know, courses are a pre-requisite for progress both in the force and the military. Such courses help to develop both the employee and the organisation he works for. People who go to NIPSS must attain certain ranks and their going is based on seniority.
However, a section of the society saw the action as a plot to remove Ribadu as the head of the anti-corruption agency by some ex-governors facing trial for corruption.
Irked by the decision, some Nigerians even got in touch with Yar’Adua � mainly through open letters � but he insisted that he was not involved in the whole process.
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, condemned the decision to send the EFCC boss to NIPSS, describing it as a �contemptuous New Year gift that constitutes an assault on the corporate integrity of the nation.�
Comparing the removal of Ribadu to the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, Soyinka in a press statement said Ribadu’s removal would have a far more devastating impact on the psyche of the Nigerian nation “than the deadly event that now threatens to destabilise Pakistan,” through the assassination of her democratic front runner, Bhutto.
Also, Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi said with the removal of Ribadu, the government has subverted the anti-corruption crusade embarked upon by the EFCC under the outstanding leadership of Ribadu
Worried by the criticism, Okiro had to battle to clear his name. “Seven participants from the police have been slated to attend the forthcoming course at NIPSS and AIG Nuhu Ribadu is the second on the list based on seniority and the above guidelines, hence he is nominated to attend the course. He is not being sent on course for any other ulterior motive than the reasons stated above, which he satisfies. He is not being sent to NIPSS on the prompting of any external body or bodies,” the IG explained.
Yesterday�s approval of Lamorde as acting chairman, puts paid to any speculation about Ribadu�s fate during his stay at NIPSS.
Jan122008