Chief Edwin Clark
A Former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has lost focus.
He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to re-organise the anti-graft agency for effective discharge of its duty.
Clark spoke while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
The Ijaw leader said the anti-graft body had lost focus of prosecuting corrupt officials but now go after those involved in cyber and petty crimes.
Clark spoke against the background of the claim by the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) that his fight against corruption would start on May 29, 2015 if he wins the March 28 election.
Asked whether he was calling for the removal of the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, Clark said “anything can happen” during re-organisation.
Clark said, “APC is not qualified to fight corruption contrary to what Buhari had said during his campaign.
“Buhari has always anchored his campaign promises on two planks: to wipe out insecurity and corruption. With the renewed offensive against the terrorists leading to the killing and dislodgement of the Boko Haran anarchists, the first campaign plank of Buhari has been given a technical knock-out by Jonathan and the world is witnessing the reclaiming of all territories hitherto held by Boko Haram.
“This leaves him on a one-legged platform. Again on the remaining plank; corruption, Buhari himself got jittery and gave himself another technical knock-out when he said he would not probe past leaders. With this development, Buhari has conceded that he has nothing more to offer the good people of this country.
“I am puzzled to hear Buhari say that whoever has been indicted of corruption between 1999 and the time of his swearing-in would be pardoned. According to him, like a village sports man, he will draw a line, anybody who involves himself in corruption after he assumes office on May 29, 2015 will face the music, while no matter how corrupt a person has been before then, he or she would be asked to go and sin no more.
“One wonders if Buhari knows what the law says about corruption. The declaration of Buhari clearly shows that he and his co-travellers in APC are bare-face liars, hypocrites, dishonest, insincere and lack integrity simply because they want power and are bent on pursuing it to psychotic level.
“What is Buhari really afraid of? Why is he promising a blanket pardon to all corrupt office holders before the election? Is that his new selling point? Supposing it was possible for Buhari to win election which is not, can he start the fight against corruption with himself and his APC cohorts since most of them are already standing trial in court?”
The Ijaw leader added that allegations of corruption against some prominent leaders of APC were within the knowledge of the anti-graft agencies but were not being investigated.”
Meanwhile, EFCC has refuted allegation that it was being used to probe Jonathan’s political opponents.
The agency also dismissed a claim by the spokesperson for Mohammadu Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation, Shehu Garba, that Lamorde was being accused by the commission’s workers of corruption.
The Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwajaren, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja on Friday, described as forgery a document containing the names of certain opposition figures such as APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, among others, said to have been marked for probe by the commission on the instruction of Chief of Staff to the President.
Uwajaren further dismissed claims that the commission owes its workers.
The EFCC spokesman alleged that Garba had nursed a grudge against the anti-graft agency over the years when he was working as the spokesman of Atiku.
OLUSOLA FABIYI AND FIDELIS SORIWEI
