Elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark
has called for the removal of the Executive Chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, over his alleged role
in the $15 million bribe offered to Malam Nuhu Ribadu, a former chairman of the
commission.
The Ijaw leader, who addressed
reporters in Abuja yesterday, said the anti-graft agency ridiculed itself with
the contradictory statements in their affidavit before a Federal High Court
sitting in Abuja
Clark, a close associate of
President Jonathan and one of the nation’s leading power-brokers, said: “My
attention has been drawn to the unnecessary and unwarranted controversy that
has surrounded the above subject and wish to state the fact as they are as a
major stakeholder, while also calling on the federal government to investigate
the strange roles and involvement of Senator Andy Uba, former Special Adviser
on Domestic Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo, and his ally, Chibuike
Achigbu, and Ibrahim Lamorde, EFCC chairman, in order to strengthen the
anti-corruption crusade and act as a deterrent to other similar characters
whose conduct continue to derail the anti-corruption crusade of President
Goodluck Jonathan.”
According to him, Lamorde was
aware that the money belongs to the Delta state government from the very first
day it was paid by Ibori but failed to say so because he knows that if the
money goes to the state, the 30 percent of the money that would go to the
commission if the money is forfeited to the federal government would not be
paid.
A staff of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, who was seconded to the EFCC, explained how the bribe was loaded “in a
brown big bag and dragged into a Toyota Avensis car” and taken to the CBN.
He said: “However, the
ownership of the said money was not in doubt, despite the fact that James Ibori
denied giving the said sum. We stated how James Ibori gave the said money to
Malam Nuhu Ribadu and the commission, through telephone discussion, that the
money was with Senator Andy Uba, the then Special Adviser to President Olusegun
Obasanjo on Domestic Affairs, and how he directed Ibrahim Lamorde (then
Director of Operations) to collect the money, how the cash was collected at the
Villa and deposited at the Central Bank.
“The statement made by Nuhu
Ribadu, collaborated (sic) by Ibrahim Lamorde and James Garba, staff of the
EFCC that collected the money and confirmed to me by Senator Andy Uba at my
residence in Abuja on the 25th of September, 2012 at 11.30pm and in his press
statement which he handed over to me puts to rest the present speculation and
controversy.”
Clark also accused Lamorde of
being economical with the truth by saying that he does not know where the money
came from in his sworn affidavit.
He added: “As at today, the
EFCC, as presently constituted, cannot fight corruption because it lacks the
will, courage and determination, as the James Ibori $12 million bribe had
revealed. The EFCC should be made of men of honour and probity.
“Despite the opinion some may
hold on Ibrahim Lamorde, the present Executive Chairman of the EFCC, he should
be investigated for the unholy roles he had played in the James Ibori saga.”
Source: Blueprint
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