Ike Ekweremadu reacts to EFCC’s Statement that it doesn’t Confer Honours

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Wednesday dissociated itself from the decoration of the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu as its “Anti Corruption Ambassador” by its National Assembly Liaison officer, Suleiman Bakari, saying it is not in the habit of decorating individuals with titles. Click here if you missed it

Ekweremadu has reacted to the news in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Uche Anichukwu, saying that the EFCC’s claim is contradictory. He cited an instance where former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu conferred Role Model Award on three individuals, including a former Senate President in 2007.

He also pointed out that the visit and decoration by Bakari were not solicited for in the first place.

As for the purported claim by the EFCC spokesperson that the agency has never and could not have decorated anybody as an Anti-Corruption Ambassador, since, according to him, the commission is not in the habit of awarding titles to individuals, we wish to refer him to December 7, 2007, when the Nuhu Ribadu-led EFCC conferred the Role Model Award in the fight against corruption, on certain persons, including a former President of the Senate, a taxi driver, and a former Justice of the Federal High Court at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

That the said denial by the EFCC is coming in two different statements all within a few hours is, therefore, baffling, inexplicable, and contradictory.

Taking cognisance of the command structure of the agency, we also wonder whether Bakari could have acted on his own or read from a prepared text without recourse to the commission which he represents, especially as the visit and decoration were never solicited for in the first place.

We leave the rest to discerning members of the public to read in-between the lines and make their own judgments.

Source: Vanguard