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Farida
Waziri, Exect.Chairman, EFCC (3rd
left) with members of the National
Conference of Black Mayors, USA; George
Grace, Fmr. President,NCBM; Heather
Hudson, President, NCBM; Velma Jenkins,
Chair of Women Caucus, NCBM; Eugene
Grant, President, Maryland Chapter, NCBM
& 1st Vice President, World
Conference of Mayors; Vanessa Willams,
President, NCBM
Executive
Chairman of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida
Waziri has said tough time awaits
corrupt public office holders and other
category of fraudsters in the country.
Waziri who gave
the assurance while receiving a group of
five Mayors from the United States on
Monday 27 July 27, 2009 said the
Commission’s investigations into pending
cases of corrupt public officers and
other high profile cases have started
yielding results.She stressed that
more of them would face prosecution in
the weeks ahead, a statement by Femi
Babafemi, the commission's spokesman
said.
“We will crave
your indulgence to understand our
difficulties and to support us to
realize our mandate. In the months to
come, expect a significant decrease in
419, lots of high profile cases against
banks and the full implementation of the
40+9 recommendations of the FATF by
Nigerian banks”, the EFCC boss added
while intimating her guests with a
number of achievements the anti- graft
agency had recorded in the last 12
months.
Heather
Hudson, President, National Conference
of Black Mayors, USA decorating the
Executive Chairman, Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria,
Farida Waziri, AIG of Police (rtd) with
an official Brooch during a courtesy
visit to the Commission
The U.S. Mayors
who spoke one after the other commended
the Commission for what it has done so
far and assured Mrs. Waziri that they
were visiting to seek ways of
collaborating with the EFCC on how to
achieve greater results on its mandate.
Leader of the
delegation and president of National
Conference of Black Mayors in the United
States, Healther Hudson said that the
visit was to establish a lasting
relationship with the Commission in a
way that “would further the effort of
capacity building not only with the
community here in Nigeria but those in
the United States. This would not be the
last time because you have truly blessed
us with the opportunity”
In his own
remarks, Mayor Eugene Grant said, “let
me say that being with our brothers and
sisters in Nigeria is truly an honour
and blessing for us. Great things have
come from this country, you celebrated
one o f your men who introduced
electronic card. President Clinton also
called one of your country-men the
father of the internet. So, it is an
honour for us conference of black mayors
to be able to sit with you, be able to
dialogue an d find ways we can forge
greater partnership and build those
bridges that have been broken before,
knowing as a certainty that we can
reconnect. While we have issues of
Badagry and the chains, we have come
back to forge a new alliance. We have to
continue to forge ahead with this
relationship.
“In the United
States, we know that Nigeria has had
some negative press but we know that
there are also some things positive
here. Just in the state that I
represent, there are 200,000 Nigerians
that live there and in my territory
specifically, 100,000 Nigerians who are
very successful live there.
A
Cross-Section of the envoys with the
Executive Chairman, Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria,
Farida Waziri, AIG of Police (rtd) &
some members of her manag’t team during
the visit
While also
speaking during the visit, Mayor Vanessa
Williams said, “when you look at the
relationship between African – American,
there has been a great gap, we
African-Americans have not been
privileged to be active on the
continent, so it is delightful to bring
the conference of mayors here and
discuss things were we can be of
assistance . Many of the things you
discussed in your speech, technical
assistance, provided, you were speaking
in areas of infrastructure and technical
development and not just wanting to make
sure that processes are transparent in
doing contracts.” The Mayor in the
United States go through the same
process. This is a place where technical
assistance could be provided and best
practices can also be shared. Looking at
the work that we put in place in America
and be able to share them with you. The
banking system as you know has impacted
our country as well. So this is
something that we are all working on,
looking at how we can develop strong
community overall. Among the mayors are
different professionals, doctors,
attorneys and other, it is this kind of
relationship that we will like to bring
to the table.
Other members of
the delegation include Mayor George
Grace, former president of NCBM and
chair of International Development
Committee of NCBM, Billy Nwoye,
representative of ALGON, Darius Divson,
NCBM leadership international, Dora
Mohammed, Wynona Singleterry, Executive
Assistant to Executive Director of NCBM
and Joseph Louis, Executive Director of
National Conference of Haitian Mayors. |
