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The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC once again reiterated its determination
to work within the ambit of the law in the discharge of
its responsibility of fighting all forms of economic
crimes in the country.The assurance was given on
Thursday February 5, 2009 by the Chairman of the
Commission, Mrs Farida Waziri when she presented the sum
of N3 million as damages to Dr.Sylvester Odigie a Lagos-
based business man who was detained by the Commission
between May 24 and July 6 2006.Odigie has of late
stepped up a campaign to let the world know he was
illegally detained by the EFCC while Nuhu Ribadu was
chairman.Whether this is part of an orchestrated
campaign to further rubbish Ribadu remains unclear but
Odigie seems to have followed due process in pursuit of
justice.
Femi Babafemi, EFCC `s head of media and
publicity said in a statement that the presentation of
the sum was in obedience of a Federal Capital Territory
High Court ruling ordering EFCC to pay damages to Dr.
Odigie. While presenting the letter of instruction to
Odigie, the EFCC boss stressed that the gesture was in
fulfillment of the Commission’s resolve to respect court
judgments
“As a law enforcement agency, we have
chosen to abide by this court judgment to further
buttress our determination to always work within the
ambit of the rule of law”, she stated adding that the
rule of law policy as exemplified by the Alhaji Umaru
Musa YarArdua’s administration has given beauty to the
practice of democracy in the country.
The EFCC chair
further assured Nigerians that as a law enforcement
agency, the Commission was determined not to repeat the
mistakes of the past. “We are committed to upholding and
protecting the laws we are established to enforce”, she
stated.That wa a direct reference to the criticism of
the Ribadu years when the commission was accused of
failing to obey court orders.
Reacting to the
development, Dr Odigie who said he was wrongfully
detained by the EFCC between May and July 2006 over some
land transactions expressed gratitude to Mrs Waziri for
boldly upholding the court order. ''This is a
special day, I never knew this day will ever come in
Nigeria. It is here,and I want the world to know that
this is a new era altogether, an era of rule of law.” He
said Mrs. Waziri was a bold woman who must be supported
by Nigerians. “She had an easy way out and could as well
say the incident did not happen at her own time”, he
stressed.
Dr. Odigie equally thanked the Commission,
the judiciary and the government saying that his prayer
was for God to grant the judiciary the courage and
wisdom to do the right thing as it is the last hope of
the common Nigerian. |
