December 29, 2008
Two months ago, at a retreat for EFCC officials in Lagos, Mrs. Farida Waziri stunned her listeners with the very last words they expected of her. She said, "Well, I know that you all work very hard, this is Nigeria and people will offer you gifts to say thank you for your work, please accept it but make sure you spread it round". Some of the shell-shocked participants called SaharaReporters to report that statement. In turn, we immediately contacted the EFCC spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who denied that Mrs. Waziri had made the remark. He went on to issue a curious statement to the local media declaring that Mrs. Waziri had spoken the exact opposite of what the retreat attendees had reported.
That gathering was the first at which the EFCC began to unfold its new philosophy and alliances in public, even as the influence of Yar'adua’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, began to ripple around the agency. Olanipekun, who was once interrogated by the EFCC for money laundering, was a keynote speaker at the retreat.
As SaharaReporters found out, Mrs. Waziri is currently living by the creed she disclosed at that Lagos retreat. We have documented a series of corrupt activities engaged in by Mrs. Waziri, in concert with her fellow Benue-born brother-in-crime, federal Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa, to collect bribes from—among others—the governors of Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. Up till today, Mrs. Waziri has not tried to debunk any of those reports.
In an update, our investigators in Abuja have found that Mrs. Waziri is in receipt of another "big gift" from the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Obot Akpabio. Courtesy of the thieving governor of Akwa Ibom, Mrs. Waziri is now the proud owner of a Mercedes Benz GL 450 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).
Known as "Mercedes Jeep" in Nigerian parlance, the car was delivered to her two days ago, December 3, 2008. The chassis number on the vehicle is WDC 1648711A 390877 (It carries a WDC because it was branded by US automaker DaimlerChrysler). On its website, the automaker says of the car, "The Mercedes-Benz GL-Class (code name X164) is a DaimlerChrysler full-size luxury crossover SUV built by the German automaker Mercedes-Benz since the 2007 model year." The brand new car cost N68 million (estimated at $500,000) dollars, because it is fully armored (bullet proof.)
SaharaReporters has confirmed that the car was driven to a house in Gboko, Benue state by Mrs. Waziri's driver. The house is located in the GRA area in Gboko. A source described the location of the unregistered car as being a property next to Mr. Ambrose Feese, the former managing director of Nigeria Merchant Bank. The destination of the car may change quickly as this report becomes public. An aide to Mrs. Waziri told Saharareporters the EFCC chairwoman intends to claim it is a gift from her husband.
The latest revelation of Mrs. Waziri's corrupt lifestyle is nothing new. Saharareporters has reported her shopping spree in the UK, as corrupt former and serving governors recruited her to the EFCC job. She is also widely known to be a lover of expensive jewelry and other luxurious items.
The revelation of the car gift is coming on the heels of her continued collaboration with former Inspector generals of Police who now act as bailers and guarantors for EFCC victims under her watch. Three former inspector generals of police, namely Gambo Jimeta, Aliyu Attah and MD Yusuf have been identified as serving as "virtual board of directors" of the EFCC according to an insider in the agency. The three retired IGs all have the hatred of Nuhu Ribadu in common as he refused their intervention to save former IG Tafa Balogun, who was found to have looted the police treasury to the tune of N17 billion. Besides Aliyu Attah was noted for providing Fred Ajuduah with police outrider at the height of his "419" career and MD Yusuf never forgave Ribadu for interrogating him regarding the Haliburton bribe scandal.
SaharaReporters gathered that the three former IGs are working with Mrs. Waziri to sell Tafa Balogun's properties back to him under the pretext that the Ribadu-led EFCC did not follow due process in disposing of the properties. It has also been revealed that James Ibori might have had the $19 million bribe money he gave to Ribadu returned to him by the EFCC. The former governor was heard boasting that his Nigerian criminal trial was over because he got his money back.
Last week, Ibori suddenly traveled to Accra, Ghana, in what was interpreted as a full-blown plot to exterminate Ribadu. He reportedly made the tactical withdrawal in order to avoid being held responsible if anything happened to the diminutive former boss of the EFCC, but Ribadu was said to have gotten wind of the plan and gone underground. He is currently unreachable but sources close to him told Saharareporters that he is undergoing a "spiritual retreat" at the moment. They, however, refused to disclose his exact location. Contrary to some reports, our sources and searches of the arrival records into the US show that he is not in the US as being rumored.
Ribadu's predicament and the reports of his disappearance are being celebrated by some politicians, including the presidency. The governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki, has personally called up several news editors prevailing on them to report that Ribadu has absconded to the US. Meanwhile, Ibori, fresh from the festooning of INEC chairman, Maurice Iwu in Okigwe last weekend, shortly after returning from Ghana, boasted to his aides that he has accomplished three out of four things he wanted to do to Ribadu, namely to replace him as EFCC chairman, demote him from AIG to DCP, get him publicly humiliated and jailed.
Another report says that Mr. Ibori is negotiating the purchase of Abuja-based newspaper, Daily Trust, to strengthen his hold on the media.
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