• Woos labour in anti-graft crusade
To sustain the campaign against corruption in the judiciary, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said yesterday it would continue to monitor all the judges and other judicial officers.
The Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, said that despite the controversies that trailed the arrest of some judges over alleged graft, the commission would not be deterred from prosecuting corrupt judicial officers.
Magu who spoke in Kaduna yesterday when he paid an official visit to Textile Labour House to seek the support of the union in the fight against corruption said that the country should not serve as a hiding place for any corrupt public or private individual, no matter how highly placed in the society. “We are also investigating the judges in the country. Most of them are happy being investigated by the Department of State Services (DSS) ,” he told journalists.
When asked why the searchlight of the EFCC was mostly beamed on members of the opposition in the country, Magu said: “As a matter of fact, this is not true. We go after everybody. Show me anybody that is involved in a wrongdoing that we have not gone after. Honestly, I am not that kind of person. We go after anybody who has wronged the nation by way of corrupt practices. The interest of this country is above any individual interest.”
On a petition against the former governor of Rivers State who is now the Minister of Transportation under the current administration, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, the EFCC boss insisted: “We go after anybody. When we conduct an investigation for sometime against anybody, you wouldn’t know. We get all the necessary documents and do all necessary analysis before getting hold of the person.”
According to him, “Corruption is a crime against humanity, one of the strategies in fighting corruption in the country is deliberately structured to build confidence and boost the economy and as a result attract investors.
“We cannot claim to have the monopoly of fighting corruption in the country. The menace affects everybody either directly or indirectly. We are all stakeholders and that is why we go to all the places to combat corruption.
That is why I came here to appeal to labour to join hands with us in fighting corruption.
“The president is leading the way and we cannot relent in doing so. I am telling you that there is hope for
this country if things can be done properly.”
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) chieftain and Secretary General of Textile Workers Union, Issa Aremu said: “The organised labour has agreed with the remarks Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo gave at the recently held conference on corruption, that it is a crime against humanity, calling for the consensus of all Nigerians and their friends to identify and fight the menace.”
Source: Guardian
