Betta Edu: Don’t Doubt Tinubu’s Determination to Fight Corruption – EFCC Boss Warns Appointees
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, has said the recent steps taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the anti-graft crusade shows that he has adequate political will to deal with errant officials no matter how highly placed.
Speaking on Tuesday in a meeting with the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, Olukoyede said President Tinubu has by his recent actions given the anti-corruption agencies the required encouragement to work towards ridding the nation of corruption.
In an apparent reference to the suspension and investigation of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, the EFCC boss said no one is above the law and that anyone who flouts the rules will be arrested and investigated.
The EFCC boss also said that the political will of President Tinubu to fight corruption, as demonstrated in recent events were enough boost for anti-corruption agencies to give their best.
“We believe that with the kind of President that we have, who is willing and ready to do the right thing as demonstrated in the last 48 hours, it is clear that the President is providing the political will and the leadership for the anti-corruption agencies to work and I believe that with this, there is no hiding place for us and we must ensure that we give our best.
“We are going to give the President the right support and we believe that the courage would be there to take the right decisions. Nobody is too big to be investigated in this country. Once you are not playing to the rules, we’ll investigate you,” Olukoyede was quoted in a statement by ICPC spokesperson,
Mrs. Azuka C. Ogugua.
Economic Confidential reports that Dr. Edu was suspended by President Tinubu after she was accused of seeking to transfer the sum of N585 million of poverty alleviation funds to the private account of a certain Oniyelu Bridget.
She had raised a memo to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) requesting the transfer of the fund but the office disowned her in a press statement on Saturday, saying her request was illegal.
Edu’s predecessor, Sadiya Umar-Farouk, has also been in EFCC custody over allegations of misappropriating 37 billion naira meant for poor Nigerians.
