ACTING Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Lamorde, has called on Nigerians to support the agency in the campaign against corruption.
The EFCC boss, speaking yesterday in Abuja at a two-day seminar organised for journalists reporting the agency, urged Nigerians to expose all acts of financial and economic crimes noticed by them.
He was represented by the Deputy Head of Operations, Hamad Abdulrahman, who informed the gathering that the training workshop was organised to "bridge the knowledge gap of reporters about the anti-corruption crusade and develop their capacities to do better in their job of informing and sensitising the public about what we do".
Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Hensmor Oil Company Lagos, Henry Omorodion, has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to confirm Lamorde as the EFCC's substantive chairman.
Omorodion, who is the Odunonoba of Benin Kingdom, added: "It is absurd for anybody to lobby to fight corruption in a country like Nigeria, where corruption has eaten deep in almost every facet of the society. Such lobbyists no doubt already have corruption tendency. The President should appoint a man with integrity and experience to head the EFCC".
Also, an Abuja-based group, the Association for Peace and Justice (APJ), has berated the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) over its attack on the EFCC, in connection with the bench warrant obtained by the commission for the arrest of Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji and his Personal Assistant, Oyebode Alade Atoyebi.
APJ, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Dr. Folu Onabanjo, said: "We find ACN's reaction to the EFCC's legitimate step to arraign the Lagos Speaker to defend himself in the 20-count charge of laundering about N518.1 million unwarranted and in bad taste. By seeking to shield one of its prominent members from prosecution by the EFCC, the ACN has exposed itself as a party of hypocrites, which would rather see the anti-corruption war dead once one of its chief |
