Obasanjo Calls EFCC “Toothless Bulldog”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been described as a toothless bulldog by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It would be recalled that the Commission was set up by Obasanjo during his regime which lasted from 1999 to 2007. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was appointed by Obasanjo as EFCC’s pioneer Chairman and it was feared then by many.

Obasanjo launched this attack on the body he established some years ago to fight corruption during the celebration of his 79th birthday, which took place at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday.

The former President, while speaking at the event on Saturday, said the days of when people murmur that the fear of Nuhu Ribadu’s EFCC is the beginning of wisdom is gone. He wondered what could have led to this.

“Honestly, when Nuhu was handling EFCC, he handled it in such a way that people coined the saying that ‘the fear of Nuhu Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom’ and then the question you will ask is, how did we go down? How did we lose that?

“Nuhu Ribadu is still here, he is still alive. The institution we started together is still there, but what made the institution to become a toothless bulldog? What?

“And that’s the matter we have to keep looking at, so that we don’t take two steps forward, one step aside and three steps back,” Obasanjo told his guests, who listened to him in rapt attention and pondered on his words.

Present at the occasion were important dignitaries including the Senate President, who was represented by Senator Lanre Tejuoso; Vice President under Obasanjo, Atiku Abubakar, who was also represented by the Chairman of Board of Trustees, American University of Nigeria, Akin Kerere-Ekun; Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State; Segun Oni; Olagunsoye Oyinlola amongst others.