FORMER Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, deserves pity in his defence of his EFCC days. His recent attempts at exonerating some individuals of corruption fail under the barrage of questions he posed about their conduct.

Ribadu would not accept he could have done things differently. He refuses to acknowledge that ineffectiveness of EFCC derives from scopes he permitted politicians. Corruption is a major challenge. The Ribadu strategy of selective blame, fails woefully, by circumstantially excluding some from the shame list. Often, he sounds confused about what transpired in his days.

At a lecture organised by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), he launched into his usual tirade. “For decades, Nigeria has lacked leadership. I’ve seen it happen in the EFCC, the first set of people that we worked with at the Commission were policemen from the same Nigeria Police that people talk about derisively and say all sorts of things about. They were just about 14 officers that we picked, and we decided to do things differently.

“One of my biggest regrets in life was our inability to accomplish that. Sadly, everything changed from 2007, when some people came from nowhere and said honesty and hard work do not pay, and brought in people who do not know anything other than making something for their own pockets.”

He said he invited foreign security agencies to investigate Olusegun Obasanjo and Abubakar Atiku, while they were President and Vice-President, the agencies cleared them of corruption. Why could his dedicated 14 not do the investigation?

At the same forum he stated: “You are a Minister, a Vice-President or the President, who couldn’t run our universities very well, and after you come out you end up having the best university in the land. It is a shame.” It is more than a shame. Ribadu, a lawyer, was in EFCC when licences for the universities were granted.

Was he unaware too that Corporate Nigeria raised billions of Naira for Obasanjo-Atiku campaign in 2003? Did he know it was contrary to Section 221 of the Constitution, which states: “No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election”? Since the duo had immunity, did Ribadu investigate Corporate Nigeria?

Ribadu did his best at EFCC but he must admit that he either did not understand corruption, or set standards, which he now rates shameful. Either way, his confusing narratives create impressions that he battled corruption in similar manner.