By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
ABUJA — The legal team of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has commenced work on the report of investigations into the alleged N2.3 billion car purchase scam against the leadership of the House of Representatives with a view to charging them to court.

Chairman of the commission, Mrs. Farida Waziri, disclosed this while fielding questions at an interactive meeting with journalists in Abuja, yesterday.

According to her, “contrary to insinuations that the commission was shielding the leadership of the House of Representatives, we are working on the report of the investigations. The report has been referred to the legal team for consideration, after that charges preferred against indicted officers.”

She added that she would brief the president on the investigations report and the legal advice from the legal team, as soon as her team finished its assignment.

Efforts to get Ibori on
On embattled former Governor James Ibori, the EFCC boss said she was working with her counterparts and the UK Judicial Department on the extradition efforts and that she was optimistic that at the end of their efforts, justice would take its course.
On el-Rufai
On the trial of former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the EFCC Chairman said she was not under any form of instruction to give him (el-Rufai) any special treatment.

According to her, “there was no special treatment given to Mallam el-Rufai.  This is a man who voluntarily surrendered himself. We have charged him to court. The case is on-going and so when people said he was specially treated I wonder what they mean.

“One thing for sure: President Jonathan didn’t influence me on the matter of el-Rufai.  We did what is consistent with the way we have been doing.  That is our style.”

She  also said the EFCC was ready to prosecute those indicted in the report of the investigation team under the chairmanship of the Inspector-General of Police, saying: “The investigation is on and we are ready for the committee to give us the report.”

Assets Forfeiture Bill
Waziri restated the need for the National Assembly to pass the Assets Forfeiture Bill which was initially thrown out but would soon be re-submitted to the legislature.

According to her, that Bill would greatly assist in the fight against corruption in Nigeria, as according to her, corruption is endemic in the country which has continued to impoverish  the poor and that if allowed unchecked, it would consume the entire nation.

“We cannot continue like this.  The people are angry because corruption spreads poverty.  Those who steal public funds only end up making more people poorer.  And then after stealing what rightly belongs to all of us, they flaunt in a very provocative way as if the rest people are not humans.

“How would you explain a situation where only one Nigerian would own 40 houses in the UK ?  I know one person who has 40 houses in the UK .  This primitive acquisition of wealth at the detriment of the larger population must not allowed. These people buy houses they don’t live in.  They houses they in those foreign countries, who live in them.  They are just wasting the nation’s resources.

“People are getting very angry that our elites have been oppressing them, having stolen public money. These are corrupt people to steal public money and then they build mansions everywhere in the towns.  They go to their villages, demolish their fathers’ houses, buy up the house of their poor neigbours, demolish them and build mansions.”
And what else, they drill boreholes for themselves, build very high fences, put vicious dogs and write ‘beware of dogs’, so that when the neighbours come to get little water they won’t even give them.  They scare away their neighbours.  What they won’t the people be angry?

Mrs. Farida urged well-meaning Nigerians to join the fight against corruption and especially to get the National Assembly to pass appropriate laws that would make the EFCC work easier, as according to her, those loot public treasury are collectively responsible for the lack of infrastructure across the country.

She added that the fight against corrupt politicians who have been running away from justice was still on and that efforts to vacate the perpetual injunctions   against EFCC from arresting and arraigning them would soon yield fruits.

According to her, “an incurriptible Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has been engaged to work towards vacating the perpetual injunction granted former governor of Rivers State , Dr. Peter Odili.

The SAN, she said was working with two other lawyers from the commission to vacate that injunction to enable the commission go after Dr. Odili.