Posted on: 09:53 Wed, 20 Apr 2016



The Economic and Financial
Commission has denied making the
Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu. As its anti-corruption
ambassador.

Ekweremadu was reportedly
decorated as an ambassador of the
anti-graft agency by its National
Assembly Liaison Officer, Sulaiman
Bakari, on Tuesday.

But apparently angered by such
appointment and decoration of the
DSP, the commission kicked against
it on Wednesday morning, saying
that it did not authorise Bakari to
confer such status on Ekweremadu
or any other politician for that
matter.

In a statement dissociating the
commission from the action, EFCC
Spokesman. Wilson Uwujaren,
claimed Bakari acted on his own as
the commission does not give
awards but investigates economic
and Financial crimes.

The statement reads: “The attention
of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, has
been drawn to some reports in the
print and online media, on April
20, 2016 claiming that the anti-
graft agency has decorated the
Deputy Senate President, Ike
Ekweremadu, as “Anti-Corruption
Ambassador”.

“According to a statement issued to
the Press by the Special Adviser to
the Deputy Senate President, Uche
Anichukwu, the purported
decoration, was carried out by the
EFCC National Assembly Liaison
Officer, Suleiman Bakari who was
quoted to have said: “ On behalf of
my acting chairman, Mr. Ibrahim
Mustafa Magu and the entire
management and staff of the EFCC,
decorate you as an Anti- Corruption
Ambassador and formally present
this frame, as a token of our
appreciation to your person and
office, and as a symbol of the
institutional partnership between
the EFCC and the National
Assembly”.

“The EFCC totally dissociates itself
from the purported action of
Sulaiman Bakari as he acted
entirely on his own. “He clearly
acted outside his brief as a liaison
officer as the management of the
Commission at no time mandated
him to decorate Ekweremadu or
any officer of the National
Assembly as Anti- Corruption
Ambassador.

“The statutory mandate of the EFCC
is the investigation and prosecution
of all economic and financial
crimes cases, which does not
include the decoration of
individuals as anti- corruption
ambassadors.

“The Commission is not in the habit
of awarding titles to individuals.

And those enamoured of titles,
know the quarters to approach for
such honours, not the EFCC
Members of the public and
stakeholders in the fight against
corruption are enjoined to
disregard the so-called decoration,
Uwujaren said.