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The Imperatives of Confirming Ibrahim Abdullahi Lamurde as Chairman EFCC By Usman Garba Santuraki Jimeta-Yola The recent approval given to Ibrahim Abdullahi Lamurde to act as the Acting Chairman of the EFCC by the President Umaru, is in the right direction. The reason(s) is the fact, that Ibrahim Lamurde was the Director of Operations of the EFCC in the last five years of the existence of the organisation and virtually the burden of the workload of the EFCC stops at his table. Ibrahim Lamurde also, disdain corruption just like the erstwhile Chairman of the EFCC Nuhu Ribadu. It is because of this traits, that Nuhu Ribadu call him to assist him and give his own contributions to nation building. Ibrahim Lamurde was well known to this writer, since his school days at the famous General Murtala Mohammed College and it is right there, that his disdain for corruption and material acquisition starts to manifest itself coupled with the fact, that their father late, Abdullahi Lamurde a seasoned tecnocrat, who rise to the position of permanent Secretary before his retirement from the services of the former Gongola State imbued in all his children, that are today occupying sensitive positions in government like Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi Lamurde the Chairman of the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue, Alhaji Usman Abdullahi Lamurde the Administrator of Mubi-South Development Area Council and a host of others too numerous to mentioned in this piece. Ibrahim Lamurde is quite known for his courage, hardwork and high sense of responsibility in the discharge of his official functions. There is greater hope for those, who know him that Ibrahim would not exhibit the character traits of the former Chairman of the EFCC Malam Nuhu Ribadu because, in all what he find himself doing, he does it with the utmost fear of God and nobody could easily dictate to him to do his bidding like what, the former Chairman of the EFCC has done by doing the biddings of the former President Obasanjo by intimidating and arresting those, not in t good book of the former President. In order to obtained optimum result in the fight against corruption and to doused the impression being created by some commentators, that the present government is not kneen in fighting corruption and it wanted to shield some powerful people from being prosecuted, it is quite imperative and appropriate for the Yar'adua government to confirmed Ibrahim Lamurde as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC. Also,the people of this country, need to lend a helping hand in the fight against corruption as any country, that encourages corruption ends up a bad country and the people of that country are not respected. Allowing corruption to reach a monumental level breeds insecurity to the country and its people. All hands must be on deck to assist the EFCC. This can easily be done, by the National Assembly by making laws, that can made the EFCC to be autonomous and only answerable to the National Assembly. Appointing any other person, than Ibrahim Lamurde as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC would certainly bring about distraction to the EFCC. Quite a lot of people would advocate for the confirmation of Ibrahim Lamurde as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC for the simple fact, that if, an outsider was made the new Chairman of the EFCC it would drwa back the clock and the speed, that the former Chairman laid with Ibrahim Lamurde as his second in command. Ibrahim Lamurde, from all possible angles one look at it, would not be selective in the persecution of corrupt people and would certainly be respecter of the rule of law. There is the need for the Yar'adua administration to seriously have an indepth look at the EFCC and the efforts made by Ibrahim Lamurde and confirmed him as the substantive Chairman of the EFCC. This writer, is not holding brief for Ibrahim Lamurde but, stating the obvious facts as a Nigerian and one, who has a stake in the way things should be done in order to make our country great in the eyes of the international community. The only way, that each and every citizen of this great would contribute the nation building is by offering suggestions to the government on the right thing to be done. It is on this basis, that this writer is making the imperatives to made Ibrahim Lamurde as the Chairman of the EFCC because there is an inherent traits and attributes in him in the fight agaisnt corruption in this country that is devoid of interference from any quarter. A stitch i8n time saves goes an adage. |