Sarah Jibril Backs EFCC List

The lone female presidential aspirant ion the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mrs Sarah Jibril says she is full support of the advisory list of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to checkmate people with criminal records from going into governance.

Jibril, who gave his backing to EFCC advisory list during an interview with newsmen in Abuja, said time has come for only people with clean records to be allowed into governance so that they will add values into the system.

“The female presidential aspirant however, expressed displeasure over what he called wrong definition of democracy and leadership; arguing that there is  a lot of hypocrisy; a lot of double standard; a lot of controversies by the key political players.

“There is a battle of liberation versus stagnation; deliberate intention to keep Nigeria away from development.

“Successive governments are planning to intimidate me and destroy my inputs. It is a deliberate thing so that I will not have the resources to compete with them.

According to Jibril, leadership is not by money and putting big price tags on collection of forms that means they have zoned the presidency to the rich.

“Every time they come up with big money for forms; that means they have zoned the presidency of this country to only the rich that have money. “Leadership is not by money; it is by the consistency of the integrity and character of the person; rather than see me as an asset, I am seen as a threat.

“Why are good women of this country not seen as assets; they are not supported? It is a shame for men to be competing for positions with women in a frontline country in the democratisation of Africa.

She, however, said she was on a rescue mission and paying N1 million for it was not too much if the women really wanted to salvage the nation.

“We are all stakeholders; this time around, I am on a rescue mission by the right hand of God and I know that God will not put me and all his children to shame.

“However, asking to pay ten percent is not too much; I have paid my N1 million expression of interest fee. I have filled the form the nomination form and I have returned it.

“Let the women be told that if they are ready to nurture Nigeria back to sanity, it carries value. 1 million is much; but it surmountable for the sake of this nation,” she added.

Sarah Jibril had on August 26 declared her intention to run for president on the platform of the PDP. That will make it the fifth time the Kwara State born politician would be aspiring for the presidential ticket.

Meanwhile, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged the judiciary to speed up the trial of corruption cases in the country.

The Chairman of the commission, Mrs Farida Waziri, made the appeal in Abuja when she received the President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr Joseph Dauda (SAN).

“It is my view that we should all come to a point where the judiciary should declare speedy trial of all corruption cases if the accused persons are not ready to prove their innocence.

“This is where I believe your intervention will forever be appreciated by posterity,” Waziri said.

According to her, it is the accused persons that approach the court to seek speedy trial on the ground of proving their innocence to the law court.

She said that she had instituted more than 55 cases within the last two years in office as the chairman, adding that most of the cases were stalled at the plea stage due to the numerous antics of the accused persons.

“I have approached your predecessors in the past to join hands with us so that we can collectively salvage our nation from the grip and weight of corruption.

“I am seizing this opportunity to renew the same call and I am sure you will do your best,’’ Waziri pleaded.

The anti graft chief said there was no other means to fight the course of justice other than the law court and insisted that was why she had remained committed to the rule of law since she assumed office.

She, however, urged the general public to snub an allegation that she was interfering in the judicial process.

On his part, Dauda congratulated her for putting more effort on the fight to free the country from corruption.

He said there was no way an anti-graft executive would not face challenges on that seat, and encouraged Waziri to be firm and resolute as well as continue with the good work of relieving the nation.

“You need to be praying that God should strength you the more and touch the heart of government to provide you with what you need to do this work.

“The battle of corruption is a continuous battle, we condemn it in NBA.

“I don’t want EFCC to be distracted in the performance of their duty and constitutional law. There are already separations of power in the constitution,’’ Dauda said.

He stated that some of the judges were not equipped with relevant materials to help them pronounce judgments on some of the cases.

“Some of the judges also lack the mentality and intellectual capacity to deal with corruption cases which amounts to the delay of judgments.

“Until we get the court structure right, we will continue to have blame from one angle or the other. Investigation and prosecution of persons is where the problem is,’’ Dauda said.

He pledged the readiness of NBA to partner with the commission and called on it to invest more on investigation

The NBA president was accompanied on the visit by other top officials of the association.