Date Published: 10/24/09

US Officials canvass support for EFCC

…As Waziri assures of FG’s commitment to Anti-Graft War

Top officials of government and the business community in the United States that have been holding series of meetings with the visiting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri have expressed the need to mobilize support for the anti-graft agency in the interest of bilateral relations and global economic development.

This is coming just as the EFCC boss has continued to assure her hosts of the commitment of the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration to the war against all forms of economic crimes and corruption in Nigeria.

Waziri who began series of meetings with US top officials and members of the business community last Tuesday in Washington continued with the high level interactions on Friday in New York where she was assured of their commitment to mobilize support for the anti-graft agency to enable it overcome some of its challenges especially in the area of prosecution of cases.

Sources close to the meetings disclosed that no fewer than three former American Ambassadors to Nigeria, Howard Jetters, John Campbell and Chris Leyman who hold strategic portfolios in the Council on Foreign Relations, CFR have been deeply involved in the latest effort to ensure a better relationship between Nigeria and the United States.

Beside listing some of achievements since she took over in the last 16 months to include 75 convictions and recovery of over $800 million, Waziri also quoted to have told her audience in New York that “I have acted under my administrative authority to implement preventive mechanisms for economic crimes and corruption; to track budget and ensure honest and effective utilization of public funds; cause smart use of technology to fight cybercrime and 419 scam letters; and to sanitize the Banking Sector and ensure compliance of banks with extant economic and financial laws.”

Speakers after speakers at the meeting commended her courage for taking the challenge of fighting a complex crime in a difficult terrain even they all agreed that corruption was the bane of Nigeria’s development problems.

They sought clarification on some issues over which they had been largely misinformed in the past and she provided them cogent answers after which they promised to work to mobilize the needed support for the EFCC to overcome its major challenges so as to realize the various initiatives outlined before them by Waziri.

The EFCC boss will hold the last leg of her meetings on Monday before returning to Nigeria.