Anti-graft head demoted
2008-08-06 14:15
Abuja - The former head of Nigeria's anti-corruption police, credited with prosecuting several top former officials, has been demoted because his promotion under the previous government was irregular, police said.
Nuhu Ribadu's efforts to fight graft in one of the world's most corrupt countries had been applauded by many Nigerians and by foreign investors.
His removal as head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in December prompted campaigners to question President Umaru Yar'Adua's commitment to wage war against graft in Africa's top oil producer.
Nigeria's police regulatory authority demoted Ribadu and 139 other police officers late on Tuesday, saying they were given irregular promotions by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
"Their promotions were not based on the established criteria and was a total breach of sections ... of the 1999 Constitution and Police Service Commission Act," said Parry Osayande, chairperson of the Police Service Commission.
Ribadu, who was assistant inspector general, was demoted two ranks to deputy commissioner of police.
The anti-corruption commission was prosecuting seven state governors from the last administration when Ribadu was removed and sent on a one-year policy and strategic studies course at a remote institute in central Nigeria.
This prompted allegations that the government had caved in to pressure from politicians anxious to stop investigations into their finances only months after President Yar'Adua took office pledging zero tolerance for corruption.
Farida Waziri, a retired top ranking police officer chosen by Yar'Adua, took the helm at the EFCC in June and has since charged two more former governors with corruption.
But prosecution has been slow and anti-graft activists are worried that there has been no significant progress in the court cases of the nine former governors, some charged more than a year ago and released on bail.
In 2000, a year after Obasanjo took office, Nigeria came last in Transparency International's index of corruption perceptions. By, 2007 it had risen to 147th place on a list of 179 countries.