Misinformation: Nuhu Ribadu was selective in going after innocent politicians when he was the EFCC chairman.
Fact: Nuhu Ribadu only went after state officers who abused their public trust or failed to account for resources appropriated for the welfare of citizens. For this reason, there was not a single individual who was innocent of the charges brought against him/her.

Many of the critics of the law enforcement process tend to miss out on the fact that the process of investigation and prosecution of public officials entrusted with public power is defined by a scrutiny of those entrusted with such authority and is for that reason unavoidably selective. The EFCC, under the leadership of Mr. Ribadu, did not move against innocent citizens but streamlined its activities and energies on public officers who abused their office.


Misinformation: Nuhu Ribadu was used by former president Olusegun Obasanjo to go after his political enemies while he was at the EFCC.
Fact: This was a propaganda concocted by many of the public officials who found themselves needing to answer questions on account of their mismanagement of public resources. Owing to the fact that these officials had the means and resources far in excess of what could ever be available to law enforcement officials, they attempted to use this propaganda as a strategy to inoculate themselves against lawful scrutiny and as a basis to escape accountability.

Evidence that this was false was the fact that not a single one of the officials that was investigated and subsequently found guilty could claim that he was wrongfully investigated. Many have in fact been found guilty or are subjects of local and foreign investigations.

Misinformation: Nuhu Ribadu owns oil blocks, mansions in Dubai, Europe, and the United States.
Fact: This is the most laughable, comical and cynical conjecture by the whole gang of state looters which Mr. Ribadu had always and still continues to insist is hinged on this profound truth: that when you fight corruption righteously and with unrelenting will, corruption fights back with virulence and some of its famous tools are propaganda, lies, and distortion to achieve a regime of mind conditioning. However, it is also a reflection of simply how cynical Nigerians have become about the challenge of a truthful and honest desire by some to bring truthful change to our country.

Mr. Ribadu is the only senior police officer who has received three back to back commendations, the Inspector General of Police Award, on account of integrity and professionalism. He also undoubtedly ranks tops amongst senior police officers on secondment who have brought glory to the force on account of their integrity. More so, it is now common knowledge that this is the same man who first rejected a N50million bribe from a businessman and on account of that bribe, the same man had to serve time for trying to bribe a public officer.

Lastly, only few Nigerians can pretend to be ignorant of the fact that Mr. Ribadu was offered $15million in bribes by a former state governor. This same money was paid promptly to the Central Bank of Nigeria and that bribery act, in itself, used to charge the state governor to court.

Misinformation: Nuhu Ribadu is just as corrupt as other politicians.
Fact: As has been stated earlier, Mr. Ribadu is probably the most investigated public officer on all sorts of fabricated and trumped up charges, all which have come to naught. It is understandable that those who see Mr. Ribadu as their enemy will stop at nothing in trying to discredit him, especially at the time when he is now seeking a high elective executive position. But his answer to them then, and now, is to offer a simple shred of evidence.

Missinformation: Nuhu Ribadu is unsuited for the rough and tumble of Nigerian politics.
Fact: There is no rough and tumble more challenging than torrential police work especially if you have to confront violent crimes like robbery and so on. But also, people forget that anti-corruption fight is one of the most challenging and frightening assignments that anybody can attempt to tackle. In all his assignments, whether as a Divisional Police Officer or as a member of the failed banks tribunal where he had to prosecute economic saboteurs or in fact when he had to design and build Africa’s most functional institution against economic and financial crimes, the EFCC, Mr. Ribadu always came out with distinction.


Misinformation: Nuhu Ribadu does not have any experience.
Fact: From a historical perspective especially as concerns presidential leadership in our country, people suddenly forget that youth is not an argument of incompetence as the example of General Murtala Mohammed amply shows. Given the kind of experience that Mr. Ribadu is bringing to the table, it is without doubt that he is perhaps one of the most qualified on account of his experience, his competence and his promise.

He was a graduate of law before he joined the police and holds a Master’s degree in law. He has had far more convictions as a prosecutor in courts than any police officer including recording landmark cases that have reshaped our jurisprudence like the famous case of Osahon vs. the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Mr. Ribadu has written what is generally regarded as the most authoritative thesis on the jurisprudence of corruption in Nigeria.

From scratch, he has also built what is now generally regarded as the region’s leading training and research institution on economic crimes (TRI, Karu) which many other older services are currently using for their own capacity building training. He also helped build one of Africa’s most respected financial intelligence institutions NFIU) which today provides intelligence for all law enforcement institutions in this country.

Not to forget the fact that he was a member of the economic management team that helped design the landmark economic reform program headed by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (between 2003 and 2007) which is today considered the most glorious phase of our country’s democratic process. He is a graduate of the country’s leading Policy and Strategic Studies Institute; a former fellow at St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University; and also a former fellow at the elite Centre for Global Development, Washington D. C.

For a man who has put in a quarter of a century to meritorious service in nation building in our country, it will be totally immodest to characterise this as lack of experience.