The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday dismissed as false the allegation made by Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, of a plot by the commission to set him up by planting monies and guns in his residence.
Mr Ekweremadu made the remarks earlier in the day at the National Assembly, the EFCC said, claiming he was tipped off about the purported plot by an “EFCC covert investigative journalist” who was privy to the design, supposedly to be implemented on May 6.
“The Commission’s candid advice to Ekweremadu is to sleep easy if he is not involved in the looting spree that seems to be the pastime of many Nigerians in the corridors of power,” it said in a press statement.
“Let it be known, however, that there will be no amount of scare-mongering that will dissuade the EFCC from vigorously enforcing its mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption.”
It said it was unaware of any plot to set up Mr Ekweremadu for any arrest, and that if any agency is plotting to plant monies and guns in the Senator’s residence, it is not the EFCC, as such antics are alien to it.
“Nevertheless, the Commission is worried by the alarm and the fact that the highly-regarded Deputy President of the Nigerian senate would go public with such unverified information without first double-checking with the Commission,” the statement continued, adding that that was not only very strange but smacks of a scripted propaganda campaign to distract the commission by putting it on the defensive.
It emphasized, for the benefit of Senator Ekweremadu and others whom it observed, share similar misconceptions and jaundiced views of the EFCC, that the agency does not need any grand plot to arrest and prosecute him if found to have violated any law that EFCC enforces as he does not belong in the category of public officers that enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution by law enforcement agencies.