The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, on Thursday alleged that the Eighth National Assembly frustrated the appointment and confirmation of Mr Ibrahim Magu as the chairman of the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to hide from public scrutiny.
The monarch made the allegation in his palace when the Ibadan Zonal Head of the EFCC, Friday Ebelo, led officials of the commission to pay him a visit.
“The Eight National Assembly tried, they did everything possible not to get (Ibrahim) Magu appointed. Why? It is because they have skeleton in their cupboard,” he alleged.
Commending the EFCC, the Alaafin noted that the recent stories of recovered stolen funds in local and foreign currencies attested to the efficacy of the commission under the leadership of its acting chairman.
“We must encourage you. We must support you and cooperate with you; otherwise corruption will kill Nigeria.
“The fear of the EFCC is leading some looters to several parts of the world. But you are after them. You are getting them. There is no hiding place for them.
“Through you, I want to commend Ibrahim Magu for a job well done,” he said.
He described the office of the Alaafin as one dedicated to the service of the people, saying, “Once an Alaafin is appointed, he has very little private life of his own. The entirety of his life must be lived in the service of the people. That means the core values of Yoruba, the concept of Omoluabi are ingrained in this institution.
“It our duty as traditional rulers to ensure that the values and ethics of our system are taught to our children right from their young age so that they imbibe these things into their system.”
Earlier, Ebelo told the monarch the team’s visit was at the instance of the commission’s acting chairman, who, according to him, had decided to engage the traditional institutions across the country in the campaign against corruption in order to get the message down to the grass roots more effectively.
“The EFCC Ibadan zonal office is visiting the Alaafin of Oyo on behalf of the EFCC acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, to rally the traditional institutions’ support in the fight against corruption and other issues coming up in recent times. We now have cyber crime and Internet-related frauds that youths of late are getting themselves involved in.”
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