According to an English adage, it is not all whom the dogs bark at that are thieves!

The EFCC chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has publicly declared almost every serving past leader as thieves, except perhaps those in the good books of the greatest pretender of our time - former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He has repeatedly in the past called former President Babangida all sorts of uncharitable names even though the biggest official robbery committed within the shortest space of time took place under the sanctimonious Obasanjo administration. Public robbery under that administration was glorified as financial skill.

In his latest antics, Nuhu Ribadu wants to create the mischievous impression that the Yar'Adua administration is not zealously committed to the anti-corruption crusade as his predecessor - Gen. Obasanjo, even though the former president is scared to declare his assets publicly. His rude confrontation with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Michael Aondoakaa is testimony to EFCC's mischievous game to discredit President Yar'Adua's philosophy of following the rule of law.

Ribadu and his fellow travellers on Obasanjo's train kangaroo culture are not happy to be directed to operate within the boundaries of the rule of law. For so long, Nuhu Ribadu deceived Nigerians and it is high time someone stood up and exposed his lies and insincerity in fighting corruption. As one produces a chronology of evidence, the chinks in the armour of the EFCC will be revealed and then we shall all see that the real obstacle to the anti-corruption crusade is Ribadu's insincerity and rough justice. Justice is supposed to be blind, but in EFCC's case, it is one-eyed!

Didn't Ribadu tell the Senate in 2006 that thirty-one governors had cases to answer over corruption and even claimed that he had watertight evidence to nail them? Now, why did the number suddenly reduce to mere five governors? Ribadu consistently rejects accusations of lopsided justice, but why didn't he show enthusiasm towards the petitions against certain former governors?

It was recently reported that forty billion naira was donated to the PDP 2007 presidential campaign war chest by corporate bodies in violation of the limits set for donations to political parties by the Electoral Act 2006. Was Nuhu Ribadu in a slumber? Were these donations not made with the full knowledge of former President Obasanjo? Why didn't Ribadu or Emmanuel Ayoola of ICPC show interest in these corruption-laden donations? What has become of Ribadu's celebrated guts?

Nigeria also lost fifty-seven billion naira as revenue as a result of import duty waivers and concessions generously granted by Obasanjo to his blue-eyed boys in Nigeria's private sector. Does Nuhu Ribadu need to be reminded that this is corruption and abuse of office? Were the Vaswani brothers not deported out of Nigeria at the instigation of their business rivals who were friends of Obasanjo? The Vaswani brothers were accused of defrauding Nigeria of forty billion naira as import duty evasion.

What happened to Ribadu's report on the eighty-five billion naira scandal at the Nigerian Ports Authority? Former President Obasanjo publicly discredited the report, describing it as inconclusive because his friend, Bode George, was involved. If Ribadu is driven by principle rather than opportunism, why didn't he resign, at least to prove to Nigerians that Obasanjo was not sincere about the anti-corruption crusade? It is clear from this case that contrary to the impression that Ribadu is making sacrifice for doing this job, the man has private motives for continuing in office despite the hypocrisy of Obasanjo.

Mallam Ribadu is obviously dancing in a net, but how long can he fool discerning Nigerians? In the wake of the third term project in 2006, it was on record that fifty million naira cash was being dished out to any senator willing to play ball by voting for constitutional amendment. Strangely, but not surprisingly, Nuhu Ribadu swept the issue under the carpet.

Obasanjo's cousin and former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Mr Joseph Makanjuola, were cited in a 420-million naira corruption scandal and were arrested to impress the public that Obasanjo's government meant business. However, a few months later, the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Kanu Agabi, rushed to the court to discontinue Makanjuola's prosecution, which conveniently created the chance for him to escape abroad. Was Ribadu sleeping when this incident happened under his nose?

Perhaps to prove that he meant business, Mallam Ribadu once arrested Gen. Babangida's son, Mohammed Babangida, harassing the poor boy to explain how he got the money to buy shares in Globacom. But our moral warrior, Ribadu, did not arrest Gbenga Obasanjo to explain how he has been making his money after abandoning his medical practice in the U.S. to return to Nigeria when his father became the president in 1999.

Besides, Obasanjo's son in the U.S., Muyiwa, allegedly bought a house at 570 thousand dollars, just one year after leaving the university. And when the press cornered Ribadu, he said Muyiwa is a private citizen, which is outside the purview of EFCC duties. How deceitful! Was Mohammed Babangida a public office-holder when Ribadu went after him?

Does the EFCC realise how steadily its credibility is ebbing away by allowing itself to be used by Obasanjo? The problem of the EFCC did not start with AG Aondoakaa; its crisis of credibility was building up over time and, therefore, it is only blackmailing the Minister of Justice to divert attention from its insincerity. What we had under the former administration was a case of naked emperors; everybody knew they were in their birthday suits, but the only people who didn't take notice were the pretenders themselves.

When former Governor Saminu Turaki's supporters alleged that former Presidential Assistant, Andy Uba, collected ten billion naira from Jigawa State to finance the third term project, the EFCC quickly denied it. Is EFCC Andy Uba's mouthpiece? Is Andy Uba not capable of defending himself? Why does EFCC become jittery when it comes to allegations that threaten to expose Obasanjo's hypocrisy?

Ribadu's blind loyalty to Obasanjo is intriguing. It seems the EFCC boss is ready to worship the ground Obasanjo walks on! But it is misplaced loyalty because Obasanjo is the embodiment of hypocrisy. He perceives Babangida, Atiku Abubakar, Aliyu Gusau, Otunba Fasawe, Mike Adenuga and others as crooks yet he was lapping up their donations for his own causes. In 1999, Babangida and others raised three billion naira for his presidential campaign and he didn't challenge them about the sources of the money. If he is the epitome of integrity and incorruptibility as he passes off, why didn't he reject the donations?

The Atiku Campaign Organisation once accused Ribadu of buying a house at Asokoro valued at more than 300 million naira under the monetisation policy. In fact, Atiku's supporters repeated this allegation in a documentary run on AIT. Why didn't Ribadu defend the allegation? We have waited and waited but still he hasn't uttered a word of explanation over the house he allegedly purchased.

He promised to shock Nigerians over Transcorp yet almost two years after, we have heard nothing about the conglomerate. Let him know that the scales have dropped off from our eyes. Considering the speed with which he moved against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the PTDF scandal, which was hyped with nauseating frequency, why didn't he react with the same moral fury against Obasanjo's share purchase scandal in Transcorp while he was holding office?

Nigerians can also recall that in 2002, the Acting Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr Vincent Azi was unceremoniously dismissed from his job for submitting a report to the National Assembly, which indicted the Presidency of not applying the principle of transparency in the management of public funds. Therefore, the EFCC can no longer blow smoke in our eyes and Ribadu's rude confrontation with Aondoakaa is a mere red herring to cover up its credibility deficit.

Mr Mailafiya, retired police officer, wrote from No. 13B, Isa Kaita Road, Kaduna.