Daily Independent (Lagos)
Olusola Balogun, Rafiu Ajakaye (Lagos) and Chesa Chesa
25 November 2008
Abuja — Aso Rock has ordered the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos to issue Nuhu Ribadu and Allen Briggs their certificates of graduation.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Yayale Ahmed, is to investigate their exclusion from the graduation ceremony last Saturday.
Ribadu, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, has a court battle with the Police Service Commission (PSC) for demoting him, and Briggs, an Assistant Director at the NIPSS, is under probe over an alleged theft of the camera of a course mate.
Both were among the 65 participants at NIPSS Senior Executive Course 30 but were barred from the graduation owing to reasons of "health and other issues," as pronounced by the NIPSS management.
A statement issued on Monday by Ima Niboro, the Media Assistant to Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, said Yayale would report his findings to Jonathan who, incidentally, attended the ceremony.
"The Federal Government is concerned about reports that it was involved in the decision to prevent (Ribadu and Briggs) from participating in the graduation ceremony of the NIPSS after successfully completing the Senior Executive Course.
"For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, the Federal Government wishes to affirm that it gave no such directive that Ribadu or any other person be barred from the NIPSS graduation," the statement said.
Two different reactions to the Ribadu saga emanated from Jos and Lagos on Monday.
In Jos, former Plateau State House of Assembly Speaker, Simon Lalong, implored Ribadu to accept his ordeal as an act of God.
"Today, you are in court challenging your demotion which you considered as an injustice and praying the court to order the (PSC) not to demote you to the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police.
"It is most unfortunate that as a learned man you failed to realise the effect of the law of retributive justice. It was your disdain for the courts and lack of regard for due process that earned you unmerited accelerated promotion," Lalong said in an open letter addressed to Ribadu.
In Lagos, rights agitators alleged that there is a plot to cause a nationwide civil unrest in solidarity with Ribadu.
Although Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro, explained in a telephone interview on Monday that he is not aware of the plot, Association for Peace and Justice (APJ), which is coordinated by Folu Onabanjo, insisted that it is being sponsored by a human rights lawyer who is close to Ribadu.
Okiro, nonetheless, said the police are ready to deal with any breach of the public peace.
Onabanjo made the allegation in a statement he signed alongside APJ Secretary, Farouk Usman.
The statement alerted that "security reports at our disposal indicate that the rights lawyer has since Saturday been in regular contact with Ribadu, apart from secretly meeting with some human rights activists with a view to sponsoring some hoodlums in the name of civil society groups so as to demonstrate against the Federal Government and the police in sympathy for Ribadu."
APJ said the lawyer's action is informed by "the immense benefits" he made from Ribadu's headship of the EFCC, recounting that "Ribadu was always riding in the same car with the lawyer each time he (Ribadu) was in Lagos and was also having dinner with (the lawyer) as EFCC Chairman."
It is wrong for him to sympathise with Ribadu whose treatment of some people ran foul of the law, the group said, branding the lawyer as "unpatriotic and using rights activism to cover up his personal interest."
The statement added: "APJ is not holding brief for the NIPSS, EFCC or the police but because it stands for peace and justice it notes that Ribadu as a serving police officer did not wear his ceremonial dress during the graduation and it is mandatory for police and military officers to be in ceremonial dresses when attending official ceremonies."
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thanks to fedral govt of Nigeria .order to issue ribadu certificates, i think this is a good way of doing things for the citizing of nigerias any time any day
This is in order. However, we are still awaiting the result to Federal Government's Barbaric behaviour on their graduation day ceremony.