"President Goodluck Jonathan disgraced me out of office" - ex-EFCC boss, Farida Waziri

Former chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Farida Waziri, has spoken of her distress at how, despite committing more than three decades to serving the nation, she was booted out of office without a proper notification by the government.

Mrs. Waziri said in an exclusive interview granted Zero Tolerance, a magazine produced by the EFCC, that she got to know of her sack by President Goodluck Jonathan in November 2011, in the news media; and said she did not deserve the humiliation since she had not been found wanting for any misdemeanour.

“If you are removed like that, it has a tendency to scare some people. I wasn’t bothered that I left because my philosophy of life is simple, “what has a beginning has an end,” Mrs. Waziri said in an interview with the agency she headed for more than three years. The interview was part of events marking the EFCC’s 10th year anniversary.

“The manner of the sack was what bothered me. I have done a span of 35 years, fighting for my fatherland, I deserve some little dignity and respect. When you wake up and you see on AIT, Waziri sacked! NTA, Waziri sacked! Channels, Waziri sacked! That is the style I am talking about.”

“My predecessor’s case was even worse, but I do hope that the authorities will take note. Except you are removed as a result of gross misconduct, any other way you should be treated with dignity, respect for the human person,” she said.

Mrs. Waziri insisted it was the approach of her removal that she frowned at, not about leaving. “I knew I would one day leave. In fact, the handwriting was on the wall. I knew it was matter of time,” she said.

The former EFCC boss was sacked in November 2011 in what seemed a controversial circumstance, ending a tenure that many Nigerians and foreign partners believed largely diminished whatever gains Nigeria had made in the fight against corruption.