BEVERLY HILLS, May 15, (THEWILL) – Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has stated that Nigeria’s war against corruption will not succeed until corrupt leaders are held to account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Soyinka said this in Abuja on Monday at the 8th Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa.
Beyond urging the EFCC to go after corrupt officials in high places, Professor Soyinka called on corrupt leaders to prepare for a change in lifestyle when they leave office and justice catches up with them.
He revealed that to get a first-hand experience of the plans the anti-graft agency had for corrupt leaders, he paid a visit to the EFCC headquarters.
He said on arrival at the building, he specifically asked the acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, to take him to the VIP (Very Important Person) section of the detention facility but was delighted to hear that all suspects were treated equally.
“That we have been bled dry in this nation by corrupt leadership and their agencies is nothing to reiterate. It is a given,” he said.
“I took the trouble yesterday to visit the headquarters of EFCC. I wanted to see what would be the mode of hospitality for some of our leaders who will surely, sooner or later, pass through the doors of that beautiful (EFCC) building not far from here.
“I am not a vengeful person, but I think that until we make sure that some of our leaders pass through those doors, this struggle against corruption in this country will not be won.
“And so, I spoke to Magu and I said I want to see where the presidential wing is. I said as a human rights person, I want to make sure you treat them right when they come here and he said ‘sorry it is an egalitarian institution, and I said I would take that message back to them that they should get ready to go down a little bit in status when the time comes and justice catches up with them.”
