Of late, two men have dominated political discussions in the Nigerian public space – two men who have both served Nigeria in different executive capacities in public service and both of whom are now out of government, enjoying different post-office fortunes from the same establishment they both worked for.
Today, both are fighting the battle of hearts and minds, one from self-exile abroad and the other from Nigeria where he holds sway after he and his friends have succeeded in hounding out the former. The issues at stake between both men are the perception of their personal reputations in the eyes of Nigerians and the role the other has played in the travails of the other.James Ibori fingers Nuhu Ribadu as the reason he is being “packa
ged” now “as the face of corruption” and “the greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s development”, while Ribadu sees Ibori as one of those who’ve made an industry of fabricating lies against him to get the attention of President Umaru Yar’Adua, part of which led to the loss of his position as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his self-exile abroad. While Ribadu believes they did this and are still doing this to challenge his uncompromising fight against their corrupt practices, Ibori believes Ribadu is a pretentious man who is fixated with power and control and who is now throwing brickbats from abroad because he lost out in a power game at home. Curiously, both of them have affirmed they are still friends.
Today, both are fighting the battle of hearts and minds, one from self-exile abroad and the other from Nigeria where he holds sway after he and his friends have succeeded in hounding out the former. The issues at stake between both men are the perception of their personal reputations in the eyes of Nigerians and the role the other has played in the travails of the other.James Ibori fingers Nuhu Ribadu as the reason he is being “packa
ged” now “as the face of corruption” and “the greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s development”, while Ribadu sees Ibori as one of those who’ve made an industry of fabricating lies against him to get the attention of President Umaru Yar’Adua, part of which led to the loss of his position as the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his self-exile abroad. While Ribadu believes they did this and are still doing this to challenge his uncompromising fight against their corrupt practices, Ibori believes Ribadu is a pretentious man who is fixated with power and control and who is now throwing brickbats from abroad because he lost out in a power game at home. Curiously, both of them have affirmed they are still friends.
