Nigeria sidelines anti-corruption tsar

ABUJA, Nigeria, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Nigerian officials deny sending an effective anti-corruption official on a year-long study leave to get him out of the way.

Inspector General Mike Okiro confirmed Friday that Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was ordered to attend the program at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies. But Okiro said it was to "make him a better officer," Vanguard reported Saturday.

Observers see the decision as a stain on the performance by Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who came to power in May on a platform of anti-corruption.

The BBC Saturday said the decision is controversial since the commission, under Ribadu, had arrested seven former state governors recently, including James Ibori from Delta state who played an influential role in Yar'Adua's election campaign.

Critics say the decision violates the EFCC Act, which forbids the president or the inspector general from sending the commission chairman on leave without sufficient grounds.

The Web site All Africa.com quoted Saturday a leading lawyer in Nigeria, Tayo Oyetibo, saying the move was an attempt to sideline Ribadu and "not a genuine attempt to send him on course, it is just a smoke screen."