Romanian anti-graft chief prosecutor, Daniel Morar, has won the Inspiration of the Year 2008 Award,offered by the European Voice as part of the Europeans of the Year 2008 awards. The lucky Morar was adjudged to have raised the bar on the anti-corruption fight to a new level by the Jury.

Morar's award came after former Justice Minister, Monica Macovei, who was elected European Woman of 2008, by a jury made up of journalists and MEPs. Many people around the globe compare Morar to Macovei and have termed them great champions of the judicial reforms in Romania. The Western newspapers read that the new government to be installed in Bucharest will have to push judicial reforms even further. Read up details here

This development is coming at a time when former chairman of the anti-corruption agency in Nigeria, Mr Nuhu Ribadu, of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is facing the greatest battle of his life after leaving office in a controversial circumstance.

Nigeria's leading anti-corruption campaigner has in recent weeks been subject to an escalating campaign of harassment, threats, and an apparent attempt on his life, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the Nigerian government to protect the campaigner, Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The report also revealed that:

The campaign of intimidation against Mr. Ribadu appears aimed at silencing a key voice in the crucial fight against corruption in Nigeria," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The Nigerian government and President Yar'Adua need to protect Ribadu and anyone else who dares to speak out against the corrupt and powerful.

 

During his tenure at the EFCC - from 2003 to 2007 - Ribadu pursued politically sensitive investigations into suspected corrupt activities of powerful ruling-party officials, though the institution's credibility was at times tarnished by its apparent selective prosecution of political opponents of then-president Olusegun Obasanjo. The EFCC under Ribadu indicted hundreds of individuals collectively implicated in the theft of several billion dollars. These included a former inspector general of police, several former state governors, and politically influential businessmen.

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