The founding chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has bagged an outstanding award on anti-corruption campaign.
The award, which was administered by Doha, Qatar-based think tank, Rule of Law and Anti-corruption Centre (ROLACC), celebrates corruption fighters, academics and campaigners from around the world.
The award ceremony was held on Friday at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Malaysia.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, attended the ceremony.
Sheikh Al Thani instituted the award in support of support of the United Nation’s anti-corruption drive.
The award is in four categories, with joint winners in each category.
Each category of the award comes with a cash prize of $250,000.
Ribadu jointly won the lifetime/outstanding achievement category alongside former South African corruption fighter and ex-World Bank vice president, Leonardo McCarthy.
The honourees were presented with a plague and certificate each by the two leaders.
Ribadu was nominated for the award by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), a civil society organization doing pioneering work on whistleblowing policy in Nigeria.
His winning followed approval by ROLACC’s High-Level Selection Committee and the board.
In his short acceptance speech Ribadu described the award as a tribute to persons around the world working to curb corruption.
He paid tribute to his colleagues at the EFCC, some of whom paid the supreme price in their line of duty.
He said the award will boost the morale of corruption fighters who would come to realize that their job is not thankless, after all.
Those who honoured alongside the former EFCC chairman include Cambridge University don, Prof Jason Sharman, Dr. RobtelNeajai Pailey of Oxford University, who won the academic excellence category.
Accountability Lab and Ms Fernanda Angelica Flores Aguirre jointly won the Youth Creativity and Engagement Award.
The award for innovation was conferred jointly on PNG Phones Against Corruption, an in initiative from Papua New Guinea on reporting corruption, and Dr. Roger Oppong Koranteng, a Ghanaian national who heads Public Sector Governance at the Commonwealth Secretariat.