Ex-Nigerian anti-graft chief opens presidential bid

Abuja, 16 Dec – (ANA) - Nigeria's former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu has launched his bid to run in a presidential election next April as the candidate of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party.

Ribadu won international praise for arrests of graft suspects and seizures of assets as the first head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But he also made enemies for pursuing cases against powerful state governors, and was fired in late 2007. He fled Nigeria for Britain and the United States in January 2009, saying his life was in danger, but returned earlier this year.

History suggests Ribadu's campaign will be an uphill struggle, as the candidate from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) has won every presidential election in Nigeria since the end of military rule just over a decade ago.

Ribadu entered the presidential campaign in front of a crowd of ACN supporters in Abuja. Clutching a broom, a symbol of his plans to clean up corruption, he said if he was successful he would tackle out-of-control government spending. (ANA)

FA/ANA/16 December 2010------