Former Chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has angrily lashed out at the country’s ruling class, claiming that “corruption and stealing of public funds are now the order of the day.”

Ribadu, who is a chieftain of the emergent mega opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), lamented how private jets have become the favourite toys of Nigeria’s thieving politicians at a time when the majority of citizens in Africa’s most populous country are wallowing in poverty.

“More than 400 private jets are parked at Abuja airport now as we speak, all owned by individual politicians,” Ribadu, who was the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the April 2011 general elections, told BBC Hausa yesterday.

Bemoaning the high level of thievery and misplacement of priorities, he said about the political class: “They no longer use private airlines, each of this aircraft could build a university or an industry that could play a vital role in absolving few from the labour market. 72 of those planes would provide one standard university and a company in each state in Nigeria and you still have 328 planes left.”

•This story is based on a translation of Ribadu’s interview by former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode. Photo shows Nuhu Ribadu.