NT?

EFCC: Fighting corruption or political witch hunt?
Posted By: GEORGE OJI and OMEZIA AJAYIon: August 11, 2015In: PoliticsNo Comments Print Email
3
2
0
0
From a near state of lethargy, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, appears to have suddenly found its rhythm in the prosecution of the war against corruption since the coming into office of President Muhammadu Buhari, suggesting that the anti corruption agency may have been buoyed into action by reasons beyond the execution of its statutory mandate, write GEORGE OJI and OMEZIA AJAYI

When the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Larmode, appeared before the Senate in February 2012 for screening and eventual confirmation as the helmsman of the commission, he expressed strong reservations over the practice of his predecessors to dramatise arrest of suspects in the media, even before the commencement of trial.

Larmode made a pledge that if eventually confirmed in office, he would put a stop to such practice, saying that the danger of publicising arrest of suspects in the media before actual trial meant that most suspects were condemned guilty and stigmatised even before trial. Such suspects, Larmode said, were denied the privilege of the maxim of innocent until proven guilty. It was perhaps because of that resolve that very little was known by the public of the activities of EFCC in the past three and half years or so until recently.

The question many Nigerians are asking now is why has Larmode, the anti corruption chief, suddenly decided to jettison his initial secrecy policy in favour of making public show of the trial of suspects? Could it be that there is a new presidential directive on new approach for the execution of the war on corruption? Or could it be that EFCC has read the body language of the new President and decided to toe this new, “reformed approach,” in fighting corruption in the country.

Or indeed, could it be that EFCC is buoyed in its renewed drive by the exit from office of former Attorney- General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, who ensured that he emasculated the commission and subjected its operations under the complete control of his office while he was in office?

It was during the tenure of Adoke that he insisted that EFCC must receive the fiat of his office before any prosecution could go to trial. What about the theory that Larmode, whose tenure expires before the end of the year, has decided to make a public show of the fight in order to impress the President in return for renewal of his tenure in office? So many inexplicable reasons!

In the beginning:

The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering report, which named Nigeria one of the 23 countries, which was not supporting global efforts to fight money laundering and the negative impact of official graft on the nation’s economy compelled the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to push for the establishment of the EFCC in 2003. With the appointment of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, generally perceived as an acclaimed incorrigible police officer to head the commission, the nation began its tortuous journey to combat official graft and all other issues relating to economic crimes. Until his sack in 2007 by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, it was agreed by a large population of Nigerians that Ribadu substantially, raised the profile of the commission to a world class anti-graft agency through the zeal and commitment with which he approached his job as EFCC chairman.

Ribadu did not only prosecute and convicted a number of high profile corrupt individuals, including the then chief law enforcement officer of the country and the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun and former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, in 2006, the anti-corruption czar declared that 31 of Nigeria’s 36 governors were under investigation.

Although accused of allegedly highhandedness and selective prosecution, no one could controvert the fact that, under Ribadu, the fear of EFCC became the beginning of wisdom. Like environmental inspectors of those days, EFCC sent jitters into the spines of dubious individuals and public office holders. It did not therefore surprise a few Nigerians when in 2007 following the emergence of the late President Yar’Adua that most of the immediate past governors, fearing that Ribadu would move against them as he had promised, lobbied the Yar’Adua and quickly humiliated Ribadu out of office.

In fact, there were strong allegations that former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who is presently serving a 13-year jail sentence in the United Kingdom and who was then having a running battle with Ribadu, was the arrowhead of those who got Ribadu out of office through the late Yar’Adua. Political pundits believe that the forceful exit of Ribadu as EFCC chairman and his subsequent replacement brought the country backwards in her collective drive towards eradicating corruption in Nigeria.

However, to a certain degree, the fight was sustained by Ribadu’s successor, Mrs. Farida Waziri. During her reign, even though not too many convictions were recorded by the commission, analysts were of the view that Waziri was able to take a horde of politically exposed persons, PEP, to court of public opinion through the reportage of their arrest on the pages of newspapers.

She was, however, sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan on November 23, 2011 and her ouster, according to analysts, put a final nail on EFCC’s So far, there appears to be a consensus of opinion by Nigerians and indeed, it is alleged that the war against corruption has suffered worse under the incumbent EFCC chairman, Larmode. EFCC watchers believe that it was under Larmode that Adoke emasculated EFCC to the point that the commission became solely answerable, not just to the office of the AGF and Minister of Justice, but to the person of Adoke.

There were reports of agents allegedly involved in corrupt practices in the course of their duties. Under Larmode for instance, not much was heard or reported about the progress of work by the commission. Newsmen who cover EFCC depended merely on the hand out of statements that were irregularly dished out by the commission when it suited its convenience until recently.

One of the reporters who cover EFCC activities said: “As if pandering to the body language of the former President Jonathan, beyond sending press statements celebrating the arrest and prosecution of petty thieves, there was scant evidence of successful prosecution of any high profile cases during Larmode’s reign in EFCC.”

The reporter was of the view that before Buhari’s emergence as President, Nigerians had lost confidence in EFCC’s ability to fight illicit accumulation of wealth. In the past two months or so, especially since President Buhari assumed office, there have been over 12 cases of PEPs, which the EFCC has made public show of. These include the trial of former governors, Sule Lamido and his sons, Murtala Nyako and his son, Ikedi Ohakim, Chimaroke Nnamani and Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso.

The latest of these alleged political trials by EFCC is of course that of Toyin Saraki, wife of the former governor of Kwara State and the current Senate President, Bukola Saraki. The attitude and approach of former President Jonathan to the fight against corruption according to political pundits did not help matters in any way. Political analysts believe strongly that among past civilian Presidents, former President Jonathan ranks worst in the fight against corruption.

Under Jonathan, corruption assumed totally different definition. Under Jonathan, corruption was elevated to an art; corruption assumed very frightening height and dimension; civil servants, public servants and political office holders participated in corruption with unrivalled impunity.

Under Jonathan, government officials literarily speaking looted the nation’s treasury dry. In short, under Jonathan, corruption became a way of life for Nigerians. It was under Jonathan that political corruption assumed a totally different meaning and dimension. In the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the then ruling party for instance, imposition, rather than election became the norm. The unresolved $20 billion missing fund from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was recorded under Jonathan. Under Jonathan, employment into the civil service became who you know; the rest were thrown open to the highest bidder. It became so bad under Jonathan that the infamous quote that, “stealing is different from corruption,” gained a place in our national lexicon.

Unfortunately, Jonathan lacked neither the intellectual capacity nor the political will to rein-in on corrupt officials. Analysts believe that part of the reasons that there was global conspiracy against Jonathan by some world leaders and a general determination to dump him was his attitude and dismal handling of corruption in Nigeria. To compound Jonathan’s problems, Buhari came into the elections with a stern determination to combat corruption. Now, the rest is history.

Corruption Perception Index by TI

Nigerian has over the years been consistently rated very low in the Corruption Perception Index, CPI, of the Transparency International, TI, the global anti-corruption organisation. The CPI is a rating of countries from 1 to 100, showing their corruption scale. According to TI, a rating of 1 is the worst and rating of 100 means a country is completely free of corruption. The pass mark is 50 per cent and any country scoring below 50 is considered a corrupt country.

In 2000, Nigeria was ranked the most corrupt country in the world, improving only marginally in 2001 and 2003 when it was rated second most corrupt nation in the world in TI’s CPI. Since 2012, Nigeria has made steady improvements in the CPI and for the first time, the country was not among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world. She ranked 136 out of 176 countries in TI’s CPI in December 2014. What the TI CPI has demonstrated over the years is that Nigeria is a country enmeshed deep in corruption and requiring serious efforts to rescue her from that deep corruption crisis. This is why the Buhari government is receiving all the encouragements from global leaders to succeed in its avowed war on corruption.

Buhari and war against corruption

Nigerians are only noticing a change of approach to the fight against corruption by the EFCC following the emergence of Buhari as the President on May 29. Reputed for his austere lifestyle and strong aversion to illegal accumulation of wealth, Buhari, throughout his campaigns, left no one in doubt about his commitment to fight corruption in the country. Except for a few past military Heads of State, Buhari is perhaps the first civilian President in recent times that has made the fight against corruption a very strong campaign issue in the country.

Why this issue of corruption is so critical to Nigeria and the rest of the world is that, corruption remains the basis of bad leadership the country has witnessed in the past 25 years or thereabout. Making corruption a strong issue of his political campaign promises, did not only play a critical role in his electoral victory, it also positioned Buhari positively before the international community as a leader that means well for Nigeria.

As a result of his anti corruption stance, Buhari won many hearts to himself and his administration. The international community for instance, have not only embraced the administration whole heartedly, but are also falling over themselves to extend support, both financially and materially to aid the Buhari’s government prosecutes the war against corruption. There is no gainsaying the fact that, corruption has helped to deny Nigeria the needed resources to develop basic infrastructure, create jobs for the teaming youth population, increased restiveness, fueled ethnic and tribal crisis, as well as widened the gap between the rich and the poor, leaving in its trail, increased militancy, armed robbery and violence among the Nigerian population.

Indeed, as the US Deputy Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, put it during a press conference last month when he visited Nigeria ahead of Buhari’s last trip to Washington, “corruption is like a huge death weight that Nigeria has to carry around because it is denying resources to productive persons that would benefit all of the people of Nigeria. And of course, it also creates tremendous mistrust in government and alienates people from their leaders.”

Lamido and sons

Former governor of Jigawa State, Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, as well as one Aminu Wada Abubakar were guests of the EFCC just weeks back. Lamido was said to have abused his privileged position as Jigawa governor between 2007 and 2015, by awarding contracts to companies where he has interest, using his two sons, Aminu and Mustaph

dis epistle too long jare! Anyway, jst know dat d govt is fightin coruption n huntin corupt witches.

ing and the negative impact of official graft on the nation’s economy compelled the then President Olusegun Obasanjo to push for the establishment of the EFCC in 2003. With the appointment of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, generally perceived as an acclaimed incorrigible police officer to head the commission, the nation began its tortuous journey to combat official graft and all other issues relating to economic crimes. Until his sack in 2007 by late President Umaru Yar’Adua, it was agreed by a large population of Nigerians that Ribadu substantially, raised the profile of the commission to a world class anti-graft agency through the zeal and commitment with which he approached his job as EFCC chairman.

Ribadu did not only prosecute and convicted a number of high profile corrupt individuals, including the then chief law enforcement officer of the country and the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun and former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, in 2006, the anti-corruption czar declared that 31 of Nigeria’s 36 governors were under investigation.

Although accused of allegedly highhandedness and selective prosecution, no one could controvert the fact that, under Ribadu, the fear of EFCC became the beginning of wisdom. Like environmental inspectors of those days, EFCC sent jitters into the spines of dubious individuals and public office holders. It did not therefore surprise a few Nigerians when in 2007 following the emergence of the late President Yar’Adua that most of the immediate past governors, fearing that Ribadu would move against them as he had promised, lobbied the Yar’Adua and quickly humiliated Ribadu out of office.

In fact, there were strong allegations that former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who is presently serving a 13-year jail sentence in the United Kingdom and who was then having a running battle with Ribadu, was the arrowhead of those who got Ribadu out of office through the late Yar’Adua. Political pundits believe that the forceful exit of Ribadu as EFCC chairman and his subsequent replacement brought the country backwards in her collective drive towards eradicating corruption in Nigeria.

However, to a certain degree, the fight was sustained by Ribadu’s successor, Mrs. Farida Waziri. During her reign, even though not too many convictions were recorded by the commission, analysts were of the view that Waziri was able to take a horde of politically exposed persons, PEP, to court of public opinion through the reportage of their arrest on the pages of newspapers.

She was, however, sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan on November 23, 2011 and her ouster, according to analysts, put a final nail on EFCC’s So far, there appears to be a consensus of opinion by Nigerians and indeed, it is alleged that the war against corruption has suffered worse under the incumbent EFCC chairman, Larmode. EFCC watchers believe that it was under Larmode that Adoke emasculated EFCC to the point that the commission became solely answerable, not just to the office of the AGF and Minister of Justice, but to the person of Adoke.

There were reports of agents allegedly involved in corrupt practices in the course of their duties. Under Larmode for instance, not much was heard or reported about the progress of work by the commission. Newsmen who cover EFCC depended merely on the hand out of statements that were irregularly dished out by the commission when it suited its convenience until recently.

One of the reporters who cover EFCC activities said: “As if pandering to the body language of the former President Jonathan, beyond sending press statements celebrating the arrest and prosecution of petty thieves, there was scant evidence of successful prosecution of any high profile cases during Larmode’s reign in EFCC.”

The reporter was of the view that before Buhari’s emergence as President, Nigerians had lost confidence in EFCC’s ability to fight illicit accumulation of wealth. In the past two months or so, especially since President Buhari assumed office, there have been over 12 cases of PEPs, which the EFCC has made public show of. These include the trial of former governors, Sule Lamido and his sons, Murtala Nyako and his son, Ikedi Ohakim, Chimaroke Nnamani and Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso.

The latest of these alleged political trials by EFCC is of course that of Toyin Saraki, wife of the former governor of Kwara State and the current Senate President, Bukola Saraki. The attitude and approach of former President Jonathan to the fight against corruption according to political pundits did not help matters in any way. Political analysts believe strongly that among past civilian Presidents, former President Jonathan ranks worst in the fight against corruption.

Under Jonathan, corruption assumed totally different definition. Under Jonathan, corruption was elevated to an art; corruption assumed very frightening height and dimension; civil servants, public servants and political office holders participated in corruption with unrivalled impunity.

Under Jonathan, government officials literarily speaking looted the nation’s treasury dry. In short, under Jonathan, corruption became a way of life for Nigerians. It was under Jonathan that political corruption assumed a totally different meaning and dimension. In the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the then ruling party for instance, imposition, rather than election became the norm. The unresolved $20 billion missing fund from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was recorded under Jonathan. Under Jonathan, employment into the civil service became who you know; the rest were thrown open to the highest bidder. It became so bad under Jonathan that the infamous quote that, “stealing is different from corruption,” gained a place in our national lexicon.

Unfortunately, Jonathan lacked neither the intellectual capacity nor the political will to rein-in on corrupt officials. Analysts believe that part of the reasons that there was global conspiracy against Jonathan by some world leaders and a general determination to dump him was his attitude and dismal handling of corruption in Nigeria. To compound Jonathan’s problems, Buhari came into the elections with a stern determination to combat corruption. Now, the rest is history.

Corruption Perception Index by TI

Nigerian has over the years been consistently rated very low in the Corruption Perception Index, CPI, of the Transparency International, TI, the global anti-corruption organisation. The CPI is a rating of countries from 1 to 100, showing their corruption scale. According to TI, a rating of 1 is the worst and rating of 100 means a country is completely free of corruption. The pass mark is 50 per cent and any country scoring below 50 is considered a corrupt country.

In 2000, Nigeria was ranked the most corrupt country in the world, improving only marginally in 2001 and 2003 when it was rated second most corrupt nation in the world in TI’s CPI. Since 2012, Nigeria has made steady improvements in the CPI and for the first time, the country was not among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world. She ranked 136 out of 176 countries in TI’s CPI in December 2014. What the TI CPI has demonstrated over the years is that Nigeria is a country enmeshed deep in corruption and requiring serious efforts to rescue her from that deep corruption crisis. This is why the Buhari government is receiving all the encouragements from global leaders to succeed in its avowed war on corruption.

Buhari and war against corruption

Nigerians are only noticing a change of approach to the fight against corruption by the EFCC following the emergence of Buhari as the President on May 29. Reputed for his austere lifestyle and strong aversion to illegal accumulation of wealth, Buhari, throughout his campaigns, left no one in doubt about his commitment to fight corruption in the country. Except for a few past military Heads of State, Buhari is perhaps the first civilian President in recent times that has made the fight against corruption a very strong campaign issue in the country.

Why this issue of corruption is so critical to Nigeria and the rest of the world is that, corruption remains the basis of bad leadership the country has witnessed in the past 25 years or thereabout. Making corruption a strong issue of his political campaign promises, did not only play a critical role in his electoral victory, it also positioned Buhari positively before the international community as a leader that means well for Nigeria.

As a result of his anti corruption stance, Buhari won many hearts to himself and his administration. The international community for instance, have not only embraced the administration whole heartedly, but are also falling over themselves to extend support, both financially and materially to aid the Buhari’s government prosecutes the war against corruption. There is no gainsaying the fact that, corruption has helped to deny Nigeria the needed resources to develop basic infrastructure, create jobs for the teaming youth population, increased restiveness, fueled ethnic and tribal crisis, as well as widened the gap between the rich and the poor, leaving in its trail, increased militancy, armed robbery and violence among the Nigerian population.

Indeed, as the US Deputy Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, put it during a press conference last month when he visited Nigeria ahead of Buhari’s last trip to Washington, “corruption is like a huge death weight that Nigeria has to carry around because it is denying resources to productive persons that would benefit all of the people of Nigeria. And of course, it also creates tremendous mistrust in government and alienates people from their leaders.”

Lamido and sons

Former governor of Jigawa State, Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, as well as one Aminu Wada Abubakar were guests of the EFCC just weeks back. Lamido was said to have abused his privileged position as Jigawa governor between 2007 and 2015, by awarding contracts to companies where he has interest, using his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha as front. In the build-up to the general elections, Lamido had said he would not defect from the then ruling PDP, even though some of his aides had reportedly defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

However, Lamido was quick to voice out his displeasure at his ordeal, claiming that he was being witch-hunted by the Buhari administration because of assumptions that he, Lamido, has an interest in the presidency in 2019. Unfortunately, his claims do not add up as his ordeal began in 2012 when the Federal Government was still controlled by his party, the PDP, when one of his sons, Aminu was arrested by EFCC operatives at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, Kano, for failing to declare a sum of US$40,000.

He was prosecuted and convicted; with 50 per cent of the undeclared sum forfeited to the Federal Government. But the investigation into the source of the funds led investigators into the closely guarded web of corruption and money laundering involving members of the former first family of Jigawa State and their cronies.

Ikedi Ohakim

The EFCC, continued its onslaught against some past officials with the arrest of a former governor of Imo State, Mr. Ohakim. Ohakim was governor of Imo State between 2007 and 2011. He was defeated by Rochas Okorocha. The former governor was arrested in his Asokoro home after allegedly failing to honour an invitation from the EFCC, which said the former governor was arrested to respond to questions bordering on a number of property allegedly traced to him. He also claimed that forces in his state who are jittery about his rising political profile are behind his travails. He did not however mention the Federal Government under President Buhari.

Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso

Of all, the case of Mr Kwankwaso, the immediate past governor of Kano State was as shocking as it was interesting. He however has no one to blame except himself. This is because he belongs to the ruling APC which holds both the centre and his home state, Kano. Seen as an influential member of the party, Kwankwaso was confined to a house arrest as he feared that he could be rounded up at anytime by EFCC operatives. His situation was so bad that he had to approach the Gezawa High Court seeking an injunction restraining the EFCC from arresting him.

The turn of event for Kwankwaso, a twoterm governor of the most populous state in the country, might not be unconnected with a petition by Kano pensioners to the anti corruption agency accusing him of having applied underhand tactics in the management of pension fund. The petition, filed on their behalf by Bashir Nasir and Co and signed by A. B. Bulama Esq, alleged that Kwakwanso deposited N2 billion in Kano branch of defunct Euro Bank Plc, adding soon after the deposit was made the bank went into liquidation.

According to the petition, Kwankwaso refused to follow up for a claim of the said deposit from the NDIC; they said the action of the former governor was a flagrant violation of the provisions of the Kano State Pension and Gratuity Law. Officials of key ministries, including incumbent Accountant General of the state, the Permanent Secretaries, Ministries of Finance Works were quizzed by EFCC in connection with the petition.

Chimaroke Nnamani

Nnamani’s case is also interesting as the EFCC, for the third time in six years rearraigned the former governor of Enugu State before a Federal High Court in Lagos over money laundering charges. The case which highlights some of the challenges faced by the anti-graft agency in the prosecution of its cases was first re-assigned to Justice Charles Archibong, following the transfer of Justice Abubakar out of the Lagos division of the Federal High Court. But the case was again re-assigned to the current judge, Justice Yinusa, after Justice Archibong, now retired, was also transferred out of the Lagos division of the court. Others docked alongside the former governor are his former aide, Sunday Anyaogu and six firms linked to them.

The firms are: Rainbownet Nigeria Limited, Hillgate Nigeria Limited, Cosmos FM, Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited, Renaissance University Teaching Hospital and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School. Nnamani was said to have conspired with other accused persons to launder various statutory allocations of some local government areas of Enugu State, among which are: Aninri, Enugu South, Agwu, Igbo Etiti and Isi Uzor For

bigiyaro:
dis epistle too long jare! Anyway, jst know dat d govt is fightin coruption n huntin corupt witches.

Noted

Can't read this epistle. But whatever anyone likes to call it, no problems. We really need to hunt down thise witches with blood in their mouth.