“If you fight corruption, corruption will fight back”

~Mallam Nuhu Ribadu

In my last two columns, I have been writing about the need for the present government to expedite effort in his anti-corruption crusade instead of the overused “I will probe this; we will probe that” rhetoric. The reasons are not far fetched. Nigeria is like a criminal enterprise piloted by a cabal more powerful than the president. A cursory look at our chequered history gives credence to this fact.

These group of Nigerians and Non-Nigerian counterpart have held the nation to its jugular for years, amassed unimaginable wealth at the expense of the masses who continue to wallow in abject poverty and perpetual agony. Nigeria is their cash cow; any attempt to dislodge them from the udder of our collective wealth must be resisted. Any attempt to reveal their past deeds must be prevented at all cost by them.

They are the untouchables. So when the new govt started the probe theatrics, I advised they concentrated in gathering evidence in order to present a good case in court. The element of surprise is very important in fighting corruption hence I advocated less talk, more action. At some point, I opined that maybe the probe hype was just to scare looters to come forward to return looted funds and cut a deal.

This is not unrelated to the tortuous path and most times unpredictable outcomes many corruption cases have ended. The govt seem to understand this reality with recent statement credited to it like telling lawyers not to defend corrupt politicians, proposal for special courts to try corruption cases and shopping for fearless judges to handle corruption cases. The fight against corruption “no be beans” as it is a malignant cancer that has spread all over the cells of the Nation called Nigeria. In keeping the cancer, you must be surgical in order not to kill the whole country with it.

The Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC) came under scrutiny this week when the senate committee on Ethics invited its chairman over a petition by one George Uboh accusing the agency of embezzling over 1trn naira recovered from convicted persons. I watched with dismay excerpts of the senate proceeding with the head of EFCC legal team. How they were put on the spot and subsequently walked out from the sitting. It was a case of the hunter becoming the hunted. Many may not understand the enormity of this development if at the end there is any substance to it.

The EFCC is supposed to be the “thief catcher” and sanitizer of the system. The EFCC is now being accused of stealing what the thief stole from the hapless masses; it is not only despicable but a crime against humanity and the highest form of corruption. The much hyped probe, is only a means of checking the records to ascertain if there was any wrongdoing or if our collective wealth was stolen. If yes, evidence gathered will be used by the EFCC to charge defaulters to court. If there is an iota of truth in the allegations against the EFCC, then the people will lose confidence in the agency’s ability to prosecute corrupt persons and will
ultimately undermine the present anti-corruption crusade.

According to the whistleblower who claims to have boxes of evidence both forensic and otherwise, the EFCC intimidated the Bayelsa state government from further pursuing the case of recovered loots from its convicted governor. He also claimed the EFCC over a period of 7yrs (2004-2011) report showed it had recovered about 1trn from convicted persons, but his findings showed 1.9trn. However, a report in 2013 covering a period from (2003-2013) quoted about 500bn naira: a huge disparity from earlier report which covered a shorter period hence the assertion that the discrepancy was due to the fact that the agency has looted the recovered loots.

The EFCC spokesman argument in describing the allegations as unfounded, that George shouldn’t be taken seriously because of his questionable character (story for another day) is weak. The head of EFCC team state that Lamorde wasn’t chairman the period the petitioner was referring and his accusation to is also watery. Lamorde has always been in the EFCC. He was even acting chairman in 2008 so he can’t be oblivious of some of these issues. These allegations are weighty and the EFCC should be doing all it can to disabuse the minds of Nigerians before they lose confidence in them, if indeed they are certain these allegations are unfounded and a distraction. We want facts and figures not just denials in order not to derail the present anti-corruption campaign. The EFCC should start telling us their side of the story ASAP.

Finally, the federal government should use the opportunity of this imbroglio to overhaul the EFCC by covering loopholes, exploring grey areas towards re-positioning the agency to effectively carry out its statutory duties with ease. This new development is a further testament to the endemic corruption in this nation and an affirmation to the fact that when you fight corruption, corruption will fight back hence its time to quit the drama by talking less and acting more.

Source: The FCT Post - http://www.fctpost.com/2015/08/31/probing-the-prober-by-harry-slim-omoakhia/

okay

Even Buhari won't escape probing after 4 years. I don't trust him.

christinie:
Even Buhari won't escape probing after 4 years. I don't trust him.

dahs y we in Nigeria