By Prince C Dickson - October 19, 2006
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For quite sometime I have watched the unfolding drama of the EFCC and State Governors and their respective governments, the drama has been played out in various States from the harassment in Adamawa, the Benue treatment given to EFCC, Taraba and the Jolly Reverend, Zamfara and the big moustach to Bayelsa, Imo, the Ekiti soap has produced two Governors, two Chief Justices and illegality the Nigerian way, I could not have forgotten Plateau, a disaster waiting to happen. The list is plenty, there are very few States at one point or the other that has not been host to the new angels of the anti-corruption fight in Nigeria. Before anyone runs into conclusion I must quickly state that I do not have any problem with the philosophy behind the EFCC but its modus operandi has been where I have a disagreement.

A school of thought has however said that the way the EFCC has taken its fight is as a result of the Nigerian factor, which ordinarily would not allow for the impeachment of a Governor or the arraigning of a government official due to the loopholes in our judicial system. Everyone seems to have his point well marshaled out. Someone even reminded me that months back the Vice President was screaming for all to hear that he was willing to have his immunity waived to be investigated but what he did not see was the body blow coming his way and today he is holding on to that immunity strongly.
In those days of innocence when we were young men growing up, we were told a clear conscience fears no accusation but today the reverse is the case, I say this because amongst the almost 31 Governors mentioned one way or the other none has said "come and investigate me, I am ready to face any law court bring on the evidence I will prove the EFCC wrong" but everyone of them is claiming innocence. People have argued that Ribadu made a blanket statement in some cases but I join Ribadu in saying that there is hardly any Governor that has not stolen, What varies is the level and the type of stealing.
In Ribadu's words in Zamfara the Governor went for the jaw, he stole direct from source whatever that meant, I guess he was referring to the crudity of the stealing, and this is the case in many States. From my own investigations I know Governors that did it the other way round, they awarded contracts to their companies at inflated prices but did the company deliver is another question of morality. Other Governors turned their State treasury to a me and my family affair, in cases like that it was either the Governor's mother as charge de affair or brothers or in-laws as principal accomplice. Others were just cases of cronyism.
There were those who took their loot to neighbouring Ghana, some as far as Russia, one to Angola, another one I know that masquerades as a pious Christian took his loot to Jerusalem, others bought up choice properties in their States, another set were buying even fellow executives wives, in social circle each of these men had their nicknames. One is funnily called Bobby N1000 because he never parts with more that 1000 after affairs with daughters of eve, he reasoned that it was a privilege to be with him a Governor. Yet one was called resource control, as he was generous to a fault with money that was not his, another prided himself as the annex of Nigerian Breweries and to imagine this particular Governor is supposedly Sharia compliant
Among this lot of human beings who is clean, is there anyone that can bail these cats of the night that not only kill rats but also get into our soup pot as benefits of the job. In a state that the Governor was impeached his replacement recently was in the news as the wife was dipping her fingers into the State oil. Instantly the woman denied, naturally none of then has agreed to any form of guilt. One of these men opened an account in the son's name had his own brother's photo card for the account and the Governor was the signatory to the same account.
We have seen the revelation of the Ecological funds, but we forget that it was not only in Plateau that Ecological fund was provided, today we have disaster zones due to erosion, desertification problems, nobody has offered any satisfactory explanation. At a forum I defined the Ecological fund as the 'Eko lo ji' of PDP an abused Yoruba interpretation means the pap that PDP stole while we were looking the other way. I am sure we never would know anything of the fund if Governor Dariye was not targeted and today the breeze that blew has opened the fowl's buttocks on that fund. I wonder why other State Governors that contributed money into PDP's slush accounts have not been caught.
Earlier in the year I had spoken with Mallam Ribadu and he said that what appalled him was the blatant crude way some of these Governors went about their looting. However, he confirmed my fear about the intelligent ones amongst the Governors, when he said that some had stolen so much but he and his men just could not trace it, Naija for show. Very few of these Governors have been able to prove their innocence beyond the regular Public Relations stunt and in some cases some of them have dragged their own god into, so statements such as "my God will vindicate me, my God will shame my enemies” and my god this, my god that. I have asked what kind of god facilitates rigging, arson, stealing of public funds and still protect one. I need to know that god.
From multi-billion Naira poultry to fish farms, roads constructed at outrageous amounts, to those who achievements are the building of gates to the only University in the State at millions while others simply have kept their State legislators happy through foreign trips, this fiscal year a particular Governor gave State Legislators N690m travel budget ($5.4m with $2.8m earmarked for foreign travel) with another $2.8M for entertainment. Others have in the guise of religion, sharia, and building mosque to siphon money. This is a sad commentary of our democracy.
While we complain, and while we acknowledge that these men called Governors have torn the system, is it not time we review our monetary system, how is that these men have access to such huge amount of monies, is it not the lucrative nature of the business of a Governor that will make a distinguished Senator want to be Governor. What manner of people are we, Atiku said Obasanjo should allow Nigerians to decide who would be President but not long ago he swore that he either become President, or he goes to jail, or he dies. I am waiting to see which unfolds.
Governors, whose parents cannot vouch for, rent crowds of hungry youths, jobless elders to endorse them for second term and organize all sorts of awards. I know a Governor who’s State has been torn into pieces by all forms of crisis winning the Best Crisis Manager and Peace Awards. Take this as a sample, in one of the resource control State, the Governor's office budget was N10.7billion and to imagine that in that same State Health got N2.8billion. For that Governor his transport allocation was set at N3b this year that is at an approximate of $60,000 a day, this even exceeds the President's travel allocation.
We know of a Governor whose personal budget provides for gifts, grants at a rate of $100,000 every working day, while N500m is for souvenirs for Visitors to Government House.
The other part of these comedies of error is the EFCC and the government, I often ask has the EFCC been able to rise above board, the blanket clearance given Mr. President is one I know too well is faulty, the coincidence that known friends of the President have escaped the hammer, while those who fall out with the President are quickly accused. Also I quickly must add that two wrongs do not make a right.
The EFCC can do better than the disregard they accord the law courts and orders emanating from them. It is easy to prove that a public official is corrupt without going the jungle way, for example these Governors are no ghosts, we know them, we know who they are, where they are coming from, despite all the latest song of they were not all poor before they became Governors, we know better, Alams said he bought a house in South Africa in anticipation of accommodation boom during the World Cup by 2010, yet that business sense could not be used in transforming Bayelsa.
Going by the monetization programme, a Governor earns N889,482,000 annually, he has all kinds of allowances, from Housing, to Leave, from Constituency allowance and one funny one called Hardship allowance all ranging from 10%-100% of his annual salary. This should be ordinarily plenty money but it is peanuts for our Excellencies. And you think you and I do not deserve to be Governors. With all these monies our Governors still live above their earnings and we know, we do not need EFCC, we need a mechanism, a community based review system that works instantum.
I challenge these excellencies to drive in a small Honda car without escorts, without a convoy of the ten to twenty car as the case may be, let them feel the pulse of their States, let them feel the heart beat of posterity in a prophetic manner. Very few of them would escape being lynched, very few would say that I am clean, in fact the same law that is being breached in getting them out, is also the same law they had also breached at one time or the other, it certainly and sadly goes round. Our Excellencies, EFCC, anyway, which way, Nigerians deserve better, this comedy must stop, it is no longer funny.