THE ANTI-CORRUPTION WAR IS A POLITICAL VENDETTA.

In his previous article ‘FIGHTING CORRUPTION: A WAR FOR ALL’ this writer tried to corroborate Stephen D. Morris’ definition of corruption. In his essay ‘Forms of Corruption’ the social scientist simply defines corruption as the illegitimate use of public power to benefit a private interest. Attempt was also made by this writer to trace the origin of corruption to pre-human existence, when its characteristics were found in one of the arch-angels of God. That fallen angel called Lucifer, now popularly known as Satan, was described thus: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee” - Ezekiel 28:17. Corruption is mentioned in about 80 verses of the Christians’ Holy Book. Other religious scriptures may have also touched corruption in their verses. The significant of corruption is that it is practiced by creatures who find themselves in some form of power; Lucifer was in a position of power by his brightness. This significance confirms the truism in Lord John Dahlberg Acton’s dictum: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

Today in all nations of the earth, all creatures in power are deluged with different forms of corruption. The difference in the volume of global corruption is that the developed nations have put mechanisms in place to control this economic virus, while developing and undeveloped nations are yet to successfully implement such mechanisms.

An addendum to the definition and origin of corruption is that it is very prominent in families, especially polygynous types. Some institutions in developed nations, such as the armed forces and security agencies apply a form of corruption for strategic gains. Poring into polygynous families in our part of the global village will unveil forms of corruption in the maneuverings between the wives and their husband; between the children and their father; and even between the children themselves. Briberies to extract vital information so as to cause accusations and discredit one and the other, are the orders of the day in such families. From homes, corruption creeps into the communities, where some elders are bribed to give favourable but false verdicts over matters affecting warring members of the community. Nollywood movies have depicted this fact in most of its scripts. The art of corrupt practices can therefore be said to emanate from the home and is not just an alien emigrated from nowhere by the past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. This cankerworm has been with us all the time and its dimensions are only upgraded from decade to decade. There is no denying that corruption had gradually become the mores of the Nigerian society.

In just few months of our President assuming office an aspect of corruption is already observed in the “public” declaration of his assets. It is circulated in quarters that the president’s declaration sheet is doctored. President Buhari declared last December, 2014 that he had only N1 million in his account, Nigerians now wondered how the money suddenly rose to N30 million by May 29, 2015 after an expensive campaign. And this does not include assets in his wife’s name. There were reactions from Nigerians, many describing the public assets declaration by the President as insincere and hoodwinking. In the Guardian publication of September 9, 2015, an elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai stressed that the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua declared his own assets together with those of his wife, but that President Buhari has not done so. Another lawyer, Olukayode Ajulo, who is the Founder/Chairman, Egalitarian Mission, Africa and National Secretary, Labour Party (LP), alleged that the asset declaration by Buhari and Osinbajo as presented by Garba Shehu, is apparently fraudulent not only to hoodwink Nigerians but to further use same to cover serial violations of their covenant with Nigerians. According to him, “asset declaration must be done in prescribed form with particulars to ensure clarity and certainty, what was declared is vague, in bad faith and totally unacceptable. Particulars and full description of the asset has to be given for proper identification and verification. It is also incomplete as the spouses of the two politicians did not declare theirs with their husbands; it is the law that where any spouse of the declarant is not a civil servant/public servant such spouse should make the declaration with the better half.”

On his part, Balarabe Musa, a one time governor of Kaduna State said that it was clear from the assets listed that the President is a multi-billionaire, who also wields enormous power and influence and cannot therefore be seen as a peasant committed to the well being of the less privileged. He doubted what Buhari presented to the public, saying that it was at variance with the low profile and ‘poor man’ posture the president had wanted to foist on Nigerians. He added: “Before the last election, Buhari had given us the erroneous impression that he was a poor man, requiring bank loans to buy nomination form and run his campaigns but now he has shown that he has cash of N30 million, huge investments in companies and banks and farm assets.”


President Muhammadu Buhari may not have disclosed all his assets and investments in the Asset Declaration document he submitted to the Code of Conducts Bureau, CCB.

ADVOCATE NIGERIA, on Sunday, came across a document from the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, which indicated that President Buhari has a huge share in Panalpina World Transport (Nigeria) Limited, which he did not disclose in the list of his assets made public by his media aides last week. The document obtained by our correspondent which was a Certified True Copy from the CAC, indicated that President Buhari has shares in Panalpina World Transport (Nigeria) Limited, a multinational company.

According to the document, President Buhari bought 90,000 shares in Panalpina World Transport (Nigerian) limited on 1st August 1995 but this share was not included in his asset declaration document. The subscribers of the share were “(1) Buhari (Major General) Mohammadu – 90,000; address 7 Aliu Garaki Rd Kaduna. (2) Babangida (Gen. rtd) Ibrahim – 15,000; (3) Williams (Prof) Olufemi – 15,000; (4) Gana (The Estate) Baba – 15,000” among others.

And when confronted by the media, the President only had this to say: “I have declared my assets four times. When I was governor in 1975, I declared. After being Minister of Petroleum and as a member of Supreme Military Council, I declared. When I was Head of State and now as a President, I have also declared” The question was not how many times he had declared his assets but why the omission of the 90,000 shares in Panalpina World Transport (Nigerian) limited? Gullible Nigerians once more allowed that omission swept under the carpet and the media keeps its pen dry and its lips sealed over it. Misleading information presented by a public office holder, especially the #1 citizen of a nation is the worst corrupt practice and attracts impeachment in civilized nations. And this action is least expected by a man honoured as “Mr. Integrity”

So, all the hues and cries about President Buhari’s anti-corruption war are shaping up as a political vendetta. Just as it happened in his military dictatorship when some were ruthlessly dealt with and some handled with kids-gloves, Nigerians are already seeing his much publicized efforts, as selective. The premise of the whole exercise is fraught with so much lacks and the following are to mention but a few:

LACK OF OBJECTIVITIES AND SMACKS OF COVER-UP
The anti-corruption war smacks of cover-up the moment the Buhari-led Federal Government announced that the war would not go beyond the last administration of Former President Goodluck Jonathan. Followers of political trends in Nigeria saw immediately that the administration of Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was protected and all corrupt atrocities allegedly committed by that administration are abysmally covered up. The reasons for this cover-up are not far-fetched. It is obvious that the cover-up is a case of “scratch my back and I will scratch yours” Nigerians cannot rule out 3 main connections that were responsible for the cover-up. They are: that Gen Obasanjo (Rtd) was the head of state when $2.8 million oil money got missing under the watch of the incumbent President between 1976-1979 and nothing was done; that the reports of the PTF misappropriated billions of Naira under the executive chairmanship of Gen Buhari (Rtd), was swept under the carpet by Former President Obasanjo; and that the incumbent President enjoyed huge support from Former President Obasanjo during the last electioneering campaign. So, like they say the flies cannot found the shit guilty. In the power sector alone the following fraudulent releases of funds by that Obasanjo administration were recently reported: In 1999, N11,205,842,051 was appropriated, but N6,697,964,119 was released; in 2000, N59,064,381,817 was appropriated, N49,784,641,521 was released; in 2001, N103, 397,000,000 was appropriated, with NN70,927,000,000 released; in 2002, N54,647,252,061 was appropriated, N41,196,117,172 was released; in 2003, N55,583,099,000 was appropriated and N5,207,500,000 was released; in 2004, N54,647, 252,061 was appropriated, N54, 647,252,061 released; in 2005, N90,282,833,404 was appropriated, N71,888,606,274 was released; in 2006, N74,308,240, 085 was appropriated, N74. 3 billion released (Source: Vanguard of 13 September, 2015).

From the above reports Nigerians can see that billions were misappropriated every year between 1999 and 2006. And when Mr. President decided to extend the war beyond the immediate past administration, he stopped at the Late Yar’Adua half-term administration. Out of the 16 years alleged looting of the treasury, the man who had a larger chunk was spared and his two successors were the branded. If this singular act is not impunity yours sincerely wonders what it is. Besides the central administration there are wide-spread allegations against corrupt governors all over the country and across political divide, but only two governors have been confronted. The allegations against other governors, particularly those of the same political affiliation as Mr. President are deliberately ignored. Some of them include:



Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola

According to Premium Times publication of Monday, September, 2015 captioned ‘Nigerian anti-corruption activists drag Fashola to EFCC over N78 million website scandal’ the online tabloid reports: “The Civil Society Network Against Corruption, a coalition of anti-corruption organizations in Nigeria, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over the “questionable expenditures” of the administration of Babatunde Fashola, the immediate past governor of Lagos State.

In a petition dated August 10 and addressed to the EFCC Chairman, the group called for the probe of the controversial N78 million spent on the personal website of Mr. Fashola. There was outrage last weekend after analytic firm, BudgIT, revealed that Mr. Fashola approved, before he left office, N78.3 million from the state’s treasury for an upgrade of his personal website. The contract for the refurbishment of the website was awarded to Info Access Plus Limited by the office of the Chief of Staff to the former governor. The company, however, denied receiving the amount, insisting that it was paid N10 million.

The reports also included some other ‘questionable expenditures’ such as N1.2 billion spent on the construction of pedestrian bridges along Eti-Osa – Lekki – Epe expressway “which did not specify the number of bridges.”; the N17 million awarded for the provision of wall signage in three magistrate courts; the N3.46 billion spent for the construction of a beach resort in Ilase; and the N61 million disbursed for a Range Rover SUV and two Toyota Hilux trucks as the official vehicle of Chief Judge of State.

More ‘questionable expenditures are the N85 million for the repair and replacement of street signs; N330 million spent on the development of the residence of Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, the immediate past deputy governor; and N94 million spent on printer consumables.
Some other anti-corruption organizations, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) and the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project (CSNAC) have petitioned EFCC against the former governor. While the CACOL privately investigated the 1.36 kilometre Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge cost N6 billion, and not the N25 billion as stated by Mr. Fashola’s administration, the CSNAC called for the investigation of details of the the US$200 million World Bank education fund during Mr. Fashola’s tenure.



The above are to mention but a few of alleged former corrupt governors who are under investigations. The allegations of some northern former governors are in the public domain; guesses are that nothing will come out of the allegations for two cardinal reasons – they are sacred cows and also they are members of the All Progressive Congress.


CORRUPTION FIGHTING CORRUPTION
Another tell-tale pin that the anti-corruption war is a political vendetta is the inability of the Commander-In-Chief to institute transparent anti-corruption operatives to execute the war. Again in a transparent clime where war against corruption is judiciously executed, the heads of the trio of anti-grafts agencies, viz: the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should have been redeployed and the agencies overhauled to chart new direction that are not only seen as unbiased but are truly impartial. This is necessitated by the fact that instead of corrupt practices abating under the incumbent heads of these anti-graft agencies, they had been ironically allowed to swell. The blind can see that these men have been compromised so much that they have outlived their effectiveness. And to the chagrin of the nation, these men are heavily enmeshed in a web of corrupt practices. Nigerians and yours sincerely are aware of the following allegations against the chairmen of the trio:
Sam Saba, CCB Chairman

A petition from M L Ibrahim & Co Chambers in Kano, against Sam Saba, Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau, dated May 7, 2015, was sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The particulars of the petition, which was primarily the alleged diversion of over N100million by the Chairman, was signed by Lawan Yaro Mohammed.
Besides the diversion allegation, the Chairman is known to art arbitrarily in official matters that require consultations with his Commissioners. Sunday Vanguard was able to establish that, as was in the case of a former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when Saba, working with some officials of Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency, arraigned Tinubu without informing his fellow Commissioners at CCB, the case against Saraki, without prejudice to its merit, was also kick-started without the full knowledge and participation of fellow Commissioners. In 2011, the Commissioner in charge of the South-West Zone, as was published at that time, did not even know Tinubu would be arraigned.

Therefore, yesterday, Sunday Vanguard got in touch with the Commissioner in charge of North-Central Zone, Dr. Christie Ekoja. Asked if she carried out the verification of the assets declaration of Saraki and if the CCB invited the beleaguered senator for clarification, she politely responded by saying “no comment”. The question is, why would the head of an anti-corruption body, enmeshed in allegations of corruption, being the one to set another for arraignment before a court?

Danladi Umar, CCT Chairman Danladi Yakubu Umar, the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT is also caught in the web of corruption. Information available to Sunday Vanguard suggests that, sometime last year, a retired Comptroller of Customs, Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo, who was standing trial before Umar, allegedly negotiated a deal either with Umar or somebody in his office. N10million was the amount said to have been agreed to. Taiwo, playing along, allegedly paid N1.8million into the account of the PA to Umar. The case is still under investigation of the EFCC, which its Chairman is in the same web. How can any meaningful investigation be conducted by the corrupt against a corrupt counterpart? Nigeria is in deep trouble and they are persecuting Saraki pure malice and wickedness born from envy.

A petition is presently in the Nigerian Senate of a staggering amount alleged to have been pilfered by the Ibrahim Lamorde. A hearing session of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, which was held on Wednesday, August 26, revealed shocking details about how the commission may have milked the country of N2.051trillion from seized properties and funds of individuals under investigation. The petitioner, George Uboh, made series of allegations backed with facts and figures.

He revealed that, "In a December 02, 2011 letter EFCC sent to the Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, EFCC stated that the aggregate recoveries from 2004 to 2011 (8 financial years) was N1,326,754,554,482:80. EFCC did not mention where the N1.3 Trillion recovered was remitted to. EFCC’s claim that it did not recover up to a Trillion is complete false."

They should just leave Saraki alone at least he is cleaning the system through legislation . All accusations levelled against him cannot be substantiated even Societe General he was a director with many others . See these men above they are the culprits



Save Us O God!

Wake me if day don break

after all the mind blowing revelations by the efcc, you're still manipulating figures and events.

if efcc are the one that revealed the panama documents, you'd still say it is a targeted political persecution

Pfft

La read la bend

Is this a project write up?

After seeing the name of the OP - speak for BS- (Bukola Saraki) 2016, I just didn't bother to read the epistle.