Integrity & Other Virtual Claims : Between Madam First Lady & an ADC

Being a Nigerian is hard, being a middle or lower class Nigerian is even harder. Class privilege and social status, earned or vicarious, always often determine rights and the respect of these rights. More so, 80% of our laws benefit 20% of the population, while 80% of our population must make do with 20% of our extant laws. This is pure fact.
I state the above conscientiously, mindful of the still on drama at the State Villa that goes to proof that integrity is not a virtual commodity, nor can it be claimed in a vacuum. The toga of integrity once worn must bear out a complete tapestry of honesty. I will discourse this briefly in the context of class privilege and hypocritical integrity.
Here are the bare facts: Mrs. First Lady, Aisha Buhari alleges her Aide -de-Camp, Sani Baba-Inana ( ADC hereafter ) received from politicians and businessmen a sum of N2.7Billion as ‘gratification’ meant for her person and office, yet failed to remit same to her, in light of which she had him arrested and investigated by the Nigeria Police Force who found no evidence to substantiate her claims and now has him detained by the State Security Service (SSS).
Let’s begin by finding the answer to some simple questions : Is the office of the first lady constitutional ? What motives could lie behind such gratification? Who has the power of arrest, investigation and prosecution in this instance ; the Police or DSS?
A major talking point of President Buhari ‘s campaign of 2015 was an animated argument against the Office of the First Lady, so called. He spoke vehemently against budgetary privileges of said office, moaned its excesses and promised to end its presence in our democratic experience. Granted, traditionally and world over, first ladies DO enjoy certain privileges that come with being married to the country’s legal first citizen. But having spoken so strongly against it, one would have hoped to see principles birth action.
As we speak the First Lady Aisha Buhari not only enjoy an office space at the villa but has an office arrayed by an abundance of staff and personal aides that would rival neighbouring small countries.
Sustained on a shared allowance with the State House or Aso Villa, political favours orbit her sphere and this would explain the readiness of politicians and businessmen to part with a collective sum of about N3Billion. Think about it. Being a total sum from different lobbyists, it is safe to say the amount mentioned was accrued over time. It only makes sense that first callers had their wishes or request for favours met and that encouraged the enterprise of money for favour overtime. This, though disputable by contrary fact, logically explains the huge sum accrued over time.
There is the matter of how swiftly and efficiently the Nigeria Police Force applied themselves in this matter. Way before the information became public, the Police Force had investigated and found the ADC innocent of the allegations against him. According to them, he has no more than N30,000 in his account and all transactions on his accounts are regular and raise no flags.
You know as I do, from first hand experience, that such diligence and attention to detail is not the rule but an exception of our police force. Thousand of allegations go unattended to or inadequately investigated, yet the finest comb went through Madam First Lady’s allegations and swiftly so. If that doesn’t spell class privilege, what else does?
Nonetheless, I’d hate to begrudge Madam First Lady an obvious privilege that comes as a perk of her husband ‘s office and authority. That would be not just foolhardy but naive. I do, however, strongly contest and condemn her decision to involve the DSS in in a matter that is strictly within the operative jurisdiction of the Nigeria Police Force, or by extension the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It is this sad turn to the tale that makes it the stuff of class privilege and the abuse of that privilege.
There can be no pretext, remote or immediate, at law to justify the detention of the ADC to Madam First Lady by the DSS. By using her position to influence his unlawful arrest especially after having him picked up from Police custody, she demonstrates an abuse that is rampant and symptomatic of a greater institutional rot in our system. The law creating the DSS does not empower it to meddle in such affairs, doing so at the First Lady’s behest is unprofessional and an institutional servitude for selfish reasons.
The Police Force itself deserve some knocks for handing over a suspect in their custody to the DSS. They should know better than let their powers be usurped as such. That this happened shows that the tough police act is only put up when ordinary citizens are involved. I can’t emphasise this enough.
The right course of action open to Madam First Lady would be to institute a claim in court or direct the matter to the EFCC for further investigation. This I say assuming the money itself is the proceed of a legitimate transaction. If the reverse is the case, then the Police Force and the EFCC have a big integrity test at hand to do the needful being that Madam First Lady enjoys no immunity under our law.
Lets be reminded that former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan has a matter in court over something indistinguishably similar. What is good for one goose is good for the other.


Pelumi Olajengbesi Esq., is the Principal Partner at Pelumi Olajengbesi & Co. Law Corridor.

True talk my brother