Integrity is a virtue that should never be compromised
for anything, when it does, the result is always devastating – a
nation in shambles and a soul in disarray.
Nigeria no doubt is such a very complex country. This
complexity is making everything very difficult to work. When laws
are to be made, the background intents in the minds of the makers
are rarely for the purpose of correcting any mischief. Often times,
mischief is created instead of being corrected by these laws. In
most cases, such intents are tainted with sentiment of greed and
evasive attempt as if the makers would live under the cover of that
position forever.
The same thing applies to implementation. There is always a cry
of sentiment against the administration of these laws; the mistrust
is so deep rooted. When a law faces these challenges, I wonder what
hitches policies may face?
You cannot define patriotism without borrowing a leaf from the
concept of law; neither can you define corruption without taking
note of the absence of patriotism in its commission or motive for
commission; the tie is like a vicious cycle – you need one to
understand the other just as you need the other to solve the
problems associated with one. Most times, people often think the
best way to solve corruption problem is to have stronger laws in
place, a deterrent example to discourage commission but I hold the
view that laws are not enough when those who enforce them lack the
passionate patriotic commitment and integrity to shrug off the
temptation not to compromise enforcement.
In Nigeria today, what is mostly lacking and inadvertently
promoting the growth of corruption, making it the only way to
stardom is unarguably the lack of patriotism to do the needful by
virtually all the stakeholders charged with responsibility of doing
so, i.e. the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Without any intent to denigrate these Arms, we cannot discuss the
failure of effective corruption control without scratching our head
(worrying) about the non-committal attitude of these Arms and their
agents at one point or the other and in one way or another.
Understanding the fact that corruption is the singular virus in
this country that has plagued/infected virtually all the other
fibres of our human lives, we cannot shy away from saying it as it
is even if one will be rebuked. When you compare and examine
these agents, there is always a common ground in motives of how
they will do or will not do what. The menace now dictates the
justification of what kind of laws to be made, how these laws
should be enforced and how criminal cases relating to corruption
should be adjudicated. We cannot be in limbo of this
“unfortunateness” and expect perfect result in our resolve to
fighting corruption. This is where there is need to separate the
chaff from the grain and expunge the bad eggs from the
brooding.
Not wanting to fall victim of this unpatriotic syndrome, this
writer is keenly interested in contributing to the ongoing
discussion on best strategy to fight and end corruption, hence,
this piece. The attempt to do this is borne out of the
patriotic zeal to help this helpless nation out of the hapless coma
that has been caused by insensitive economic bourgeois who though
are often separated by official delineation but usually united on
the field of fiduciary conspiracy.
In 2015, when the present administration came on board,
understanding and trusting the anti-corruption mantra that their
party sang to garner votes and eventually win the elections, as a
patriotic citizen, I made a bold effort to make effective
contributions towards corruption eradication. The effort was not
intended to gain any personal aggrandisement but to help sharpen
the future of corruption fight in the country.
Like any other selfless Nigerian who is passionately interested
in decimating the menace of corruption, I submitted a proposal to
the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President
Muhammed Buhari, GCFR, to suggest a number of ways to address
corruption problems. The proposal was submitted to him personally
shortly before his inauguration at his private residence in Aso
Drive, Abuja. There have been several of those similar proposals I
have equally submitted with series of letters as addendum to
suggest pragmatic approach to effective control of corruption.
Precisely, in the first blueprint, I suggested the following:-
amendment of EFCC Act to strengthen it and especially to discourage
the apparent culture of appointing a serving Police Officer as its
Chairman, creation of the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to
the President on Corruption Control and Strategy, suggestion for
the creation of Mandatory Assets Declaration Directorate,
suggestion for the separation of membership of the NJC from the
Justices of the Supreme Court and suggestion for the creation of
Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption.
An author will always be happy to see his book published but may
not be so fulfilled if those reading it are not grasping the
message therein. As the sole Author of the blue print that led to
the creation of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption,
PACAC, I have the proprietorial right to guide and offer a piece of
advice in its implementation. Why I observe with a sense of
fulfilment in the implementation of the blue print, atleast, I am
concerned about the way and manner those who are saddled with the
execution of these policies are carrying out the assignment with
particular reference to PACAC’s modules
operandi. PACAC was conceived and coined to assist
the federal government in advisory position. It is meant to
formulate policies on corruption control strategies, to help
identify the loopholes in the laws against corruption and suggest
the way out to government on best form of execution of these laws
even without holding a press conference.
With due respect, it is rather a misplacement of priority that
the Committee has turned itself into the “executor” of the laws, a
disciplinary agent of sort, jumping into the arena of the fight and
engaging everyone in fisticuff of relevance. With profound respect
to the integrity of the members of PACAC, the way and manner they
are doing their job make people of requisite knowledge see their
procedures and probably intentions as “ego photo-bomb”. Members of
the PACAC should not see their appointments as an opportunity to
political engagement; rather, they should see it as a call to duty,
a rare privilege to make meaningful difference in the fight against
corruption at this period of our evolvement.
The creation of the Committee is first in history in this
country because the thinking behind it is also expected to yield
results so unprecedented. It is important to emphasize that
the methodology adopted by PACAC is eroding the values and the good
intent behind its creation. It will be a bad development for
the nation should PACAC be found to be boring, digressing,
irrelevant and obsolete simply because its members do not have
clear understanding of the assignment before them. In my candid
opinion, PACAC would do better if it restrict itself to advisory
roles, speak less and eschew personality contest.
Often times, we view some people with unlimited assumption of
“men of integrity”, alas, assumptions are always wrong. One of the
problems of effective corruption control in Nigeria is the pathetic
practice of reducing “officialdom” to “kingdom”. We tend to
justify success in the fight against corruption by the conduct and
character of the holder of the office of the agency fighting it,
even if such conduct and character display is just a “red carpet
show”.
In an attempt to promote egoism, we diminish the institution.
The raging drama on confirmation of Ibrahim Magu’s appointment is
the worst ever attack on the successful fight against corruption in
this Country. It is ironical that this diminishing attempt is
unwittingly being “promoted” by those who are struggling very hard
to eliminate corruption. In defence of Magu as the sole “saint”
that can nail corruption on the head, we do not even care to gauge
the level of his patriotic oil. If only the sanctity and
superiority of the institution is prioritised above any individual
holding such office, probably someone would have discovered some of
the thorns tearing Magu’s flesh of presumed credibility. I intend
to avail the readers of some of these albatrosses.
At this juncture, it is important for me to sound this caveat
that I am not out to cast any aspersion against Mr. Magu neither do
I have personal scores to settle with him. It is equally imperative
to state that my personal position and opinion here is not in any
way in conforming consonance with the political gladiators at the
Senate. Our motives and intents are entirely different; mine is
passionate patriotism, theirs have been described by many Nigerians
as self-serving protectionism.
Having said this, for the love of the sanctity of government
institutions and the respect for intellectual sagacity, it behoves
on every one of us to live above sentiment of personal attachment
and speak the truth so that the truth shall set us free.
In this regard, it will not be out of place to hint on some of
the compromises of Magu in recent times. There is this case of
alleged inflated contract against a certain company that was to
renovate some Airports in the country. The value of the contract
was put at over Fifteen Billion Naira (N15b), whereas, it was
allegedly grossly inflated. EFCC discovered this and started
investigation, in the process, the company’s account was frozen
with about Three Billion Naira (N3b) still intact in that account.
In the wake of the screening and confirmation of Magu, the case in
question was one of those some powerful bloc within the Senate
allegedly used as a “bait” to “whip” Magu into line, allegedly
requesting him to unfreeze that account; low and behold! Magu
allegedly unilaterally unfroze that account. If this is true, the
Ag. Chairman is supposed to be issued a query.
In the same vein, the same Senate bloc allegedly asked Mr. Magu
to disband some of the Special Task Force, STF, teams that have
been investigating some of the high profile cases involving some of
the members of the Senate, Mr. Magu immediately disbanded seven out
of the ten teams of the STF and left only three teams that are
rather too poorly equipped to continue diligent investigation and
prosecution on some of these cases. This unfortunate development is
choking the efficiency of the prosecution team that some of the
lawyers could not even sleep in their houses anymore because they
are burdened with too much work. An office space had to be
converted to an apartment for some of the few remaining prosecuting
lawyers to sleep. It is that misplaced.
Let me also tell the worst of these compromises. In the wake of
the bullet proof car saga involving the former Minister of
Aviation, now Senator Stella Oduah, I don’t know if anyone
remembers that Dino Melaye was about the loudest voice for the
prosecution of the then Minister. During this same period, about
Six Million Naira (N6m) was allegedly paid into Melaye’s account
allegedly from NAMA’s account without executing any contract for
that Agency. The insinuation is that the money was paid to seal
someone’s lips from the talking about the car saga agin. With this
damning piece of evidence of bribery collection suspicion against
Mr. Dino, Mr. Magu was allegedly briefed and urged to allow for
full investigation of Dino on possible prosecution. Magu allegedly
technically “killed” the case ostensibly to impress Dino by
refusing to order for full investigation let alone prosecution. All
these were attempts to impress and lure the Senate into confirming
his appointment, even though, the Senate have shown that they are
smarter than him, ambushing him along the way despite their
“pledge” and his compromises.
If anyone is worried about the loss of certain high profile
cases in courts in recent times, it is because those who are
saddled with the responsibilities of getting the job done are
grossly incompetent, disloyal and unpatriotic. This will be a topic
for a later day discussion.
Considering the recent brow between the Senate and the
Presidency, I am not even bothered about the legal technicalities
of the two side’s argument than I am worried about the moral
justification for each side’s argument. Legally speaking one may
not be too worried about the usurpation attempt of the Senate to
abrogate and adjudicate at the same time beyond their
constitutional prescriptions because their giant may forever remain
stunted. However, the Executive seems to be playing into the hands
of this uncommon legislature for not doing due diligence on the
credibility on the individual they are fiercely defending. Let’s
assume the Presidency is conditioned to take such a stance in
support of a principle or a person, such stance must be one that is
steady enough, defensible anytime, any day. For me, Magu is not the
right asset the Presidency can vouch for and engaging in show down
with another institution over him is just not a smart move. I know
the Presidency might have taken a position, insisting on Magu’s
status but I also know that the position cannot be sacrosanct
especially when there is a valid ground for integrity question.
EFCC is too important an Institution for anybody to trivialize its
operations and administration.
Defending Magu’s continuous stay in office is not entirely the
problem, but doing that on a blind trust is the real issue. Does
Magu have this integrity for anybody to go to war over him? I leave
you to answer the question.
I ask, what particular integrity does a Chairman have if he had
to arbitrarily suspend a senior Director under him for close to two
years without pinning any offence against him? See the case
of one Ayo Olowonihi, a former Commandant of the EFCC Academy who
was suspended for no reason at all and remains suspended for close
to two years. Why is nobody seeing this nor saying anything against
this? Are we saying the innocent Director should continue to suffer
in the hands of authoritarianism simply because we don’t want to
make public Magu’s inadequacies?
I ask, what manner of a Chairman would deploy a sick staff far
away from his family simply because the man once held a contrary
view with the Chairman? What manner of a Chairman would refuse to
approve medical grant for a sick and dying man simply because he
didn’t like the man? What manner of a Chairman would allow his own
staff to die for no other reason than victimizing the “dissident”
staff because the deceased once argued in favour of fairness and
equity? See the case of one Gbenga Aroyehun (May his soul rest in
peace) who died few days ago as a result of Mr. Magu’s refusal to
approve medical grant for him to treat himself. What moral and
legal reasons would the Ag. Chairman proffer for this inhumane
treatment? What manner of a Chairman would be intimidating and
frustrating his own staff, men and women, old and young, single and
married simply because they refuse to yield to certain requests?
What manner of a Chief Executive Officer would be frustrating his
own staff to mass resignation just because he does not know how to
manage their intellectual prowess? See specifically Tundun
Mandandola, Shade Popoola, Hasthrob Adeola, Aderemi Olugbemi,
Medard Ehinaka, and I can go on and on. What manner of a Chairman
would be waging war of vindictiveness against his own staff, what
manner of a Chairman would be spending above budgetary limit with
naked impunity? In EFCC, there is a standard policy on staff
profiling in which certificates vetting, background scrutiny, drug
test and other medical scrutiny are conducted on prospective staff.
However important this is, has anybody asked if Mr. Magu ever
submitted himself for this profiling, if not, why? What are we
actually defending here in Magu’s so-called integrity? How would
anyone possibly defend all these infractions against a man and
still see him as a “saint”. It’s disturbing!
Taking particular observation that the Senate as currently
constituted is about the most despised in the history of this
country to the that extent not very many Nigerians are in tune with
their agenda and style of achieving it. The
8th Senate is proficient in blackmailing anybody or
institution just to achieve a goal. They can threaten amendment of
any law should the current CEO of such agency acts contrary to
their wish, they can instigate a probe against any official should
that fellow refuse to “play card”. The current INEC Chairman is
their latest victim. If only I can give privilege advice to the
Presidency, especially if there is any such info that the Senate
may want to use to blackmail the INEC Chairman with, it is better
the Chairman is relieved of his appointment immediately so as to
prevent any compromise in carrying out his constitutional duties.
This recent development among others has shown that the appointing
authority needs to do more than just picking any candidate for
certain posts without conducting integrity test. There is need to
do due diligence on the integrity of whoever they are
appointing.
On Magu’s matter, the Presidency’s stance against the Senate is
giving the despised Senate some “respite”, ironically so. In
my opinion, I think Magu’s impasse is an unfair blackmail against
the Presidency most especially because the leverage for taking this
hard stance thus far is far from inherent in the fellow they are
fighting for. It will not be out of place to assume that the
Presidency might not have done due diligence even before Magu was
appointed in the first place. It is ironically that this is looking
like self-inflicted injury. I hope the Presidency would not be
embarrassed at the end of the day when the contrary is proven
against Magu.
To solve this impasse and to save the Presidency from
embarrassment, it is imperative for them being the “hiring” and
“firing” authority to conduct investigation on Magu; his
administrative cum operational intelligence/style and his fiduciary
credibility, even if such investigation would be administrative one
like the ones conducted on the suspended Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, SGF and the Director-General of
Nigerian Intelligence Agency, DG-NIA. If the available facts are
anything to go by, I have no doubt Mr. Magu would turn out to be a
liability to anti-corruption fight and not asset as previously
erroneously held.
Judiciary, my constituency is about the most sacredly
conservative Arm. Its members are always cautious in talking about
it even when there is a valid ground to pat it on the back for
correctional purpose. This “timidity” is not helping the Arm
to shoot itself onto utopianism. There are so many areas of
attention to look into about judicial efficiency, but for the
purpose of this discussion, I am narrowing it down to judicial
discipline, control and management. If we must strengthen the
workings of the Judiciary, we must ensure discipline among its
ranks. Generally speaking, lack of effective disciplinary apparatus
for judicial officers is capable of breeding corruption. One
antithetic that might be contributing to the ineffective
disciplinary procedure or non-deterrence of any such disciplinary
pronouncement against any judicial officer might be that some
judicial officers are seeing themselves as “more equal than
others”.
As it is, the National Judicial Council, NJC, is the
disciplinary body and appointing authority of all Judicial
Officers. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN is constitutionally the
Chairman of NJC. Let’s assume the CJN is under disciplinary probe,
who sits on the panel against the CJN, who calls for such panel
when the CJN himself will be the chairman and most especially when
there is no such provision in the Constitution for the CJN to
recuse himself in case of any allegations against him? This
is a serious lacuna in our constitution that must be amended
immediately.
In one of my letters to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN,
GCON in his capacity as the Acting President, taking into
consideration the challenges in handling corrupt elements within
the Judiciary especially when such involves a likely prominent
member of the NJC, I had suggested that the Constitution be amended
to give room for the creation of the NJC whose members shall not
include any member of the Supreme Court, except by ex-officio
status. By this idea, the NJC shall be a different/separate body
from Justices of the Supreme Court, whose membership shall be
determined and appointed by the President Commander-in-Chief of
Armed Forces and as may be ratified by the National Assembly.
If the recent drama that played out when the NJC would have to
nominate a candidate for the position of CJN, while that same
candidate is at the same time the Chairman of the NJC is anything
to go by, this suggestion should be given a second thought.
It is more appropriate, more ideal and more democratic when
there is such a body that shall be responsible for the duties of
NJC including disciplining the CJN should the cause arise. It would
then be that the NJC which the legal frame may be drafted later
upon proper deliberation shall now be the employer and disciplinary
body of all judicial officers, including Justices of the Supreme
Court. The membership to comprise of seasoned legal practitioners
(with no political affiliation), retired Judicial officers and such
other member as may be unbiased, with an incorruptible and
reputable retired Justice of the Supreme Court or retired
Justice of the Court of Appeal as the Chairman.
Talking further about compromises, the Legislature can make the
worst of these compromises by merely enacting ineffective laws or
refusing to even attend to the most potentially potent ones.
Without particular prejudice against the 8th Assembly, they have
demonstrated obvious fear of the unknown by not yielding to the
call to pass some of those stringent Bills against corruption as
communicated to them by the Executive. Anti-Money Laundry Amendment
Bill has been with the National Assembly for close to two years now
and I doubt if it has even been read the second time. They seem to
be haunted by the ghost of the corruption crime they have not even
committed but which they may commit in future. They have won for
themselves the perception of the most “self serving” Assembly in
Nigeria history. There are very few Nigerians who are their fans. I
am not one of those few. Ofcourse, one can hardly argue against
such perception about them when its leadership are hastening the
amendment of the constitution with particular intention to reducing
the eligible age of candidates to contest for political posts so as
to pave way for a very inordinate selfish interest of an individual
who is insidiously scheming to see his son becoming the next
governor of his adopted state.
Nigerians are fond of rhetoric and this National Assembly seems
to be profoundly professional at it. They defend the worst of
infractions without blinking an eye and attack the best of policies
without compunction. In my opinion, these are visible display
of absence of patriotism and integrity.
When you look at all these and you would wonder why corruption
has become so endemic in our society inspite of some of the lion
laws we have in place, your conclusion might not change from the
fact that what we particularly lack as a nation and as a people is
cognate integrity and passionate patriotism and not necessarily
material law. Until such time when patriotism is regarded as
an obligation and omission is treated as misconduct sanctionable,
fearlessly, indiscriminately, decisively and legally, we may not
move beyond showmanship in corruption control. The agencies of
government saddled with the responsibilities of fighting corruption
and their representatives must be empowered to operate with zero
political influence and must be men of unquestionable integrity,
committed, dedicated, loyal and passionately patriotic enough to
assist in effective control of corruption.
Lastly, I know some people may want to ascribe political
connotations to my position but it is far from it. For those who
can think deeper, I urge you to consider my position as that of a
man who has contributed immensely to the fight against corruption,
one who is worried about the way and manner the fight is being
trivialized, taking particular note of the fact that corruption is
the singular toxin corroding our system, the cancer that we must
all join hands to cure collectively if we must remain healthy and
avoid system breakdown.
Shehu Bashir writes from Abuja.
Contact him 
@shehufaa
Integrity is a virtue that should never be compromised
for anything, when it does, the result is always devastating – a
nation in shambles and a soul in disarray.
Nigeria no doubt is such a very complex country. This
complexity is making everything very difficult to work. When laws
are to be made, the background intents in the minds of the makers
are rarely for the purpose of correcting any mischief. Often times,
mischief is created instead of being corrected by these laws. In
most cases, such intents are tainted with sentiment of greed and
evasive attempt as if the makers would live under the cover of that
position forever.
The same thing applies to implementation. There is always a cry
of sentiment against the administration of these laws; the mistrust
is so deep rooted. When a law faces these challenges, I wonder what
hitches policies may face?
You cannot define patriotism without borrowing a leaf from the
concept of law; neither can you define corruption without taking
note of the absence of patriotism in its commission or motive for
commission; the tie is like a vicious cycle – you need one to
understand the other just as you need the other to solve the
problems associated with one. Most times, people often think the
best way to solve corruption problem is to have stronger laws in
place, a deterrent example to discourage commission but I hold the
view that laws are not enough when those who enforce them lack the
passionate patriotic commitment and integrity to shrug off the
temptation not to compromise enforcement.
In Nigeria today, what is mostly lacking and inadvertently
promoting the growth of corruption, making it the only way to
stardom is unarguably the lack of patriotism to do the needful by
virtually all the stakeholders charged with responsibility of doing
so, i.e. the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary.
Without any intent to denigrate these Arms, we cannot discuss the
failure of effective corruption control without scratching our head
(worrying) about the non-committal attitude of these Arms and their
agents at one point or the other and in one way or another.
Understanding the fact that corruption is the singular virus in
this country that has plagued/infected virtually all the other
fibres of our human lives, we cannot shy away from saying it as it
is even if one will be rebuked. When you compare and examine
these agents, there is always a common ground in motives of how
they will do or will not do what. The menace now dictates the
justification of what kind of laws to be made, how these laws
should be enforced and how criminal cases relating to corruption
should be adjudicated. We cannot be in limbo of this
“unfortunateness” and expect perfect result in our resolve to
fighting corruption. This is where there is need to separate the
chaff from the grain and expunge the bad eggs from the
brooding.
Not wanting to fall victim of this unpatriotic syndrome, this
writer is keenly interested in contributing to the ongoing
discussion on best strategy to fight and end corruption, hence,
this piece. The attempt to do this is borne out of the
patriotic zeal to help this helpless nation out of the hapless coma
that has been caused by insensitive economic bourgeois who though
are often separated by official delineation but usually united on
the field of fiduciary conspiracy.
In 2015, when the present administration came on board,
understanding and trusting the anti-corruption mantra that their
party sang to garner votes and eventually win the elections, as a
patriotic citizen, I made a bold effort to make effective
contributions towards corruption eradication. The effort was not
intended to gain any personal aggrandisement but to help sharpen
the future of corruption fight in the country.
Like any other selfless Nigerian who is passionately interested
in decimating the menace of corruption, I submitted a proposal to
the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President
Muhammed Buhari, GCFR, to suggest a number of ways to address
corruption problems. The proposal was submitted to him personally
shortly before his inauguration at his private residence in Aso
Drive, Abuja. There have been several of those similar proposals I
have equally submitted with series of letters as addendum to
suggest pragmatic approach to effective control of corruption.
Precisely, in the first blueprint, I suggested the following:-
amendment of EFCC Act to strengthen it and especially to discourage
the apparent culture of appointing a serving Police Officer as its
Chairman, creation of the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to
the President on Corruption Control and Strategy, suggestion for
the creation of Mandatory Assets Declaration Directorate,
suggestion for the separation of membership of the NJC from the
Justices of the Supreme Court and suggestion for the creation of
Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption.
An author will always be happy to see his book published but may
not be so fulfilled if those reading it are not grasping the
message therein. As the sole Author of the blue print that led to
the creation of Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption,
PACAC, I have the proprietorial right to guide and offer a piece of
advice in its implementation. Why I observe with a sense of
fulfilment in the implementation of the blue print, atleast, I am
concerned about the way and manner those who are saddled with the
execution of these policies are carrying out the assignment with
particular reference to PACAC’s modules
operandi. PACAC was conceived and coined to assist
the federal government in advisory position. It is meant to
formulate policies on corruption control strategies, to help
identify the loopholes in the laws against corruption and suggest
the way out to government on best form of execution of these laws
even without holding a press conference.
With due respect, it is rather a misplacement of priority that
the Committee has turned itself into the “executor” of the laws, a
disciplinary agent of sort, jumping into the arena of the fight and
engaging everyone in fisticuff of relevance. With profound respect
to the integrity of the members of PACAC, the way and manner they
are doing their job make people of requisite knowledge see their
procedures and probably intentions as “ego photo-bomb”. Members of
the PACAC should not see their appointments as an opportunity to
political engagement; rather, they should see it as a call to duty,
a rare privilege to make meaningful difference in the fight against
corruption at this period of our evolvement.
The creation of the Committee is first in history in this
country because the thinking behind it is also expected to yield
results so unprecedented. It is important to emphasize that
the methodology adopted by PACAC is eroding the values and the good
intent behind its creation. It will be a bad development for
the nation should PACAC be found to be boring, digressing,
irrelevant and obsolete simply because its members do not have
clear understanding of the assignment before them. In my candid
opinion, PACAC would do better if it restrict itself to advisory
roles, speak less and eschew personality contest.
Often times, we view some people with unlimited assumption of
“men of integrity”, alas, assumptions are always wrong. One of the
problems of effective corruption control in Nigeria is the pathetic
practice of reducing “officialdom” to “kingdom”. We tend to
justify success in the fight against corruption by the conduct and
character of the holder of the office of the agency fighting it,
even if such conduct and character display is just a “red carpet
show”.
In an attempt to promote egoism, we diminish the institution.
The raging drama on confirmation of Ibrahim Magu’s appointment is
the worst ever attack on the successful fight against corruption in
this Country. It is ironical that this diminishing attempt is
unwittingly being “promoted” by those who are struggling very hard
to eliminate corruption. In defence of Magu as the sole “saint”
that can nail corruption on the head, we do not even care to gauge
the level of his patriotic oil. If only the sanctity and
superiority of the institution is prioritised above any individual
holding such office, probably someone would have discovered some of
the thorns tearing Magu’s flesh of presumed credibility. I intend
to avail the readers of some of these albatrosses.
At this juncture, it is important for me to sound this caveat
that I am not out to cast any aspersion against Mr. Magu neither do
I have personal scores to settle with him. It is equally imperative
to state that my personal position and opinion here is not in any
way in conforming consonance with the political gladiators at the
Senate. Our motives and intents are entirely different; mine is
passionate patriotism, theirs have been described by many Nigerians
as self-serving protectionism.
Having said this, for the love of the sanctity of government
institutions and the respect for intellectual sagacity, it behoves
on every one of us to live above sentiment of personal attachment
and speak the truth so that the truth shall set us free.
In this regard, it will not be out of place to hint on some of
the compromises of Magu in recent times. There is this case of
alleged inflated contract against a certain company that was to
renovate some Airports in the country. The value of the contract
was put at over Fifteen Billion Naira (N15b), whereas, it was
allegedly grossly inflated. EFCC discovered this and started
investigation, in the process, the company’s account was frozen
with about Three Billion Naira (N3b) still intact in that account.
In the wake of the screening and confirmation of Magu, the case in
question was one of those some powerful bloc within the Senate
allegedly used as a “bait” to “whip” Magu into line, allegedly
requesting him to unfreeze that account; low and behold! Magu
allegedly unilaterally unfroze that account. If this is true, the
Ag. Chairman is supposed to be issued a query.
In the same vein, the same Senate bloc allegedly asked Mr. Magu
to disband some of the Special Task Force, STF, teams that have
been investigating some of the high profile cases involving some of
the members of the Senate, Mr. Magu immediately disbanded seven out
of the ten teams of the STF and left only three teams that are
rather too poorly equipped to continue diligent investigation and
prosecution on some of these cases. This unfortunate development is
choking the efficiency of the prosecution team that some of the
lawyers could not even sleep in their houses anymore because they
are burdened with too much work. An office space had to be
converted to an apartment for some of the few remaining prosecuting
lawyers to sleep. It is that misplaced.
Let me also tell the worst of these compromises. In the wake of
the bullet proof car saga involving the former Minister of
Aviation, now Senator Stella Oduah, I don’t know if anyone
remembers that Dino Melaye was about the loudest voice for the
prosecution of the then Minister. During this same period, about
Six Million Naira (N6m) was allegedly paid into Melaye’s account
allegedly from NAMA’s account without executing any contract for
that Agency. The insinuation is that the money was paid to seal
someone’s lips from the talking about the car saga agin. With this
damning piece of evidence of bribery collection suspicion against
Mr. Dino, Mr. Magu was allegedly briefed and urged to allow for
full investigation of Dino on possible prosecution. Magu allegedly
technically “killed” the case ostensibly to impress Dino by
refusing to order for full investigation let alone prosecution. All
these were attempts to impress and lure the Senate into confirming
his appointment, even though, the Senate have shown that they are
smarter than him, ambushing him along the way despite their
“pledge” and his compromises.
If anyone is worried about the loss of certain high profile
cases in courts in recent times, it is because those who are
saddled with the responsibilities of getting the job done are
grossly incompetent, disloyal and unpatriotic. This will be a topic
for a later day discussion.
Considering the recent brow between the Senate and the
Presidency, I am not even bothered about the legal technicalities
of the two side’s argument than I am worried about the moral
justification for each side’s argument. Legally speaking one may
not be too worried about the usurpation attempt of the Senate to
abrogate and adjudicate at the same time beyond their
constitutional prescriptions because their giant may forever remain
stunted. However, the Executive seems to be playing into the hands
of this uncommon legislature for not doing due diligence on the
credibility on the individual they are fiercely defending. Let’s
assume the Presidency is conditioned to take such a stance in
support of a principle or a person, such stance must be one that is
steady enough, defensible anytime, any day. For me, Magu is not the
right asset the Presidency can vouch for and engaging in show down
with another institution over him is just not a smart move. I know
the Presidency might have taken a position, insisting on Magu’s
status but I also know that the position cannot be sacrosanct
especially when there is a valid ground for integrity question.
EFCC is too important an Institution for anybody to trivialize its
operations and administration.
Defending Magu’s continuous stay in office is not entirely the
problem, but doing that on a blind trust is the real issue. Does
Magu have this integrity for anybody to go to war over him? I leave
you to answer the question.
I ask, what particular integrity does a Chairman have if he had
to arbitrarily suspend a senior Director under him for close to two
years without pinning any offence against him? See the case
of one Ayo Olowonihi, a former Commandant of the EFCC Academy who
was suspended for no reason at all and remains suspended for close
to two years. Why is nobody seeing this nor saying anything against
this? Are we saying the innocent Director should continue to suffer
in the hands of authoritarianism simply because we don’t want to
make public Magu’s inadequacies?
I ask, what manner of a Chairman would deploy a sick staff far
away from his family simply because the man once held a contrary
view with the Chairman? What manner of a Chairman would refuse to
approve medical grant for a sick and dying man simply because he
didn’t like the man? What manner of a Chairman would allow his own
staff to die for no other reason than victimizing the “dissident”
staff because the deceased once argued in favour of fairness and
equity? See the case of one Gbenga Aroyehun (May his soul rest in
peace) who died few days ago as a result of Mr. Magu’s refusal to
approve medical grant for him to treat himself. What moral and
legal reasons would the Ag. Chairman proffer for this inhumane
treatment? What manner of a Chairman would be intimidating and
frustrating his own staff, men and women, old and young, single and
married simply because they refuse to yield to certain requests?
What manner of a Chief Executive Officer would be frustrating his
own staff to mass resignation just because he does not know how to
manage their intellectual prowess? See specifically Tundun
Mandandola, Shade Popoola, Hasthrob Adeola, Aderemi Olugbemi,
Medard Ehinaka, and I can go on and on. What manner of a Chairman
would be waging war of vindictiveness against his own staff, what
manner of a Chairman would be spending above budgetary limit with
naked impunity? In EFCC, there is a standard policy on staff
profiling in which certificates vetting, background scrutiny, drug
test and other medical scrutiny are conducted on prospective staff.
However important this is, has anybody asked if Mr. Magu ever
submitted himself for this profiling, if not, why? What are we
actually defending here in Magu’s so-called integrity? How would
anyone possibly defend all these infractions against a man and
still see him as a “saint”. It’s disturbing!
Taking particular observation that the Senate as currently
constituted is about the most despised in the history of this
country to the that extent not very many Nigerians are in tune with
their agenda and style of achieving it. The
8th Senate is proficient in blackmailing anybody or
institution just to achieve a goal. They can threaten amendment of
any law should the current CEO of such agency acts contrary to
their wish, they can instigate a probe against any official should
that fellow refuse to “play card”. The current INEC Chairman is
their latest victim. If only I can give privilege advice to the
Presidency, especially if there is any such info that the Senate
may want to use to blackmail the INEC Chairman with, it is better
the Chairman is relieved of his appointment immediately so as to
prevent any compromise in carrying out his constitutional duties.
This recent development among others has shown that the appointing
authority needs to do more than just picking any candidate for
certain posts without conducting integrity test. There is need to
do due diligence on the integrity of whoever they are
appointing.
On Magu’s matter, the Presidency’s stance against the Senate is
giving the despised Senate some “respite”, ironically so. In
my opinion, I think Magu’s impasse is an unfair blackmail against
the Presidency most especially because the leverage for taking this
hard stance thus far is far from inherent in the fellow they are
fighting for. It will not be out of place to assume that the
Presidency might not have done due diligence even before Magu was
appointed in the first place. It is ironically that this is looking
like self-inflicted injury. I hope the Presidency would not be
embarrassed at the end of the day when the contrary is proven
against Magu.
To solve this impasse and to save the Presidency from
embarrassment, it is imperative for them being the “hiring” and
“firing” authority to conduct investigation on Magu; his
administrative cum operational intelligence/style and his fiduciary
credibility, even if such investigation would be administrative one
like the ones conducted on the suspended Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, SGF and the Director-General of
Nigerian Intelligence Agency, DG-NIA. If the available facts are
anything to go by, I have no doubt Mr. Magu would turn out to be a
liability to anti-corruption fight and not asset as previously
erroneously held.
Judiciary, my constituency is about the most sacredly
conservative Arm. Its members are always cautious in talking about
it even when there is a valid ground to pat it on the back for
correctional purpose. This “timidity” is not helping the Arm
to shoot itself onto utopianism. There are so many areas of
attention to look into about judicial efficiency, but for the
purpose of this discussion, I am narrowing it down to judicial
discipline, control and management. If we must strengthen the
workings of the Judiciary, we must ensure discipline among its
ranks. Generally speaking, lack of effective disciplinary apparatus
for judicial officers is capable of breeding corruption. One
antithetic that might be contributing to the ineffective
disciplinary procedure or non-deterrence of any such disciplinary
pronouncement against any judicial officer might be that some
judicial officers are seeing themselves as “more equal than
others”.
As it is, the National Judicial Council, NJC, is the
disciplinary body and appointing authority of all Judicial
Officers. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN is constitutionally the
Chairman of NJC. Let’s assume the CJN is under disciplinary probe,
who sits on the panel against the CJN, who calls for such panel
when the CJN himself will be the chairman and most especially when
there is no such provision in the Constitution for the CJN to
recuse himself in case of any allegations against him? This
is a serious lacuna in our constitution that must be amended
immediately.
In one of my letters to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN,
GCON in his capacity as the Acting President, taking into
consideration the challenges in handling corrupt elements within
the Judiciary especially when such involves a likely prominent
member of the NJC, I had suggested that the Constitution be amended
to give room for the creation of the NJC whose members shall not
include any member of the Supreme Court, except by ex-officio
status. By this idea, the NJC shall be a different/separate body
from Justices of the Supreme Court, whose membership shall be
determined and appointed by the President Commander-in-Chief of
Armed Forces and as may be ratified by the National Assembly.
If the recent drama that played out when the NJC would have to
nominate a candidate for the position of CJN, while that same
candidate is at the same time the Chairman of the NJC is anything
to go by, this suggestion should be given a second thought.
It is more appropriate, more ideal and more democratic when
there is such a body that shall be responsible for the duties of
NJC including disciplining the CJN should the cause arise. It would
then be that the NJC which the legal frame may be drafted later
upon proper deliberation shall now be the employer and disciplinary
body of all judicial officers, including Justices of the Supreme
Court. The membership to comprise of seasoned legal practitioners
(with no political affiliation), retired Judicial officers and such
other member as may be unbiased, with an incorruptible and
reputable retired Justice of the Supreme Court or retired
Justice of the Court of Appeal as the Chairman.
Talking further about compromises, the Legislature can make the
worst of these compromises by merely enacting ineffective laws or
refusing to even attend to the most potentially potent ones.
Without particular prejudice against the 8th Assembly, they have
demonstrated obvious fear of the unknown by not yielding to the
call to pass some of those stringent Bills against corruption as
communicated to them by the Executive. Anti-Money Laundry Amendment
Bill has been with the National Assembly for close to two years now
and I doubt if it has even been read the second time. They seem to
be haunted by the ghost of the corruption crime they have not even
committed but which they may commit in future. They have won for
themselves the perception of the most “self serving” Assembly in
Nigeria history. There are very few Nigerians who are their fans. I
am not one of those few. Ofcourse, one can hardly argue against
such perception about them when its leadership are hastening the
amendment of the constitution with particular intention to reducing
the eligible age of candidates to contest for political posts so as
to pave way for a very inordinate selfish interest of an individual
who is insidiously scheming to see his son becoming the next
governor of his adopted state.
Nigerians are fond of rhetoric and this National Assembly seems
to be profoundly professional at it. They defend the worst of
infractions without blinking an eye and attack the best of policies
without compunction. In my opinion, these are visible display
of absence of patriotism and integrity.
When you look at all these and you would wonder why corruption
has become so endemic in our society inspite of some of the lion
laws we have in place, your conclusion might not change from the
fact that what we particularly lack as a nation and as a people is
cognate integrity and passionate patriotism and not necessarily
material law. Until such time when patriotism is regarded as
an obligation and omission is treated as misconduct sanctionable,
fearlessly, indiscriminately, decisively and legally, we may not
move beyond showmanship in corruption control. The agencies of
government saddled with the responsibilities of fighting corruption
and their representatives must be empowered to operate with zero
political influence and must be men of unquestionable integrity,
committed, dedicated, loyal and passionately patriotic enough to
assist in effective control of corruption.
Lastly, I know some people may want to ascribe political
connotations to my position but it is far from it. For those who
can think deeper, I urge you to consider my position as that of a
man who has contributed immensely to the fight against corruption,
one who is worried about the way and manner the fight is being
trivialized, taking particular note of the fact that corruption is
the singular toxin corroding our system, the cancer that we must
all join hands to cure collectively if we must remain healthy and
avoid system breakdown.
Shehu Bashir writes from Abuja.
Contact him @shehufaa
Read more https://www.nairalaw.com/corruption-control-and-the-burden-of-integrity-a-call-for-patrotism/