The public often assesses President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war by its convictions scorecard. But, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Lai Mohammed feels convictions are only one aspect of the battle. What are the others? How is the war faring? ROBERT EGBE examines the arguments.
In 2014, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed a criminal misappropriation charge against Mr Nasiru Yahaya at a Gusau High Court in Zamfara State.
The Commission alleged that Yahaya, between April 27, 2011 and May 21, 2011 at Gusau, dishonestly converted to his use N64.8 million belonging to Mr Musa Baba, contrary to Sections 308 and 309 of the Penal Code.
Yahaya pleaded “not guilty” to the charge.
The EFCC called four witnesses and tendered five exhibits in proof of the offence. Yahaya, who testified in his own defence, called no witness and tendered no exhibits.
At the end of the trial, the court held that the country’s foremost anti-graft agency failed to establish its case.
Yahaya was discharged and acquitted.
Yahaya’s case is one of many which critics of President Muhammadu Buhari often hold as evidence of a faltering anti-corruption war.
The criticisms were particularly deafening in 2017, following the government’s losses in several high profile cases, including the one against Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), Godsday Orubebe, former First Lady Mrs. Patience Jonathan and Justice Adeniyi Ademola.
Other losses include those involving a former Sokoto State Governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin Aziboala Roberts’s wife and Justice Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa.
Perhaps the most strident of the criticisms was the ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018’ issued last month by the United States Department of State, which accused government officials of, among others, being enmeshed in corruption despite President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade.
“There is a climate of impunity in the President Muhammadu Buhari government that allows officials to engage in corrupt practices with a sense of exemption from punishment,” the report claimed.
Government’s argument
The Federal Government regularly controverts such criticisms with evidence of its own. On April 22, the administration said it was unfair to measure its anti-corruption achievements by the number of convictions it had secured.
Information, Culture and Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed, who featured on a live TVC News Programme – “This Morning”, said the administration had succeeded in laying the foundation to stamp out corruption.
He listed the Single Treasury Account (TSA) and Whistle Blower policy as some of the sustainable policies put in place by the government.
Mohammed said: “When we say the fight against corruption is successful it’s because we have laid the foundation that would make it difficult for people to engage in the evil act.
“For us, the success of the fight against corruption is the fact that we have driven corruption under the table and made it unattractive as it was before.
“Those who are corrupt are doing so with the fear of the law. It will be progressive, become more and more difficult in Nigeria for corruption to be attractive.”
Convictions scorecard
What Mohammed omitted was that contrary to the US report’s claim that the EFCC recorded only 13 convictions in 2016, the government’s conviction record is at its highest in recent history, going by figures published by the EFCC on March 21 in response to the report.
The EFCC described the report as “not only outdated and , but misleading.”
It said it secured 943 convictions since 2015 till date. They comprise 103 convictions in 2015, 195 in 2016, and 189 convictions in 2017.
The 2018 figure is even higher: 314 convictions, including two former state governors – both APC members – who were sentenced to 14 years imprisonment without option of fine.
As at March 19, this year, the Commission said it has recorded 142 convictions.
“It is instructive to state that no other agency in Africa has this record of convictions and recovery of stolen assets which were achieved in spite of great encumbrances faced by the Commission in the discharge of its assignment as it has come to be known that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back,” the Commission said.
Although it was not a case of corruption, the suspension, removal and conviction of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen has been celebrated by the government as a boost for the anti-graft crusade.
Onnoghen’s removal was, however, not without controversy as the opposition saw it as an attempt to stampede the judiciary into doing the bidding of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party.
Anti-Corruption successes’ silent indices
The government has also argued that it has made distinct gains in the anti-graft war on other fronts.
According to the minister, these silent indices have helped it to build a “solid foundation” for a less corrupt future. Some of them are as follows:
N9.3 trillion paid into TSA
Key among the indices is the TSA initiative.
TSA was proposed by the Federal Government in 2012 under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, but was fully implemented by the Buhari administration.
It is arguably one of the most significant initiatives undertaken by any government in Nigeria to promote accountability, transparency and fight corruption in the management of public funds.
According to the government, TSA implementation saves the government a whopping ¦ 24.7 billion monthly and greatly enhances government revenue collection.
Mohammed said: “Under this administration, we insisted and have succeeded in ensuring that all payments and revenues are paid into the TSA. Before we came in, the Federal Government had over 2000 different accounts in various banks which resulted in paying several billions of Naira in charges.
“The government then also never had an idea of how much it had as revenue. Today, over N9.3 trillion has gone into the TSA and that is why it is possible for us to invest especially in the area of infrastructure and social investment programmes.”
The minister said with the TSA savings, the government spent unprecedented N2.7 trillion on development of infrastructure in 2017 and 2018 and also introduced accountability in spending of government resources.
Whistle Blower policy and assets recovery
The Whistle-blower Policy is another tool introduced by the government on December 21, 2016 that has been remarkably effective in loot recovery.
This policy encourages people to voluntarily disclose information about fraud, bribery, looted government funds, financial misconduct, government assets and any other form of corruption or theft to the Federal Ministry of Finance for reward of between 2.5 and 5 per cent
It was reported that within the first two months of the whistle-blowing, the Federal Government recovered over $178 million. By June 5, 2017, Federal Ministry of Finance received 2,150 tips from the public, 128 of which came through the ministry’s website, 1,192 was through phone calls, 540 through SMS and 290 through emails. By July/August 2017, a total of 5000 tips were received.
Mohammed said the government, through the policy, had recovered billions of naira and about $53 million.
Forfeitures
The EFCC prides itself on having “revolutionised the process of assets tracing and recovery.” According to it, no other agency can boast of its record.
It said between 2015- 2017, it recovered N676,522,889,647.05; $254, 563, 877.27; £486, 736.82; 8,136,071.13 Euro; 80,931,500 CFA; among others.
The agency said: “In 2018 alone, various sums amounting to billions in Naira and other foreign currencies were also forfeited to the Federal Government through the unrelenting efforts of the EFCC. The sums are: N171, 131, 700, 541.17; $14, 490, 174.49; £873, 278. 09; 298, 055 Euros; 391, 838 Riyals and 10, 135 Dirham.
“These recoveries are unprecedented as no other agency can boast of such record.”
Burden of proof now resides with defendant
Not many people outside the legal profession would have noticed, but a critical tool to boost loot recovery and the anti-corruption war was recently acquired by the Federal Government at the Supreme Court.
Until recently, the practice was that the burden of proof in criminal prosecution resides with the prosecution. But this was overturned on January 25, 2019, following the EFCC’s appeal of the High Court judgment in the Yahaya case at the Supreme Court.
In that case, marked SC.645/2014, the Supreme Court upheld EFCC ‘s argument that the burden of proof had now been shifted from the prosecution to the defendant in terms of ill-gotten wealth.
The apex court further held that the defendant would have to show that his income was in tandem with what he acquired otherwise such ill-gotten wealth and properties would be forfeited to the Federal Government.
“This is a landmark decision with potential to improve the fight against corruption in Nigeria,” the EFCC said.
Development of anti-corruption case law
According to the EFCC, the dexterity with which it prosecutes its cases from the High Court to Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court, has made it “by far the major contributor to case law and jurisprudence in Nigeria.
“The major Law Reports are replete with successfully concluded cases by the Commission. Again, these facts are verifiable!”
Nigeria, UAE agreements on stolen assets, etc
Nigeria on January 19, 2016, signed six agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a state visit by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The pact includes Judicial Agreements on Extradition, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters, and Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal and Commercial Matters (the recovery and repatriation of stolen wealth).
The Federal Government had been collaborating with the UAE authorities on suspicious cash and assets allegedly owned by some Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
Last December 4, EFCC Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu, said those who plundered Nigeria’s wealth have been fleeing Dubai, in The UAE, to Morocco, Johannesburg and Ghana, to invest their loot in properties.
Magu said Dubai, hitherto, an attractive investment destination for looters, had lost its appeal following better anti-corruption cooperation between Nigeria, the UAE and several western countries.
The EFCC boss said it was also on the case of “so many other politically exposed persons who are even in Ghana. For instance, Johannesburg; and even Morocco has become a haven.
“A lot of them are now buying properties in Morocco and we are monitoring them. They have stopped buying the ones in Dubai. They are busy hiding it, (trying) to sell the ones in Dubai.”
Prosecution of vote traders
On March 29, Justice Sa’ad Moh’d of the Gombe State High Court convicted a councillor in Bolari East Local Government Area, Gombe, Ishiyaku Garba, of vote-buying.
The judge convicted him on three counts and sentenced him to one month in prison with an option of N100,000 fine on count one; one month in prison on count two with an option of N50,000 fine and one month in prison on count three with an option of N20,000 fine.
The prison terms are to run consecutively.
The court further ordered that the N295,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Garba was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on three counts bordering on bribery.
The EFCC arrested the convict at Bolari Polling Unit 0077 in Gombe State during the presidential and National Assembly elections, where he was sighted sharing money.
The prosecution is also prosecuting several others, including Abdusalam Abdulkadiri, accused of vote-buying during the last governorship and state assembly election held in Ilorin, Kwara State and two others, Musa Umar and Babangida Bappa Ciroma, who are being tried before Justice Sa’ad Muhammad of the Gombe State High Court on a three-count charge of conspiracy and bribery.
The prosecution of vote traders represented a novel front in the war against corruption.
Not just a perception problem
If the figures for the anti-graft successes are this high, why is there still a perception that not enough is being done to tackle the scourge?
How does a government recover so much money from looters, yet its critics insist it is not fighting corruption?
Critics, including the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), often accuse anti-graft agencies of using corruption investigations to hurt the government’s enemies and spare its friends.
They usually point at financial crime suspects that were part of President Buhari’s campaign train, among other things, as evidence that the government is shielding its friends, a claim the government vigorously denies.
So, are the government’s efforts not meaningful enough yet?
Transparency International provides part of the answer in an article titled: ‘Successful anti-corruption reforms’.
The article considered whether there are “demonstrated success stories of legal reforms in specific countries that have had an impact on corruption.”
TI said: “…anti-corruption reforms do not usually produce meaningful results in the short term, while evaluations are often conducted in a relatively short time frame following the intervention.
“As a result of this lag between policy implementation and policy impact, there are no valid and reliable indicators that can indicate progress in the fight against corruption in the short term.
“Furthermore, even if changes have occurred, they may not be instantaneously reflected by indicators based on perceptions, which are often used for measuring levels of corruption, as there may be a time lag before the public notices progress made.
“An additional problem is that indicators are usually only available at the highest level (for example, survey data for entire countries) whereas reforms usually focus on specific sub-populations (for example, civil service and judiciary) for which no reliable outcome data (that is, reduced corruption rates) is available.
“These various factors make it extremely challenging to directly link specific anti-corruption interventions to the reduction of corruption…”
Fighting corruption is beyond conviction rates
In an interview last December to mark the United Nations’ (UN) Anti-Corruption Day, British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms Laure Beaufils, noted that reaping the real rewards of an anti-corruption war in Nigeria will take time.
Beaufils said: “I think there has been progress. There has been the TSA, the BVN, … the Global Open Government Partnership and (its) Action Plan; these are measures that are being put in place. But the point for me is that it is a long term process.
“These things take a very long time. We are talking about behaviour change, changing the understanding of what’s right, what’s wrong, social norms – these things take very long time.
“I think there have been a lot of structures of government business, which are hard to change. It will take time…”
Beaufils noted that although people have “short time expectations and political cycles are also short”, it may not be helpful to just focus on the government’s conviction rates.
She said: “Putting perpetrators behind bars is a short term reward and I think that is really important, but it is also important to focus on longer term anti-corruption initiatives. In fact, there are no quick wins, because the legal system is long and I know that you gather data and information on large corruption cases and you just need a little bit more time to do all those things.”
Attitudinal change is needed,
says SAN
The severity of Nigeria’s corruption problem was captured in a nine-second video uploaded on YouTube in 2016. The video, which went viral on social media, showed a primary school age boy, Segun, telling an interviewer his dream job. The conversation, in Yoruba, went thus:
Interviewer:” Ise wo ni o f’ese ti o ba dagba?” (What job do you want to do when you are old?)
Segun: “Mo fe se Yahoo Yaho; mo fe ma sase.” (I want to do Yahoo Yahoo (internet fraud); I want to be an internet fraudster).
Interviewer: “O fe ma se kini?” (You want to do what?)
Segun: “Mo fe ma sase.” (I want to be an internet fraudster.)
Interviewer: “So pe Olorun” (Swear in God’s name).
Segun: “Walahi talahi.” (I swear by Allah)
Unfortunately, Segun’s worldview, probably shaped by watching young internet fraudsters celebrating romance scam and wire fraud, is not particularly unusual these days. It is a problem Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) knows firsthand.
Jacobs, an experienced lawyer, is prosecuting many anti-corruption cases for the government and has secured several high profile convictions, including that of former Plateau Governor Joshua Dariye.
The lawyer said the problem was entrenched in Nigerian society and that many Nigerians were yet to fully embrace the war.
Jacobs said: “Corruption in the private and public sector has been a part of us. Each time we go to court to prosecute any big man, they see us as if we are the people that committed the offence.
“So, many people have not embraced this fight against corruption. The culture of corruption is endemic in our country. We need an attitudinal change. The President and Vice President alone cannot fight corruption. People must buy into it.
“The National Assembly has not been going along with the fight against corruption and there are so many agencies that have not done well at all. In fact, if the National Assembly and state assemblies had the opportunity, they would even repeal all the laws prohibiting corruption. It’s a problem.
“See the issue of the confirmation of the Chairman of the EFCC, it has taken several years, just because he has passion against corruption. It’s only a few people that believes in the fight against corruption.
“Look at the sheer number of executive governors, who are being prosecuted. In other jurisdictions, when somebody is being prosecuted, you’ll step aside and allow the case to go on, clear your name. You’ll even be eager that the case is heard quickly so that you can be restored to your base.
“But in our clime, even a convicted person…, you will not believe that the former Senator that was convicted was still collecting his salary. Even after the Court of Appeal had affirmed his conviction. That is Joshua Dariye. The Federal Government was still paying him his salary, his entitlements. He even had his aides with him (in prison). We are not a serious people. You would see his aides with him, attending to him in prison.
“The law says once a public officer is being prosecuted, you’ll place him on half salary, pending when the case will be decided. But in Nigeria, the man, if he’s granted bail, will still be attending court and receiving his full salary.
“So, we have a problem. It is not just sufficient for the President and Vice President to believe in the war against corruption, others must buy into it as well.”
There is a silver lining in the horizon though.
The video of Segun, the Yahoo Boy wannabe, caught the eyes of many worried Nigerians, who pooled resources and sent him to a private school. Hopefully, his dream has changed. Hopefully, corrupt Nigerians’ will too.
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