The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • AD is alive and moving forward —Akinfenwa

    National Chairman of Alliance for Democracy (AD), Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa, in this interview with Andrew Oyafemi, says his party is alive and poised to win elections in 2015

    Many Nigerians do not know that your party, the Alliance for Democracy, is still alive, what do you think is responsible for this?

    I am happy that you at least know that AD exists. That tells me that there may well be many more people out there like you who know that our party exists, even though we may not have been as known as when we controlled all the six state governments in the southwest. Remember, AD had Senators and Representatives all over, including in states like Bayelsa and Enugu outside the South-West.

    As I speak with you, AD won councillorship election in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. That is very recent. So, really, AD is alive, well and moving forward . We will contest all elective posts in states across the country in 2015. Check the INEC website to see the fact for yourself and tell your readers that AD exists.

    We are re-energising our base, we are mobilising, we are recruiting members and fully preparing for 2015.

    You were in the senate at some point and you have always been a national figure whose comments on national issues have been taken seriously. Why have you been silent over national issues in recent times?

    I have not necessarily been silent. It depends on the audience you are thinking about. Many influential people and politicians in and out of government seek my views and input on issues of national development-both at the national level and across the south west. It’s not all in the newspapers. We elder politicians provide private advice to many of our colleagues in and out of government at all levels. So, I have not necessarily been silent. May be you should interview me more in The Nation if you want to hear my views and advice on the development of Nigeria! As a politician of high conviction and as National Chairman of AD, speaking out on governance and public issues is what I do always.

    What should the people be expecting from your party in the nearest future?

    I said it before, we will contest the 2015 elections for all elective positions in states across Nigeria. In fact, we have our plans and strategy to surprise Nigerians by winning in a number of states. Watch out, AD is coming back to government.

    With recent mergers and registration of new parties, do you think your party is capable of bouncing back in the coming election?

    Merger or no merger, we are preparing to be a force to reckon with in 2015 and beyond. AD will win elections in various states across the country come 2015. We are developing our party not relying on merger to succeed.

    Is there any relationship between the old AD and the current APC?

    There is absolutely no relationship between the AD and the APC. Let me repeat: there is no relationship between AD and APC. We are not operating on the same political wave length.

    Is your party’s philosophy similar to that of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo?

    Of course, AD is a direct descendant of the Awolowo progressive political legacy. The party’s family tree is simple and clear for all to see- Action Group (AG), then UPN, then AD. Full stop.

    As a former senator, can you briefly assess the current lawmakers in terms of constitutional review and the bills passed?

    Our lawmakers are trying their best in the circumstances we face in this country. Democracy needs a period of learning, especially when we have moved from the Westminster parliamentary system to the current American presidential system. I believe things could be a lot better, but I think in our peculiar context, our lawmakers are trying.

  • Still on Suntai

    It is about three weeks since the dramatic return of the Taraba State governor, Mr. Danbaba Suntai, from the United States where he was undergoing medical rehabilitation following a spell at a Hanover Specialist Hospital to which he was taken for treatment after the tragic air crash last October. It had been expected that his return would elicit celebration by the people of his state, after all they had re-elected him to run the government in May 2011.

    But, as is usual in our political clime, a lot had happened in the period of his long absence. One man, Garba Umar, a deputy he picked in place of the man elected with him, had sought to consolidate his hold on power and many, obviously including Umar, thought it was the end of the road for Danbaba. Umar had shuffled the cabinet and made plans on how to engage the machinery of government until the 2015 general elections. Umar has his men. They believe in him and his gospel and would do anything, perhaps save killing Danbaba, to keep Umar in charge.

    But then came the sudden arrival on the scene of Danbaba. As he arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the film of that epochal homecoming was fed to major channels. It showed Danbaba as, at best, half fit. He still could not walk. He did not look cheerful and appeared unable to take in the import of his return. Here was a man who left the country half dead. Here was a man who had been away from his people for 10 months. Here was a man who could not have been abreast of all that had happened in the volatile region for almost a year; who did not know how the pendulum of power had swung. Yet, he could not manage a smile, let alone laughter. He could not wave; he only somehow raised his hand. He could not address the people that day. All evidence pointed in the direction that the return was staged by vested interests that needed him back so they could run the state in his name.

    Fresh reports published by this newspaper suggest that Danbaba might be acting against medical advice. His ailment was diagnosed as Diffuse Axonal Injury. It is deadly enough to keep the patient conscious, and yet unconscious. He may be able to recognise those around him this moment and mention their names, but the next, it could be quite a task opening the mouth. The doctors who spoke to The Nation’s correspondent said he was playing with possible sudden morbidity. In our own language as laymen, it simply means sudden death.

    Why would a man choose to act against medical advice? Is politics so important that being largely bed-ridden in the Government House is to be preferred to life? Is Suntai’s wife part of this plot? Could she have willing accepted to play the role of an undertaker for her own husband?

    I am not unaware of the dynamics of Taraba politics. I understand the currents and undercurrents. I know that Suntai and his family may not be free agents in this matter. The governor could not boldly address the people; rather, he opted for a short video clip that said nothing. He could not convince members of the House of Assembly that he is a man to whom the machinery of government should be handed. The situation has provoked a constitutional crisis: Who is the governor of- Suntai or Umar? Who are the commissioners-those dismissed by the governor or those soon to be nominated by Suntai? If Suntai is right, if the executive council stands dissolved as some senior lawyers have suggested, who are those running the ministries today and to whom do they report?

    Politicians do not ever learn from history. They are too self conscious and self centred to focus on the big picture. Umar Yar’Adua was once the President of Nigeria. Today, he is no more. He and members of his clique did everything to prevent Jonathan from ascending the Aso Rock throne, but failed. Can’t Suntai and his men learn the crucial lesson that power is ultimately in the hands of the Almighty? And, for the deputy governor, he should be humbled by the realisation that, by 2011, he could not have dreamt that power could one day, before 2015, fall on his laps.

    Until about three weeks to the accident, Suntai was fully in charge. He had successfully fought powerful foes like his erstwhile godfather, Jolly Nyame. When he noticed that the man who was elected on a joint ticket with him, Sani Abubakar Danladi, may be getting more influential or ambitious than he could tolerate, Danbaba got him removed and replaced with Umar. That was early October. He felt confident then and could breathe easy.  Really, God is great.

    The earlier all politicians realise that God rules the affairs of men, the better for them. Suntai, Umar, call your men to order. Ultimately, God’s will, (not Akpabio’s) will prevail in Taraba.

  • Anambra 2013: Between labour and Ubah

    Anambra 2013: Between labour and Ubah

    All over the world, labour groups have the knack for championing the cause of workers and by extension, the masses. In Nigeria, the trend is the same. However, as rightly expected, labour leaders have become objects of attack by forces that consider them impediments to the realisation of their selfish interests.

    Over the years, political wolves infiltrated the ranks of labour groups with the aim of creating divisions and rendering the once vibrant groups otiose. At a time, it appeared that leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other labour groups were fifth columnists serving as the mouth piece of government rather than championing the cause of workers. However, in spite of the ill-wind that blew some of the groups underground, the NLC has risen from the dust to produce leaders who have gone ahead to hold elective positions in government without being subservient.

    For sometime now, the NLC has remained committed to finding credible leaders who will liberate workers and the masses from the strangle-hold of an unjust system that has kept them completely impoverished. One of the ways the NLC achieved this feat was by jumping into the murky waters of politics by forming the Labour Party.  The thinking is that except it takes part in governance, power will always be left in the hands of tyrants whose major objective is to muscle and emasculate the masses for selfish ends.

    The Labour Party platform has produced the likes of Olusegun Mimiko, the Governor of Ondo State, who, despite the forces reined against him, emerged victorious in the last two governorship elections in Ondo State. With his emergence, the party has continued to search for young men with vision to run for elective office as a way of positively transforming Nigeria.

    It was not surprising, therefore, that the NLC endorsed Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Anambra State governorship election slated for November 16, 2013. At the inauguration of the party’s gubernatorial candidate in Anambra State at Onitsha last Thursday, the NLC delegation publicly endorsed Ubah. The group, led by its leader in Anambra State, said no governorship candidate had ever given labour the kind of recognition Ubah has extended to its members. The group said he personally came to invite them to his kick-off rally.

    The NLC also said it was touched by Ubah’s humility, “which suggested that he did not come to play politics with labour, even though he had every opportunity to do so.” The leader of the NLC said that Ubah promised to build for them a befitting secretariat in Awka, whether he wins the election or not on November 16, 2013. Of course, moved by this degree of commitment to its cause, without sounding political, the group decided to throw in everything to support Ubah.

    Political analysts in the state and even beyond have since begun to make postulations on how the November 16 elections will go, given this development.

    Chika Ezeh, a lawyer, said the wide-spread endorsements Ifeanyi Ubah has gotten within a short time in the state is unprecedented. He said from information at this disposal, these endorsements come genuinely from the heart of the people whom Ubah has touched their lives with his patriotic acts.

    Mr. Nnamdi Ezeugo, a teacher, said although he belonged to another party, Ubah has set a record that no gubernatorial aspirant in Anambra State could match. “I think Ubah is the man to beat, and there is no doubt about this,” he said. As if to buttress Ezeugo’s position on Ubah, many traditional rulers graced his rally. Agulu people from the home of the incumbent governor, Peter Obi, led by Ichie Christopher Dilinye and Ichie Julius Ilo, said their presence at the opening rally of Ifeanyi Ubah’s campaign is their endorsement of the Labour Party candidate.

    The President of the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), Comrade Yinka Gbadebo, together with Wole Ajani, National President Youth Council of Nigeria came to show solidarity with Ubah at the kick-off campaign rally. They said “for the first time, the youth will come out en masse to vote a gubernatorial candidate in Anambra, this time, Ubah.” According to them “nobody has ever championed the cause of youths in Nigeria like Ifeanyi Ubah.”

    Given these endorsements from various stakeholders and groups, Ubah’s associates and some other analysts are contending that barring any biased supervision or rigging of the election, he will most likely win the November 16, Anambra State governorship election with a landslide.

  • National confab: Season of the volte face?

    Demand for a national conference was revived during the week, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

    For the genuinely unrepentant protagonists of the convocation of a sovereign national conference to discuss the future of Nigeria as a country, some events of the past few days came as soothing balms signifying that there is still hope in the horizon in their quest for a platform to re-negotiate the participation of the numerous ethnic nationalities in the project called Nigeria.

    This renewed hope is not unconnected with the many volte faces by some leading political office holders in the past week over a matter that many analysts presumed dead following the refusal of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to even discuss the possibility of having a national conference, sovereign or not, before the 2015 general election, as being agitated for by numerous pro-democracy groups across the country for over a decade now, or at any other time in the nearest future.

    But all the perceived pessimism of the current crop of leaders gave way to a flurry of possibilities early this week when Nigerians learnt that the issue of convening a national conference may have somehow found its way back into the plans of both the presidency and the national assembly.

    First, it was the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who said on Tuesday that the National Assembly would support the convocation of a conference of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities to discuss the peculiarities of the Nigerian nation. Coming from Mark who, barely over a year ago, foreclosed the possibility of an SNC when he said it is unconstitutional, not a few Nigerians watched his lips closely.

    Mark, who stated this in an address he read to welcome his colleagues on their resumption from the annual recess, however, added that such a conference should have a few no go areas including the dismemberment of the federation. He said that any conference called to discuss the differences within the ethnic configuration of the Nigerian nation would be seen as operating in line with the dictates of the Nigerian Constitution.

    Reading the lips of the Senate President, his rethink on the issue may not be unconnected with his belief that the differences in the polity has been responsible for a number of snaps here and there. He particularly added that the political leaders and institutions should not continue to play the ennui.

    With Mark’s rethink and admittance, many watchers of the nation’s politics are of the opinion that the national assembly, which stoutly rejected the call for a national conference for over a decade, may now be ready to give the idea a trial.

    “We live in very precarious times, and in a world increasingly made fluid and toxic by strange ideologies and violent tendencies, all of which currently conspire to question the very idea of the nation state. But that is not to say that the nation should, like the proverbial ostrich, continue to bury its head in the sand and refuse to confront the perceived or alleged structural distortions which have bred discontentment and alienation in some quarters. This sense of discontentment and alienation has fuelled extremism, apathy and even predictions of catastrophy for our dear nation.

    “A conference of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities, called to foster frank and open discussions of the national question, can certainly find accommodation in the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution which guarantee freedom of expression, and of association. To that extent, it is welcome.

    “Be that as it may, such a conference, if and whenever convened, should have only a few red lines, chief among which would be the dismemberment of the country. Beyond that, every other question should be open to deliberations,” Mark said.

    It would be recalled that the national assembly, in June 2012, foreclosed any possibility of the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), when it said the exercise is meant for countries smarting out of war. The lawmakers argued that Nigeria was never at war and, being a full-fledged democracy, cannot afford to convene a sovereign national conference.

    “Talking about Sovereign National Conference now looks like going back to the days of tribal champions. It is like going backwards. For us, it is not just because we are sitting here (in the National Assembly), but we are moving forward the fragile democracy.

    “A sovereign conference is suitable for countries that are coming out of war, and not Nigeria. We believe that rather than solving the problems, the sovereign national conference will end up creating more problems for us,” the NASS said.

    It further contended that convening any conference at that time the country’s democracy was on course, with the National Assembly functioning, would amount to taking Nigeria many years backward. He appealed to the advocates to trust the National Assembly to do those things they want the SNC to address.

    “They should believe in the National Assembly. They are talking about the constitution but there is no way the constitution will be perfect. But since we are in the process of reviewing and amending the constitution, let them take advantage of the exercise and present their grievances and proposals to the National Assembly, so that it could be taken care of,” Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba and Hon. Muhammed Zakari, spokespersons of the national assembly said back then.

    The national assembly was not alone in its resolve against the confab at that time. In fact, many analysts are of the opinion that the lawmakers were merely dancing to the dictate of the executive arm of government which has earlier in February same year, told agitators for the convocation of a sovereign national conference to perish the thought.

    President Jonathan has, while rejecting the call for a sovereign national conference, asked those calling for the SNC to put their trust in the “Presidential Committee on Outstanding Constitutional Issues,” headed by Justice Alfa Belgore.

    “In recognition of the demands by Nigerians for a constitutional amendment, we set up the Justice Belgore Committee to bring up all those issues which have been agreed upon at previous national conferences, for presentation as bills to the National Assembly, and subsequent passage into law, while a larger body will meet on issues that are still controversial for a national consensus.

    The committee will bring up areas of national consensus from the 2006 National Political Reform Conference for National Assembly’s consideration towards effecting constitutional amendments,” he said.

    But there are also indications that President Jonathan himself may have decided to give the idea of a sovereign national conference a trial. If this turns out to be true, then the volte face on the SNC will not be limited to Mark and his co-travellers in the national assembly alone.

    According to reliable sources, the presidency is seriously toying with the idea of using the convocation of a sovereign national conference to douse the tension in the polity ahead of the 2015 presidential election.

    “The possibility of convening a national conference under whatever name as a means of simply calming frayed nerves before the 2015 general election is on the card among associates of the President. The idea is that if Nigerians are allowed to dialogue together, warring politicians will relax their war mongering for a while.

    There is need to do something about the heat in the polity politically as we speak. A national confab is being considered as one way to do that,” an associate of the president said in Lagos on Thursday.

    Speaking on the development, Minority Leader of the House of Represntatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, re-iterated his conviction that only a sovereign national conference can proffer solutions to the many crises confronting the country today.

    “If they want a new constitution, the National Assembly is not empowered to give them a new constitution. That is why as a caucus, we insist that Nigerians should first meet and decide what they want. At no time did the House sit together as a body either in plenary or at an executive session to take a position on this very important national conversation. If the national consensus is to write and produce a new constitution, then such will be outside the purview and mandate of the National Assembly,” he said.

    Also, the Pro National Conference Organisation, PRONACO, and the Nigeria Political Summit Group, NPSG, two bodies which have been advocating political restructuring of Nigeria based on the consensus among the diverse stakeholders and nationalities in the country,  have commended the latest support for national conference of the peoples of Nigeria by the  leadership of the Nigerian senate.

    Reacting to the surprise nod by the Senate President, David Mark, to the perennial call for national conference, the two pro-SNC groups applauded the latest move of the leadership of the senate to enable the Nigerian peoples and ethnic nationalities hold a frank national dialogue.

    “The summit group in conjunction with the Nigeria Consensus Group of Project Nigeria is ready to work with the national assembly in bringing about a negotiated political reconciliation and consensus for the country having already carried out enormous research and consultations on the subject of national question and healing for the country

    With this very cheering support for a national conference coming from the national assembly, we believe that the final obstacle before the Nigerian presidency has been removed and there will be no more alibi for government not to convene this national family meeting as soon as possible,” the groups said in a joint press release.

    The groups, however, charged President Goodluck Jonathan not to waiver in giving necessary support to the national assembly in setting in motion the machinery for holding the much desired national conference.

    While the development remains a good omen for the country, according to protagonists of the sovereign national conference, one thing that cannot be immediately ascertained is how beneficial the myriads of volte faces currently ongoing within the polity will be to the unending agitation for the immediate convocation of  the SNC.

  • MDGs still a distant dream

    A new report released by UNICEF says the world will not meet the UN’s Millennium Development Goal on child mortality until 2028.

    The number of children who die before their fifth birthday declined by nearly 50 percent between 1990 and 2012, from more than 12 million to 6.6 million, according to a new UNICEF report.

    Despite the good news, the world is not on track to reach the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to cut the 1990 child mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015. Unless the world more than quadruples the annual rate of reduction in child death, it won’t meet the MDG until 2028.

    “These targets are ambitious,” said Geeta Rao Gupta, UNICEF deputy executive director, in a press conference Thursday. But, “dramatic progress is possible — even in the most resource constrained settings.”

    Most of the 6.6 million children under 5 who died in 2012 died of preventable causes.Pneumonia killed 17 percent, diarrhea killed 9 percent, and malaria killed 7 percent, according to the report. Nearly half died in the first month of life, some from diarrhea and pneumonia, to which newborns are especially sensitive, and many from birth complications like asphyxia or infections.

    While all the top killers have taken fewer and fewer children over the past two decades, the most marked progress has been against diarrhea, which killed 50 percent fewer children in 2012 than it did in 1990. The battle against pneumonia and malaria has been slower, dropping by a third between 1990 and 2012.

    As the numbers of children who die from infectious disease has dropped, the proportion of children who die from birth-related complications and infections during the first month of life has ballooned. In 1990, just 10 percent of deaths occurred during the neonatal period. By 2012, infants represented 44 percent of deaths.

    “One of the reasons we haven’t made as much progress as we’d hoped was that, until recently, there wasn’t enough attention on newborn mortality,” said Eric Swedberg, senior director of child health and nutrition at Save the Children.

    He attributes the uneven success to logistics. He used diarrhea as an example. The key to saving a child from dying of diarrhea is preventing dehydration, which can be accomplished by administering an oral solution or giving a child a zinc supplement, he said. Though distribution of ORS and zinc still need to be ramped up in many parts of the world, the treatment is cost effective and straightforward.

    By contrast, saving a baby who is not breathing after birth requires a trained health professional to be ready to act, Swedberg said.

    Critics of the millennium development goals weren’t surprised that the goal is a long shot.

    “We were destined to fall short from the beginning,” said Elizabeth Gibbons, a visiting scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health. “A two-thirds reduction across the board was an unrealistic goal.”

    Gibbons holds that the MDG is a well-intentioned, but poorly designed policy that, in some ways, may have hampered progress in child health — particularly in Africa and Asia, where children are most likely to die. She’s hardly the only one to raise such a critique. Earlier this summer, for example, one of the UN’s own statisticians independently released a paper that essentially branded the MDG ineffective, claiming the improvements in child mortality rates we’ve observed since 1990 would have happened regardless of the campaign.

    A recent report published by the Harvard School of Public Health found that the MDGs, including the goal for reducing child mortality, encourage narrow approaches that rely heavily on technological solutions, while neglecting the need for broader social change or the strengthening of national institutions. For example, according to the report, pre-MDG policies took a holistic approach to low birth weight babies and malnourished children that took into account a mother’s education and social voice. Under the MDGs, on the other hand, a solution might be to pass out nutritional supplements.

    Source: GlobalPost

    Furthermore, the report found, although birth complications, pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria have long been the most formidable foes in the battle for child survival, the way the MDGs were drafted may have pulled attention away from them.

    Gibbons, who co-authored the Harvard study, said the MDGs championed interventions that were easy to count rather than setting up a game plan to tackle the most aggressive child killers. For example, although measles only accounted for 4 percent of child deaths in 1990, it was included as one of just three child mortality sub goals.

    Over the course of the MDGs, UNICEF reported that measles, which accounted for just 1 percent of child deaths in 2012, has seen the biggest decline of any infectious disease — by far. Measles deaths have declined by 80 percent since 1990.

    In the decade since the MDGs were minted, the global health community has course corrected, Gibbons said. Through the Countdown to 2015 initiative, launched in 2005, for example, the UN now monitors progress on a number of high-impact indicators.

    “We’re figuring things out,” she said. “But did we lose time because there was a decrease in attention to the most high-impact diseases during the early part of the decade? I think it’s a valid question that deserves some attention as we’re making post-2015 plans.”

    · Source: GlobalPost

  • Has emergency rule restored security in North?

    Has emergency rule restored security in North?

    In May, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states. But has the action reduced the violent activities of the Boko Haram sect? In this report, MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE writes on the challenge of restoring security in the troubled states.

    When President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on May 14, 2013 in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, hopes were high that the wanton destruction of lives and property in the North would soon end. But almost four months into the experiment, Nigerians are still assessing the effectiveness or otherwise of the policy. The killings have continued unabated.

    In the past, the declaration of a state of emergency translated into the abrogated of the democratic institutions, except the judiciary. But in the present instance, democratic structures are functioning along side with military operations in the affected states. The implication is that sole administrators were not appointed to run the three states.

    From the benefit of hindsight, emergency rule has never solved the problems that necessitated its proclamation.

    For instance, when the Western Region on May 29, 1962 came under emergency law, the Premier, Chief Ladoke Akintola, went to court to challenge it. He feared that the Federal Government would abuse its power by abrogating the constitutional government.

    Under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Plateau and Ekiti states came under the emergency rule, with Major General Chris Alli and General Tunji Olurin appointed as the administrators. In Ekiti, at the expiration of the six-month period, some people sought for an extension.

    General Olurin castigated the agitators. He said: “Those canvassing for extension know why they are doing that. It is not in their best interest. I know for sure that I have done my best to bring peace back to the state within my mandate.”

    While declaring emergency rule in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, President Jonathan said the security agencies can take necessary actions within the ambit of their rule of engagement to put an end to the impunity of the insurgents and terrorists.

    The President said the insurgents have declared war and undermined the authority of the Nigerian state.

    Criticisms

    Opinion was divided on the emergency rule. Many thought that the it would not pave the way for peace. Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, who is also the chairman of the Northern Nigeria Governors Forum (NNGF), urged the military to thread with caution in their operations to avoid shedding the blood of innocent Nigerians in the course of duty.

    He argued that the civil population would be affect in the course of hunting down the insurgents, who he said, may infiltrate the local communities and use them as human shields.

    Critics have argued that the emergency rule will pauperise the states because they were among the poorest in the country. They said Borno, Yobe and Adamawa accounts for just six percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with agriculture as the main stay.

    In a report, a group of experts, from Renaissance Capital Bank: “The direct impact of the state of emergency on agriculture will be enormous, we are not even talking of the implications for the telecoms, banking activities and the brewing industry. On the long run during the period that this emergency will last, the people will count their losses.”

    Also, the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said the action was unnecessary. The party believed that the government would achieve tranquility, if it adopted a proactive measure, based on dialogue.

    According to its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, “an asymmetric use of force in an environment where insurgents operate within a civilian population will ultimately be counterproductive”. He noted that shedding innocent blood while observing their mandate would defeat the purpose.

    The governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Muritala Nyako, also opposed the action, saying it is counter-productive.

    The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Chris Olukolade, however, explained that the army will maintain the highest professional etiquette in the conduct of its affairs and civilians, who obey the law, should not to be apprehensive as they would be protected.

    In the course of the emergency rule, the government has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew on the affected states, in a bid to minimise casualty. But it curtailed commercial activities and affected the source of livelihood. The duration of the curfew was reduced, owing to the public outcry.

     Persistent insurgent

    activities

    The situation in the Northern states, where the emergency rule subsists, has not changed. Terrorism is thriving.

    The state of emergency was fashioned in military tradition, which does not give room for negotiation and dialogue. This, critics say, is undermining other peaceful mechanisms put in place by the government.

    Analysts are of the opinion that government should review its tactics, instead of telling the public that the situation is under control.

    Security, they argued, is best built on intelligence gathering. They opined that, for the government to make a success of the situation, it must domesticate the security apparatus in a way that will make it everybody’s business. The involvement of the people at the local level, they claim, has immense advantage.

    The military operation has not come without hiccups. Despite the efforts of the troops under to reduce terrorism, violence has not gone down.

    For instance, on July 6, Boko Haram attacked a boarding school in Yobe State, killing 27 children and a teacher. Survivors claimed that the militants came with containers of gasoline and set the school on fire.

    There have also been reported cases of violent clashes between youth vigilante forces and members of the Islamic terror group. Many youths were killed.

    During this period, there were multiple bomb explosions in predominantly Christian neighborhood of Sabon Gari in Kano 15 people were killed, by militant from the three states.

    Police formations have not been insulated from the constant attack. The Adamawa Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, told reporters that gunmen had attacked the station, killing two policemen in Lala, Gombe Local Government Area.

    In the face of the unabated insurgence, the government has reviewed the tactics to meet force for force with the rampaging group. The operation of the Joint Task Force (JTF) was taken over by the Special Military Operation Force (SMOF) to curtail the militants.

    The army confronted the Boko Haram sect when it took the battle to its hideout in the forest.

    Army Spokesman Lt. – Col. Sagir Musa, said the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, had been killed in an operation at the Sambisa Game Forest Reserve in Borno State.

    According to him, Shekau died after sustaining injuries from gun shots at an undisclosed hospital in Amitchide.

    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. – General Azubuike Ihejirika, said Nigerians would soon heave a sigh of relief.

    As the COAS was scoring the operation high, it recorded another deficit when 40 soldiers were killed and 65 declared missing.

    The Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru refuted the number. He said 81 battalion under Division 7, of the Nigerian Army carried a raid of the Boko Haram hideout in Kasiya Forest, Borno State.

    He said that the troop killed 150 sect members and lost 15 men in the encounter, adding that nine soldiers were still missing.

    The JTF lost no fewer than 20 soldiers two months ago when insurgents swoop on them in the same area.

    But, a chieftain of the All Progres-sives Congress (APC), Mallam Lawan Shuaibu, expressed doubt over the success of the emergency rule. He said government is not telling the truth. Lawan urged the government to manage information dissemination by reeling out facts, instead of falsehood.

    “Government should stop lying. They should stop saying that we have achieved this or that when they have not achieved what they claimed. They say so and so person has died and they are not even too sure of what they are saying”, he fumed.

    The President Arewa Youth Forum, Alhaji Ahmed Yerima, said the emergency rule should have human face. He said a situation where the government relies on “brute force and fire brigade” approach would lead to chaos.

    Yerima added: “The state of emergency is an abuse of the rights of the people by the Joint Task Force and other agencies of government; it has not really helped the image of the country. It’s quite unfortunate because, at the end of the day, it will trivialise the whole issue. One would have expected the Army to work harder. I expected the army to work toward our national unity. The government should engage intelligence gathering mechanism, which will enable them get to the root of the whole matter. So far, what has happened should serve as a lesson. There is the need to embrace dialogue instead of hunting these people and killing innocent people who should not be part of it. These people are Nigerians. They should be engaged meaningfully, while we struggle for a better alternative. Anything in life has alternative. I am a product of the struggle, but by and large, I do not support taking the life of innocent people.”

    To Senator Babafemi Ojudu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the emergency rule can still achieve its objectives. He lamented that the sect members had made Borno State ungovernable and called for the extension of the emergency rule.

    He said: “I was in Borno as a part of the delegation of the Senate Committee on the emergency. From what I have seen, there was a compelling need for the emergency. The soldiers have done their best. Terrorism has created a situation of warfare that cannot be handled with kid gloves. I will not rule out an extension because the problem has not been completely solved”.

  • ‘PDP can never win in Offa’

    Pro-democracy activist and Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Mr. Ayo Opadokun spoke with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE on the local government election crisis in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) complained that KWSIEC did not announce the authentic result of the local government election in Offa council. What is your reaction?

    We knew, ahead of time, that what happened was going to happen. It was predictable because the power menders and grabbers, who are governing Kwara State in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have no regards for democracy, its value and culture. They are carrying on in their usual ways – repressive, intolerant of opposing views and have made sufficient efforts to trample on the fundamental rights of our people. So, the verdict of the election, was totally in agreement with expectation, that the so called election was conducted for them to totally sack the only opposing party in the local government in Kwara State.

    What they did in Offa, at that election, has an historical dimension. It is historical in the crisis between Offa and Ilorin.

    If you see them doing what they are doing today, it is still a continuation of the struggle of quite a long time ago. We suspected that they were going to rig.

    So, we advised the progressives, who are in control of the 99 per cent of our people, who will vote against them any day, not to allow it subsists. The PDP can never win in Offa. So, that election was to be used in subjugating Offa, they wanted to ensure that the only local government that was being governed by the progressives was taken over and converted into their local pigeon hole. Unfortunately, the characters cannot understand that the global community today has enough technological apparatus, not only to record events as they are happening, even on video and not only on voice but to capture whatever has taken place accurately.

    From all intelligence reports that I have gathered, the progressives ensured that the people came out to vote, monitored and recorded it. They did the right thing by ensuring that votes were recorded and the electoral officers signed at the various polling units. And they gave copies to the agents of the parties, so at the end of the day before five o’clock everything had been completed. But then the electoral officer, who ought to have made the pronouncement, absconded.

    A councillorship candidate from the PDP said he did not win the election in his ward. Is this enough proof?

    It is the same thing I am talking about. Today, a lot of funny things we used to do like falsifying figures and writing whatever results we feel like and asking you to go to court or tribunals will be extremely difficult now. The media covered it; the APC had over 11,000 votes out of the 12 wards, while the PDP had 4,000 plus votes. How can you now announce the loser as the winner. I am confident that the people will go to court and present the accurate report, but I must let you know that, I am speaking to you from three different perspectives of what I represent. I am speaking in my capacity as the conveners of the Coalition of Electoral Reform (CODER); the main objective of CODER is to ensure that every vote counts, every vote did not count in Offa Local Government. I am speaking also as a political activist, who has devoted a greater portion of my adulthood, working for the entrenchment of the freedom of everybody.

    I am also speaking to you as a proud son of Offa; my father was the Ojomo of Offa for 25 years. He died in 2000. My people are not in the habit of surrendering to despotic offers and allurement. You will always have Judases in any community. You will always have characters, who can sell out, but they are in minority. So, I am totally disturbed that in this century, that people can still go this way. It is not funny because, I listened to some of their rationalisation. They say PDP people won in some local governments in Lagos State and they were not given, so why should their own be different?

    They have a point but I do remind them that they have not provided any conclusive evidence to prove the point they are making. In this case of Offa, I am confidend, that the people will provide concrete evidence, to prove that PDP, unreasonably rigged the election and did not win. They should not, under any illusion, imagine that they can get away with it as they have done in the past. It has been the nature of the power menders in Kwara State to falsify election results. I am confident that having regards to the information we now have and the way Offa people have reacted, I know that the APC people will want to use all legal and constitutional means to get their rights, that have been trampled upon by these elements, who are undemocratic and intolerant of opposing views. I must say that time is running out against them and they better watch it.

    Can it be said APC is not popular, going by the declaration of KWSIEC?

    I don’t think we should assess the party with this election, why? Against everything, the Justice Mohammadu Uwais Electoral Reform recommended, that the sitting executive, should not appoint the electoral umpire, whether at the state or national level, it has not been heeded. What this amounts to is that, one of the contestants appointed the electoral umpire. Surely, he is very likely going to be favoured during the elections. Therefore, how can you expect genuine result, how do you expect that an opposing political party, that wants power can defeat the person who appoints the umpire? The Justice Uwais panel said the executive in office should not appoint the electoral empire. So, from day one, you can predict what will happen. That cannot be a sensible yardstick to measure the capacity of any of the political parties. If all the political parties are taken on the same pedestal and then they could not win, then you can adjudge them from this position. Now, one of the contestants has appointed the judge. Will you appoint somebody that is not favourable to you? That is the issue. It has been on the pages of newspapers, the people they normally appoint to oversee the state electoral offices are card carrying members of the ruling parties.

    But this is obtained in all the states…

    I am saying, as the convener of CODER, that it is wrong in the first place. It will not help our electoral system in organising a free and fair election. The recommendation of CODER is the total acceptance of the recommendation of the Justice Uwais electoral reform, which states that no sitting executive should appoint the electoral commission, which is the umpire. And that the National Judicial Council (NJC), should be the body that invites the applicants, who want to be in offices, to apply.

  • PDP crises take toll on governance

    The protracted crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have diverted the attention of the President and governors from governance. More energies are concentrated on crisis management, instead of prudent management of public affairs, writes Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN.

    The crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is taking its tolls on governance at the fedral and state levels.

    Governance, according to observers, is at a standstill. President Goodluck Jonathan has been presiding over a cabinet that has been polarised by the crisis. His priority is pulling the rug off the feet of the Kawu Baraje’s faction of the PDP. He is holding regular meetings with his trusted aides on how strategies for consolidating his hold on the party and government.

    Also, the governors loyal to him have literarily relocated to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for brainstorming sessions. Sources said that they go to Abuja with state files. Many commissioners and advisers are also on the trail of their governors. Thus, the business of state suffers neglect.

    The seven governor in the Baraje’s group face the asame predicament. They hold court in Abuja, strategising on the litigation arising from the split in the ruling party. The deputy governors also lend support to their efforts outside their respective states.

    The fact that the crisis is precipitated by the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan. Baraje’s faction is believed to be plotting to abort the President’s ambition, based on the PDP zoning principle. But the President, it is believed, is also bent on re-contesting. According to his supporters, he is at liberty to seek re-nomination, based on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which give opportunity for him to execrise the right.

    Meetings and deliberations on how to resolve the crisis are the pre-occupation of the President and his political associates. But reconciliation has proved difficult.

    Last week, the President reshuffled his cabinet. The reshufle was informed by his desire to strengthen his base against further onslaught by the faction.

    The confusion in the PDP also costs the nation huge resources that could have channelled towards development. The public fund is been expended on the crisis, especially for propaganda.

    Many Nigerians are unhappy over the neglect of the vital sectors, following the crisis. The members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have been on strike since July because of the non-implementation of the agreement the government signed with them in 2009. The industrial crisis has not been resolved. The Federal Government seems to have brushed aside the ASUU matter, since the lecturers failed to accept its offer. Consequently, academic activities have been put on hold. Students now roam about the streets and their parents are in pains. The universities are supposed to re-open this month for the new academic year. There is no hope that government will acceed to the lecturers’ demands.

    At a time the government is expected to fight the infrastructure battle, it’s commitment appears to be waning. For instance, the Federal Government claimed to have awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Apapa-Oshodi Highway. These roads still constitute nightmares for the commuters because the contractors are yet to start work on them. The Minister in the Ministry of Works, Mike Onolomeme, is pre-occupied with the PDP crisis resolution and the second term bid of President Jonathan.

    Also, government activities have ground to a halt in the PDP- controlled states. The governors have abandoned their states and relocated to Abuja in the wake of the crises. Those loyal to the President now from the Presidential Villa.

    Most of the governors from both sides have refused to go back to their states since August 31 when the controversial special convention was held in Abuja.

    At the controversial convention, the seven governors stormed out to form a new faction.

    Sources said that some governors run their states by proxy. Strategic matters and programmes requiring their attention, approval and confirmation are suspended. The weekly State Executive Council meetings are not held regularly.

    As well as major policy documents that require the authority and signature of the governors had been suspended. Where necessary such documents are taken to Abuja.

    In Akwa Ibom State, the indigenes are worried over the absence of Governor Godswill Akpabio, who had relocated to Abuja a week before the convention and is yet to return.

    As a result, government activities have been at low ebb in the past three weeks. Akpabio’s aides are shuttling between the state capital and Abuja with files and documents meant for the attention of the governor.

    A senior civil servant, who expressed concern over the governor’s absence, said that the abadonment of state duties is injurious to the welfare of the people.

    The people of Bayelsa State are also worried over the absence of Governor Seriake Dickson. The opposition and other concerned indigenes the have criticised the neglect of state functions. Dickson is the Chairman of the PDP Reconciliation Committee. But the panel has not achieved much success. Investigations revealed that the governor hardly spend one week in Government House without travelling to Abuja. Described as the most mobile governor, the governor now treats files in Abuja.

    Governor Gabriel Suswam has also relocated to Abuja over the crisis. Although he was given the assignment to broker peace between the Federakl Government and ASUU, he has not achieved success. The State Chairman of Nigerian Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Mr Baba Agan, has accused him of governing the state from outside.

    Nigerians are worried that the PDP crises have paralysed government activities such that officials have no time to attend to public matters.

    Constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Professor Itse Sagay said that the President and the PDP governors have abandoned their constitutional responsibility of providing good governance.

    Sagay noted that the attention of the presidency is diverted by the crises.

    He went further: “A level of neglect is going on in the country. The fight over the presidential ticket for 2015 election is the focus of the President. The split in the PDP has made it worse. The Presidency has no other thing to think about than how to bring the break- away faction back to the fold. The PDP governors too have relocated to Abuja, abandoning governance in their states for party reconciliation and peace talk.”

    Civil Rights activist Shehu Sani believes there is no government in Nigeria because, according to him, all the attention, emotion and passion of the President and his cabinet are now chained to the PDP crisis.

    He observed that there is confusion as the machinery of government is stuck in the mud of the PDP crisis. The crisis, he said, has superseded the interest of the country.

    Sani said that PDP is noted for crisis. He recalled that during the Obasanjo regime, the Atiku-Obasanjo feud over heated the polity; under Umaru Yar’Adua, the politics of the cabal incinerated the polity and under Goodluck Jonathan, the PDP crisis has crippled state activities.

    “The reality of the moment is that President Jonathan is a man with penchant for sowing divisions. He sowed division between the North and Southsouth. He has sown division between the Hausa/Fulani and the minorities in the North; between the Ibo of Imo and that of Anambra. He has sown division in the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and in the National Youth Council of Nigeria. He has now sown division in the PDP.

    “President Jonathan’s divisive politics is harmful, corrosive and dangerous to the corporate existence of Nigeria. He is surrounded by a mix of political vampires, hyenas and vultures. He’s hostage in that game reserve.

    “The division in PDP is caused by the ambition of Jonathan to contest the 2015 election and the very fact that the life of some people depend on it”, he added.

    Sagay said the crisis is characterised by the use of abusive language and ferocious attack can lead this country to another civil war.

    “My worry is that some of the gladiators are old men who lived and witnessed how this kind of bitterness brought down the First Republic. I expect people like Bamanga Tukur to be cautious in his utterances and settle the differences rather than telling aggrieved party to go to hell. The crisis in the PDP may have devastating effects on the polity, if not carefully handled”, Sagay concluded.

  • Why Lagos PDP has not produced governor, by Ogunlewe

    Former Minister of Works Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe spoke with Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN on the crisis rocking the Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and why it has been difficult for the chapter to win governorship elections in the state.

    One of the reasons you gave for contesting the Lagos PDP chairmanship last year was the quality of party leadership in the state. Are you satisfied with the present leadership?

    Yes, I’m satisfied. It doesn’t have to be me. If we have someone there and he embraces my idea, I’m okay. I don’t have to say that because I’m not the chairman, I have to condemn or rubbish the good work of the executive. They are doing well and I am proud of them.

    There are many caucuses in the Lagos PDP. What is responsible for this?

    The idea of a caucus has been misconstrued by Nigerian politicians. The formation of caucuses comes up when the party is to nominate a candidate for an elective office. The practice is that groups within the party sponsor candidates for primaries. They lobby, use their resources to campaign and strategise for their candidates to win. Once a winner emerges, the caucuses dissolve. But here in Nigeria, caucuses have become a permanent feature of political parties. Even the caucus meetings are held more than the party meetings. It is wrong.

    Is it true that you have reconciled with Chief Bode George?

    Yes. We are very close now, unlike before. We now meet virtually every day. Our relationship is very cordial. We are working together. We have put the past behind us. If we continue to fight ourselves, it will be to the disadvantage of the youths and Lagosians, who are yearning for alternative government. We need a government that would support the development of youths, women, education and health system. So, quarrelling has no place in today’s politics.

    How prepared is the Lagos PDP for the 2015 general elections?

    We are the architects of our misfortune. We have allowed personal ambition and ego to weigh us down. If not, we will not be where we are today. We are not competitive. We should try and develop the capacity to get there. We are preparing but we have to be serious.

    We are strategising, looking for support from Mr President, praying not to make the mistake of 2003, 2007 and 2011. Then, our governorship candidates prefer to work for the opposition. This time around, we will not compromise the interest of the PDP at the altar of the party. There was trade off in previous elections, it won’t happen in 2015.

    The President must be interested in those to be governors on the platform of the PDP in 2015. He must be able to pick and influence those to be governors in 2015. Look, almost all the PDP governors serving today were installed by Obasanjo and that’s why most of the governors are loyal to him. Jonathan too should make sure his own loyalists are elected governors. Jonathan has the capacity to fund election in any state. So he must be involved.

    Are you contesting governorship election in 2015?

    No. I will be 70 this year. I am now a consultant. As a leader, you operate from the rear and allow the young elements to be in the forefront.

    It was alleged that as a minister, you used your influence in persuading former President Olusegun Obasanjo to withhold the Lagos Council funds. What is your comment?

    It was not true. The decision to withhold the council funds was to stop Lagos State government from diverting the funds. Every month, Lagos State collects N6 billion from the Federation Accounts. The Tinubu administration created 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDA), which were not recognised by the Constitution. Do you expect Mr President to encourage such an unconstitutional act?

    But Tinubu and Lagos State government were later vindicated by the Supreme Court judgment that ordered Obasanjo to release the funds…..

    Well, that is the court ruling, but the government believed that there were only 20 Local Government Areas in Lagos State. They are entitled to the Federal Allocation meant for Local Councils in Lagos State.

    You were alleged to have sabotaged the Fourth Mainland Bridge planned by the Tinubu Administration during your tenure as Minister of Works.

    How can? Did they ever submit the design of the bridge? I was not aware of any plan to build a fourth mainland bridge anywhere in Lagos. This is news to me. Let them come out and prove how I frustrated the construction of the bridge.

    The Senate Committee on Housing, in its report, mentioned you as one of those who bought Federal Government houses in Lagos without bidding for them. Have you resolved the matter?

    It is a lie. I don’t have any house anywhere in Lagos. If they are sure of what they are talking about they should come up with the description and location of the property. In any case, the Senate has written to apologise to me, saying that it was not me. The report just stated Minister of Works. There were several Ministers of Works before me and even after I had left office.

    What is your reaction to the registration of All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)?

    It was fantastic. It is the best thing that has happened to our democracy. It has created a platform for a strong opposition in the polity. Even though, it was a marriage of strange bedfellows, they should not allow personal ambition to override the party’s interest. I congratulate them and wish them success in their endeavours.

    What’s your assessment of President Jonathan’s Administration?

    In the aviation sector, the performance of the Jonathan Administration is excellent. I have never witnessed such massive rehabilitation of our airports. I was at Asaba; it was like an international airport. On agric, we need to put in a little more effort to make the sector what we will be proud of. I have my doubt on the management of the economy, because we are being stream loaned by the World Bank. I disagree with the government’s industrial development programme.

    As for the power sector, if I were the President, I won’t do what they are doing. I will decentralise the power industry, allow each state to have their own grid and assist them with funds in achieving this.

    Everything in this country is centralised. Centralised administration is World Bank’s strategy that doesn’t work in a federal set up.

    Ministers don’t take credit for anything they achieved in office. They are working for the President. They are invited to participate in the execution of Mr President’s programme. They are errand boys of Mr President. Nevertheless, I fought many battles when I was a minister. The last that probably caused me my job was the award of contract for Onitsha-Owerri Road. A powerful traditional ruler from the Southwest brought a contractor for the job, which I disagreed. I insisted that Julius Berger should handle the job. They thought my mother was Igbo. The reason why I insisted on Julius Berger was that the construction giant had never done any construction work in the Southeast. At the end, the job was split between Julius Berger and the contractor sponsored by the traditional ruler. I was vindicated because the latter failed to complete its own portion while Julius Berger did an excellent job within a record time.

  • EFCC: Ten years after

    EFCC: Ten years after

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is 10 years old. In this report, EMMANUEL OLADESU, AUGUSTINE AVWODE and LEKE SALAUDEEN highlight the impediments to a successful anti-graft war by the agency.

     

    The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will render the agency’s account of stewardship in the last 10 years before the end of the year.

    It has been a challenging decade for the commmision. Opinion is divided on its achievements. Many people believe that its intervention has reduced corruption. Some will not give the agency a passmark because they feel that it has not lived up to expectation.

    Before the commission was established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the country’s reputation had been smeared by graft. Efforts by successive administrations to curb the menace were abortive. When Gen. Muhammadu Buhari toppled the civilian authorities in 1983, he cited corruption to justify its action.

    When President Olusegun Obasanjo took over in 1999, it was obvious that he had a lot of work to stem the drift. The EFCC, therefore, was establised as a response to pressure from the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which named Nigeria as one of 23 countries that have refused to cooperate with the international community in its avowed commitment to eradicate money laundering.

    Essentially, the EFCC is a law enforcement agency saddled with the responsibility of investigating financial crimes, including advance fee fraud and money laundering. According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2003, the agency is the designated the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in Nigeria, which is charged with the responsibility of co-coordinating the various institutions fighting money laundering and enforcement of all laws dealing with economic and financial crimes.

    Essentially, the commission exists to investigate all financial crimes including advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of negotiable instruments, credit card fraud, contract scam and so on.

    Its powers also include the adoption of measures to identify, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from terrorist activities, economic and financial crime-related offences.

    A particular provision in the Act, which the commission has used to maximum effect in chasing corrupt politicians is the power to examine and investigate all reported cases of economic and financial crimes, with a view to identifying individuals, corporate bodies or groups involved; determine the extent of financial loss and such other losses by government, private individuals or organisations.

     

    EFCC chairmen’s turbulent tenure

     

    From 2003 to date, EFCC has been led by three chairmen. They are Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Mrs Farida Waziri and Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.

     

    Nuhu Ribadu

     

    The pioneer chairman of the EFCC set a high standard in the commission. He fought the war with vigour. in the fight against corruption. Reflecting on his tenure, Obasanjo, who appointed him, said he would re-appoint him, if he had the opportunity to do so.

    Ribadu has no precedence to lean on as a crime fighter. Although he was well prepared for the job, it was a different terrain, unlike the police. Reflecting on his appointment, he said: “My appointment as the Chairman of the EFCC was a call to take up a turbulent task. I had to follow the statements of my previously written will to serve in a country where there is a lack of functional institutions to check the mismanagement of public funds and related criminal misconduct. Trust in public institutions had been demolished and perpetrators went about wearing their crimes like badges of honour.

    “I was given an appointment to stand in the way of these celebrated fraudsters, without an office and funds to launch my operations. But we went on to form what became a prime anti-corruption body in the country. Our activities are left for history and honest critics of political evolution to gauge and tell of our impact.”

    Under Ribadu, the commission addressed financial corruption by prosecuting and convicting a number of high-profile corrupt individuals, ranging from Nigeria’s former chief law enforcement officer to many bank chief executives. In 2005, the EFCC arrested government officials, including former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

    In September 2006, the agency had concluded investigations on 31 out of 36 governors for corruption. In April 2008, it investigated Obasanjo’s daughter, Senator Iyabo Bello for allegedly receiving N10 million ($100,000) from the Ministry of Health. The former Health Minister Prof. Nike Grange and her deputy, Chief Gabriel Duku, were tried for stealing over N30,000,000 ($300,000) from the ministry’s unspent funds. The court later exornerated them.

    Towards the end of his tenure, things went awry for the charismatic chairman. A series of events almost made his tenure to end in anti-climax. It was alleged that the former President was using the commission to witch-hunt perceived political foes. On August 6, 2008, Ribadu was demoted from Assistant- Inspector General (AIG) to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). He was sent to the Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, for a course.

     

    Farida Waziri

     

    On June 6, 2008, Waziri was sworn in as the chairperson of the EFCC. Her tenure was short- lived. She spent only three years in office. Critics always used the Ribadu era as a yardstick for judging her performance. In September 14, 2010, the Head of the Forensic Unit of the EFCC, Abdullahi Muazu, was assassinated in Kaduna. He had been actively involved in the trials of several heads of banks. Waziri was dismissed by President Goodluck Jonathan on November 23, 2011. Lamorde, the Acting Chairman was confirmed as the chairman on February 15, 2012 by the Senate.

     

    Lamorde

     

    As far as the war against economic crime and corruption is concerned, Lamorde has played a significant role. He is a pioneer staff. He has been described by some people as the “valiant heart” of the commission and the rallying point in the partnership between the EFCC and its strategic allies. He has twice served as the Director of Operations and Acting Chairman. He was a member of the pioneer officers drafted from the Nigeria Police that midwife the EFCC in 2003 under the leadership Ribadu.

    Lamorde is a professional with vast experience in fraud investigation spanning more than two decades. He is a silent operator; disciplined, harworking and diligent. The Adamawa-born police officer served as a Divisional Crime Officer (1988 – 1989) and Police Public Relations Officer (1989-1993). In 1993, the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Force was created and he became one of the pioneer officers. He served in the SFU from 1993 to 2002.

    While he was with the SFU, he served with the United Nations Civilian Police in East Timor from March 2000 to March 2001. He was the Chief Investigation Officer of Ermera District of East Timor. In September 2002, he was transferred to Oyo State, where he served as Divisional Police Officer, until April 2003. On the creation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he was seconded to serve as the Director of Operations from April 2003 to December, 2007. He was appointed the Ag. Chairman of the EFCC in January, 2008 to May, 2008. He was recalled back to the Nigeria Police and posted to the Area Command in Ningi, Bauchi State as the Area Commander from June, 2008 to November 2008. He was later redeployed to the Bauchi State Police Command, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as the Officer -in -Charge. In December 2010, he recalled to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as Director of Operations. He held that position until his appointment as the Ag. Chairman of the EFCC on Wednesday, November 23, 2011.

    He supervised the prosecution of 522 ‘Advance Fee Fraud’ cases at various High Courts between April 2003 and June 2008. 253 of them were successfully prosecuted and convictions secured. The efforts led to the extradition of three fugitives to the United States. Lamorde, being the pioneer Director of Operations, has greatly helped to change the public perception of law enforcement, locally and internationally. He has also helped in fostering international law enforcement cooperation in the country.

     

    Cases abandoned by EFCC

     

    However, many believe that the war against corruption is in limbo. The zeal, they claim, is waning. The commission, according to observers, lost steam since the exit of its pioneer chairman, Ribadu, who instituted cases against former governors and public officials. Ribadu prosecuted and secured the conviction of the former Inspector General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun, who pleaded guilty to eight counts of money laundering charges to the tune of N16 billion in 2005. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment.

    EFCC alsoAlamieyeseighafor money laundering. He was convicted and released on plea bargain.

    Since then, the corruption trials have not gone beyond the plea stage, some for as long as six years after first arraignment in court. Many ex-government office holders, who had been accused of corruption, are still walking free. Some of them are in the National Assembly making laws for the country.

    Former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu was arraigned on July 27, 2007 before an Abuja High Court on a 107 count charge of money laundering, official corruption and criminal diversion of public funds in excess of N5 billion. He approached the Court of Appeal to set aside the ruling of the Federal High Court that he had a case to answer. The appellate court dismissed the appeal for lack of merit and gave the anti-graft agency the nod to prosecute him. With the charges still hanging on his neck, the former governor is touting himself as a possible presidential candidate in 2015.

    Another pending case is that of former Governor Dariye of Plateau State, who was arraigned by the EFCC before an Abuja High Court on a 23-count charge involving the sum of N700million. He was granted bail, but he later challenged the jurisdiction of the court to try him. He argued that the alleged offence committed by him took place on Plateau State and the funds involved belonged to the state, and argued that his trial ought to take place in the state, not in Abuja. The judge dismissed Dariye’s objection, which prompted him to approach the Court of Appeal, which also threw out the application and ordered him to go and face his trial. While the case is still pending before the court, Dariye won a senatorial seat in the 2011 polls.

    Former Governor Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State was docked on a 32-count charge of stealing N36billion from the state treasury. He was granted bail on July 27, 2007 by Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja. His bail was contested by the EFCC on the ground that the former governor possesses multiple nationalities and could jump bail, if granted. Turaki has secured the transfer of his trial to his home state. While the argument over his bail was on, Turaki had won a seat in the Senate. He was in the National Assembly between 2007 and 2011.

    His Enugu State counterpart, Chimaroke Nnamani, was also arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos on a 105-count charge for allegedly stealing N5.3billion The case, which was instituted by the EFCC since 2007, is still pending. He was a member of the Senate between 2007 and 2011.

    Former GovernorJolly Nyame of Taraba State was docked on 41-count charge in July 2007. He was alleged to have embezzled N1.3billion and collected N180million from a contractor as a kick-back from a N250 million contract awarded to the company for the supply of stationeries to the state government.

    Other cases of corrupt enrichment that EFCC tried to prosecute included the alleged contract inflation by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole. He was arraigned on June 8, 2011 over a 16- count charge. Bankole and his deputy, Usman Nafada,2 were dragged to court over a 17-count charge alleged misappropriation of a N10 billion loan. However, the case was thrown out on January 31, 2012.

    Former Chairman of House Committee on Power, Ndudi Elemelu, was docked over a N5.2billion fraud charge brought against him by EFCC . Justice Garba Umar ruled that he had no case to answer, but the case is still pending at the Abuja High Court before Justice Adebukola Bolajoko.

    A land mark judgment recorded by the EFCC was the conviction of former Board Chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority, Chief Olabode George.

    He was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment over a N85 billion fraud without an option of fine by a Lagos High Court. George was convicted on 35 out of 68 count charge involving contract spliting, inflation, abuse of office and disobedience of lawful order.

     

    Prosecution time frame

     

    The EFCC has charged 368 cases to court and recorded 80 convictions at the end of August 2013. Within the same period, the commission made recoveries of N6,583,108,350; $19,251,519; 20,520 Euros and 19,000 Pound Sterling.

    According to the commission, a number of cases for which investigations have been concluded, would be charged to courts across the zones where the Commission maintains offices .

    A legal luminary, Yusuf Ali (SAN), said that the apprehension by the public over the fate of the corrupt cases filed by the EFCC is not misplaced. He observed that the time frame for disposing of the cases has taken too long.

    Ali identified major reasons for the protracted litigations. He doubtedf, if the EFFC has qualified people to handle its investigation. He said, if investigations were not thoroughly done, the case would suffer series of adjournment. “The question one could ask here should be whether the EFCC has done its assignment properly before heading to court”, he said. Second, the defendants often fight back through their lawyers, who capitalise on the loopholes in the charges preferred against them and apply for frequent adjournment. Third, the EFCC prosecution needs specialised training so that they could file the charges properly and appear at every hearing. Fourth, Nigerians attitude to cases of corruption is not helpful. “There is no pressure on anybody to do the right thing”, he added. Also, he said the judiciary must be well equipped to perform. Our judges still record court proceeding in long hand, which prolongs trial of cases”, he fumed.

    Lawyer and human rights activist Chidi Ewulum blamed the slow dispensation of justice on the EFCC’s shody investigation and the penchant for filing amendment charges against accused persons after their arraignment. He said the defendants’ counsel always seize that opportunity to ask for adjournments to enable them study and respond to the new charges.

    Ewulum observed that the lawyers hired by the EFCC for the prosecution have contributed to the setbacks. He suspected that many of them may connive with the defence team to elongate the suits, especially, those involving highly placed persons for their mutual benefit. He also observed that former governors on trial followed a familiar pattern of challenging the jurisdiction of the courts.

    Ewulum said the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is a clog in the wheel of EFCC because the minister dictates to the commissionon the case to prosecute or not. He called for full autonomy for the EFCC, if corruption mustbe reduced in the civil and public service.

    However, the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, claimed that those accusing the commission of abandoning the case files of corrupt politicians and governors do so out of ignorance. He said the anti-graft agency has done so much and had taken high profile cases to court to determine.

    He lamented that, in spite of the commission’s efforts to change the mindset of Nigeria that culprits are gradually facing the law, corruption seems to pervade all the facets of the economy. The spokesman, however, assured that the EFCC is working towards strengthening its fight.