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Tag: Agbakoba

  • Obasanjo’s administration one of Nigeria’s most corrupt – Sagay

    The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said on Wednesday that former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration was one of the most corrupt regimes in Nigeria’s history.

    He said Obasanjo acts like a saint when he is the “most stained” person around.

    Asked if the ex-President should be probed over the $16billion he allegedly spent on the power sector without result, Sagay said: “Honestly I think he should be probed. You see, President Buhari has been very generous and mild towards his predecessors, not wanting to cause discomfort and embarrassment for them out of respect for the positions they held.

    “But, Obasanjo is a man who does not respect himself, who thinks he’s the President-General of Nigeria for life and has a right at any time to wade in and be very caustic and publicly insult his successors just because he’s envious of the same position he held. He cannot detach himself from the presidency.

    “I think he needs to be brought to order. He has been tolerated enough in this country. The President’s remark was very appropriate and more and more should come because Obasanjo ran one of the most corruption governments this country has ever seen.”

    On if the Federal Government can prosecute Obasanjo, the PACAC chairman added: “It’s possible but not likely. It’s possible in the sense that there are issues like Siemens, Halliburton, funding for his library, and not to talk of this electricity thing.

    “But, because people decide to be quite and let bygones be bygones. He won’t let peace to prevail, he must raise dust and behave like a saint when you’re the most stained person around. He may bring it on his own head if he’s not careful.”

    Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Emeka Ngige, urged the anti-graft agencies to do their work no matter who is involved.

    “I believe there was a report of the House of Representatives Committee on Power that indicted President Obasanjo in 2008 for various infractions on power sector contracts during his regime. The committee recommended that EFCC or ICPC should do further investigation and possibly prosecute him if found culpable. That report was kept in a deep freezer till date.

    “So, the remark of President Buhari is not new. I still believe that the EFCC or ICPC should do its job as recommended by the House. The earlier we start jailing our present and past leaders who made Nigeria a fantastically corrupt nation the better for our democracy,” Ngige said.

    A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), called for strong measure against all those found culpable over the $16billon spending.

     

  • Agbakoba: Obasanjo not part of our movement

    Continuation of the transcript of an interview with Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) anchored by Sam Omatseye on The Platform, a programme on Television Continental (TVC).

     

    Did you tell him what he damaged?

    Yeah, yeah, yeah

    What did you tell him?

    I told him that he had a massive chance. I told him he is a very intelligent, very energetic. Up till now, he is full of energy. If that energy had been well-channelled, Nigeria would have gone.

    But did you specify the things he damaged, the economy?

    Well, I’m not sure I referred to specific examples but I don’t need to refer to specific examples for him to understand that what I’m saying is true. For instance, I talked about the third term thing. The energy on third term, had it been used to erect strong institutions, we won’t be where we are.

    And they had good constitution

    Yes

    You just put something there

    He had the chance. You are the man who had the best chance to do something. He said, ‘it’s not about talking. You go and do your own. If you do, I will support as far as I can until you guys become political party.’ So, the same thing he is saying in his own coalition is the same thing that he is saying to us. So, to be quite honest with you, I’m ready to take the baby and leave the bathwater. If Obasanjo whatever he has done in the past can lead us, not the whole politicians ooo, not the people who belong to the Looters Party of Nigeria, that includes APC, PDP and most of them, but the fresh new party, we would be with him.

    With Obasanjo?

    Absolutely.

    Why would you go with him when he’s the one that damaged things?

    But we’re in a crisis.

    You’re acting like the Evangelicals and Trump, who said that we love Trump despite of the fact that he is a serial liar, he is a serial polygamist, or whatever they call it and all that. It’s like saying that, okay, we love the devil because he’s giving us our due.

    Okay, then what do we do?

    That’s why you put yourself in the ring.

    That’s what I’m saying. I’m saying that putting myself in the ring aligns towards the pragmatic. I’m not the pope, I’m not a priest. I’m a pragmatic. I’m not going to allow myself to be cajoled by any of the old things but if IBB were to call me and say, ‘look, see what you guys are doing. I like it. We will support by talking to our people. Danjuma and all those people say, ‘we’re now old men. We regret what we did in the past. What we can now do is to use guys like you to repair Nigeria.’

    But Obasanjo said he didn’t do anything. That everything was okay. So, how would you work with kind of man?

    No, he is the one saying. But you and I know that if there’s anything that caused this wahala, at least the third term thing played a great role in destroying Nigeria.

    Before the third term, he had done many things

    Of course. Absolutely.

    His war on corruption was not better than this because it was like they described in the times of Richard Nixon as the ‘enemies list’. You line up all the enemies and start going after them

    There was no question about that. It’s something that one has to be extremely careful but if it would help us get out of this morass, yeah.

    Did you get the sense that he was opportunist when he wrote that letter after what you had pushed to him? And then he went to write a letter and made it look like it was his own idea. Did you get a sense that he was being opportunist and then he was stealing something from you guys?

    I thought… hmm. That’s a negative way to put it. But the way I put it positively was that he was inspired by us. And that was the first pragmatic step.

    But he didn’t give you people any credit

    No, he didn’t give us any credit.

    So, he stole it

    (Laughs) Well, if you want to say that. But no, look, I was happy about the letter and I was happy when h announced his coalition. I was happy when Charly Boy announced his ‘Mumu Don Do’. I was happy when Oby Ezekwesili announced her Red Card Movement. I was happy when other movements came because that…

    But they look like just movements on piece of paper or just movements on the superficial level of the social media

    A movement does two things. a movement can add to the quality of the debate. That’s one level. A movement like in France can also put somebody in power. A five star movement in Italy put somebody in power. That’s why I was telling you that if you ask me, the fact that we stirred the waters, the fact that a lot of feedbacks I’m getting from even APC suggests that we need to find fresh faces also gives me joy. It means that they are now conscious that… You know, in fairness to Buhari, the stealing before was ‘I don’t care. Who will catch me? Nobody.’ But now, you have to steal with some planning.

    You have to follow due process.

    You have to follow to steal. So, that’s some credit to Buhari which is what gives him this fairytale image. To the extent that we’re making politicians conscious… because it’s all about responsibility and accountability. To the extent that we’ve done that, we’ve implanted it. Even Wike said it when I saw him, ‘Third Force.’ Okay, that’s good. I was talking with one of Asiwaju’s friend, he is a senator. He said, ‘ah Third Force.’ Okay

    So, they know about you

    They know. And if that is going to impact the system, that’s progress. If it takes us to political power which in the words of el-Rufai is where you need to be to effect change, not in a committee.

    Not even a committee

    Committee, you get to eat meat pies and issue communique and writing reports. I was in the Uwais committee, what happened? I was in Jonathan’s 2014 national conference, nothing. So, committees don’t do much.

    But it has to start with committees

    It has to start with committees. There must be one small step, leads to one giant leap.

    I’m still interested in the relationship between your movement and Obasanjo. Obasanjo started aggregating some forces, some young people, not too young like Donald Duke and a few people. Has he since then come to you to say, okay, how do we work together? Is there anything like that or have you gone to him to say, now that you’ve announced, what are we going to do together? Have you gotten to that stage?

    Well, in fairness, I work with Donald Duke who is his man. So, I haven’t seen him since but to the extent that we feel we have collaborative agendas, things we can do together and we’ve made clear that we’re not prepared to give up our own identity. We can’t do that. That is

    What is that identity? Is it like APC again because the identity of APC at that time was not so much that they had been able to pull the people along with them with a string of ideas. It was just, ‘we don’t like Jonathan, come inside.’ Is that what you’re doing because it seems that that identity has to be articulated?

    It has been articulated. First of all, the issue of the Nigerian structure. First, we believe in Nigeria, that’s the starting point but we believe that the Nigeria marriage should be rearranged and therefore the energy that Nigeria has is being suppressed and we need to have call it what you like, call it whether it’s restructure, tinkering, whatever, that is the starting point. The energy of this country is 99% asleep. The country where all the governors do is go to Abuja at the end of the month and collect a cheque and they don’t care about how to develop their states isn’t a winning formula. So, we must discuss it. And I think there’s enough material – there’s Jonathan Report, there’s OBJ, there’s enough.

    There’s enough document in this country to do anything. Whether it’s education, whether it’s culture…

    If for instance, I’m Nigerian president, I can propose to the national assembly a brand new executive bill and say, please can we in one month put in a constitution. You can’t have … Just take one example, the judicature. You can’t just have a supreme court sitting in Abuja deciding all the cases in Nigeria. It’s not possible. It’s not possible. So, we quickly have to agree on all these things so that the energies can come out. NIM believes in that. NIM believes in a very strong economy where the private sector are central to economic activity and not the government. You can’t have Fashola running across the entire Nigeria to exhaust himself without results, talking about roads, talking about bridges, talking about power when Dangote dem are there to do it. Government under an NIM framework will only do three things – formulate policy, execute it and regulate it.

    How do you execute it?

    Executing policy. For instance, you have a rail plan. It has a policy. You may now need to have institutions. So, for instance, in my field, the maritime sector, we have about six major institutions that a private sector man needs to see on ground to bring his model. So, we have to execute a national maritime policy that makes it attractive for Nigerians to invest. Nigeria is one of the only eight countries in the world and I’ve worked on this for 20 years, that has an extended EZ. I’ve spoken to at least three presidents, nobody is interested because they’re all wanting to steal oil. It’s like me telling you, ‘Ah Sam, this your land, what do you say it is? You say it is 1,000, no, but I’ve measured it, I got 2,000. Won’t you jump at it? How can a country have an extra territorial waters of 150 Nautical Miles and not be interested? The Chinese are coming here. We have one of the best shrimps, tuna… So these are the kind of things. Open the place up, establish the relevant institutions and say, government, our hands is over, we’re not inside business. If you look at the budget, the budget is so large because the government needs to be large to drive what it should not be driving and that’s business. So, if you cut government’s intervention in business, it’s shrink government. It’s unacceptable to me that three million Nigerians take 90% of our income. It’s a formula that cannot work. So the NIM has come to the conclusion that unless a radical transformation of the operating political and business models, we’re not going to go anywhere. So, that essentially is our …

    Are what you have done in your committees…

    Yes, that’s a way to translate it

    How do you translate it? In order to make any of these things work, you have to get your feet dirty.

    Good question.

    How far have you gone?

    Quite far

    How far have you gone with getting your feet dirty? Are you working in the villages? Are you working in cells and so on?

    Let me tell you. Politics is no longer going to be decided on… there are two types of voters. Even in Nigeria. And this is basically measured by algorithms and analysis. Those voters who my village head would say, ‘come, take N500 and vote here’ are no longer the majority. The bulk of the voters are not controlled by Amala politics. They’re not. Maybe at the level of gubernatorial but presidential, the social media would play a massive role ooo.

    How do you know that because the governors always play roles in presidential elections?

    Yes.

    Everybody has to, how do I put it, has to deliver, like I’m a governor of so, so state. I cannot have the liver to come to the table when the chips are down and say I didn’t deliver my state.

    Do you know why Cambridge Analytica is important? Or some of these new Russian-driven Facebook type things or what has now happened to Facebook. The digital age has changed how. I hope yu know that voting is now taking place in Nigeria. Oh, the election may be February, that’s only to declare. Minds are being shaped already. So people are saying ‘I’m voting this way, I’m voting that way.’ Sixty five million Nigerians are registered. I suggest that less than 25% are committed votes, the rest are free, uncommitted, being influenced by the way social media is playing out. And we have been following social media. We have a huge communications operations and we follow it. You just put in something. Like the other day, I put in something about a particular person, it was absolutely no, we’re not voting for this guy. And if that holds, the way politics was done in the past, Amala politics, I have to go home, that that that, may not be what you will see in 2019 because Nigerian voters became sophisticated from the time of 2015.

    So, you’re saying that money is not a factor.

    Not a big factor as it was. Why did Jonathan lose if it was?

    But there was a lot of money pooled against him.

    Jonathan had much money

    Money may not be the final factor but they say money is the mother’s milk of politics.

    I agree but not in the same old way. It changed with Jonathan. Not in the same old way. Jonathan is the first sitting president in Africa to lose an election.

    In the final analysis, you will still have to get somebody if you want to defeat Buhari.

    Yes, we have an arrowhead. It could be me.

    It could be you?

    Yes, of course. Am I not qualified to be president?

    The question is not who is qualified. It’s who can beat him.

    Anybody… I’m telling you Buhari is vulnerable. He is vulnerable. What he has going for him now is that as you say, they say okay, well, who do we vote for? There will be massive voter apathy. So two things I’ve said. First, social media would play a strong role. Two, despite of social media playing a strong role, the turn our is going to be very low, 10, 15, 20%.

    If the turn out is low, historically it favours the incumbent.

    I hope not. I hope that will be another new convention.

    So, in this your arrangement now, have you been able to clearly define your distinction with the Obasanjos and the …

    Oh, clear

    Because you say you work with them but still try to maintain…

    We’re completely different. Completely. But we see ourselves as what would I call us now, a grand coalition. Actually, we launched the grand coalition in Abuja. So, anyone whose aspiration and values, sorry not anyone, because Obasanjo may have a problem fitting in there. But any group whose aspiration and values tie in, we’ll work with that person.

    So, it means you may one way or the other still dilute your ideology. You’re still a pragmatic force.

    Yes.

    Which means that ideology is not as important as winning

    Ideology is the most important. I don’t mind losing.

    You don’t mind losing?

    No, no, no

     

     

  • Agbakoba: Obasanjo not part of our movement

    It’s been many years since that late morning in Surulere (Lagos) when you launched the CLO. It’s been a long journey through turbulent military rule and a lot of engagement with society now in civilian rule. How would you asses the country since then?

    (Silence)….

    And what are you seeing?

    Completely failed nation. Completely failed. And the challenge really for me in even describing both the IBB and Abacha days today is that then it was easier to actually mount a campaign because the line was clear. The line was clear between us and them. Now, so many things – ethnicity, religion – now the lines are completely blurred. It’s more difficult engaging than it was then. So, that’s for me a big shock.

    The difference between then and now was that if there was something wrong with religion, you say it was military intervention or military cohesion. If there was anything wrong with ethnicity, you say it was military, it’s just the Kaduna Mafia and some rascals who were soldiers who were doing it. Now, it is civilian rule, we’re supposed to be in charge. So, it becomes messy that it is like this. And one of the issues that have come into the surface is the issue of the ‘Rule of law.’ How would you assess Rule of Law now?

    It does not exist now. Rule of law is a fiction of imagination of you know, countries that are described as semi-democratic. Nigeria is not a democratic state. So when you have a democratic state, Rule of Law has no place. Rule of Law means that government should not be keeping Dasuki in prison because there’s a judgment of the court saying ‘Allow him out’. Rule of Law means that all these herdsmen and all the strife we see would not be happening. That’s what Rule of Law means. So, we don’t have Rule of Law. We have impunity.

    And El-Zak Zaky?

    El Zak Zaky. Everywhere, rule of Law would have not allowed the president to authorise one billion dollars deployment resources without due process. This is the problem.

    But why is it that in spite of all we have experienced with insurgence that we are still in a sense coming to terms with this kind of impunity? We are beginning to see it as part of the reality that we should live with.

    Because we have only one party. That’s the problem. We have many parties so-called but we have only one party.

    Which is the APC

    No, no, no. not the APC. The only party if the ‘Looters Party of Nigeria.’ That’s the only party and you can find them everywhere – in the APC, in the PDP. It’s turn by turn. PDP was thrown out on the grounds that it was a corrupt government. APC is now in charge but the looting is everywhere. I checked the numbers and I found out that in 2014, half in APC today were PDP and they have no goals, they have no agenda. PDP has no agenda, APC has no agenda. And there’s only one casualty – suffering Nigerian masses. The National Bureau of Statistics reported 30 million youths unemployed. All these crises you find everywhere, criminal actions, is due to the lack of jobs. Look at the one in Offa, lack of jobs. So, governance has failed us. We have not been properly governed since 1999 under the so-called civil emocratic experience.

    And then we had the herdsmen crisis which has become in a sense political. Why is it political while people are dying?

    Well, that is what I’m saying. Because of this Looters party of Nigeria and the idea of Looters Party of Nigeria is to hold on to power at all cost and by any means. So, if suddenly, and you know of course, the incumbent becomes the same person who attacks everybody. I can’t answer your question properly because I don’t know whether there are certain things… I don’t know whether that is the case but whatever it is, government response in controlling the herdsmen has been very poor.

    Some people say, it’s not the herdsmen but it’s a new incarnation of Boko Haram and even at that, there ought to be some kind of intelligence report or knowledge about where did this thing come from? Up till today, it’s still not clear to everybody.

    It’s not clear. But you see, when you say intelligence, the national intelligence infrastructure is comatose because some of these things… Okay, take the one about the Dapchi Girls. How can people come from nowhere, cart off about a 110 girls, disappear, then the federal government does a deal with them and they return them. Where were the intelligence processes to support what the military does? That’s why I’m against this one billion deployment because the same one billion that Jonathan requested went nowhere. This one billion is going to political party funding. It’s very clear. It’s a 2019 agenda because if Boko Haram has been beaten as they say, why do they need this amount of money? Why? For me, it’s very suspicious.

    It’s either they are admitting that Boko Haram has not really been beaten, that’s why they are throwing this money there? Or they are using the money for something else.

    Absolutely. And if Boko Haram has been beaten like they say, how come they went to Dapchi? So, they are still effective.

    But Buhari on his own couldn’t have appended his signature to the thing like this given his own biography in terms of fighting corruption.

    Is he really fighting corruption? Buhari is (laughs)… Well, I like his political sagacity. He reminds me of Trump. He sets up this fantastic image of an angel. So, once you say Buhari, it’s angel. But that’s not true. That’s not true.

    Why do you say that?

    Because as president of Nigeria, he should know the process of appropriation. He should know that it goes through a process and he is the final person, not the first. So, he makes a proposal for appropriation to the national assembly and when it comes back, he would assent. So, he cannot give approval to something that he has no power to do. The same Buhari who understands due process on the APC issue of tenure elongation which I praise him for, how come he doesn’t understand it in terms of appropriation. So, it begs the question whether the funding is going to…

    Some people say maybe he is naïve, that it’s where he’s prompted to. If he didn’t know about his own self-interest in this matter

    If the Nigerian president is naïve, what is he doing there?

    Well, maybe the circumstances put him there.

    What is he doing there? If he is naïve and then I understand…

    Well, he has to admit that he is naïve.

    No, no… but you see, you can have your head (like) the ostrich so you don’t even know. You lose sight of your limitation like Trump. When I watch Trump, I say, ‘this guy has no clue’ but he won because he understood how to squeeze the base, how to do all those things that made him look right in the type of America that wanted him and not a woman. So, that’s it. But the fact that he may be naïve and I don’t know whether he is, I think he is an extremely intelligent person, but he makes us feel, hence the way that I see him, a very nice, straight-arrowed man who is surrounded by devils.

    So the blame goes to the devil. So, it’s like a Forest Gump

    That’s it.

    You think I’m a fool. I’m dealing with all of you but you keep thinking that I am the one who doesn’t know anything.

    Absolutely, you got it. Absolutely and that kind of guy is a very difficult person to fight because you don’t know where he is coming from.

    You don’t even know where to shoot.

    That’s it. Which is why I do hope now that he has put his hat in the ring, because to be honest with you, the only way you can be entitled to re-employment is on the basis of an appraisal. If a national appraisal were to be done somehow, the appraisals would be poor.

    Why would the appraisal be poor? If for instance, you look at power, he has raised power from about 2,000W to 7,000W?

    No. Who said?

    But that is the reality

    Power is poor

    Power is poor but it’s not as poor as it used to be.

    But Fashola was shouting that he would take it to 10,000W. Where is it?

    He’s not done yet. It’s 7,000W already.

    It’s not done. I would challenge you on 7000.

    It’s 7,000 already.

    I will challenge you on 7,000, that’s one. Two, corruption.

    Yes, the issue of corruption… Well, in the case of corruption, they’ve actually done a lot of prosecutions but prosecution is not the same thing as conviction.

    (Laughs)…. The problem is that he has no anti-corruption strategy. Even before you get to prosecution and strategy. What the hell is the strategy? The strategy has to be clear and I don’t see it. First of all, the EFCC is overburdened. It simply doesn’t have the skills and manpower and competence to deliver on whatever government calls its anti-corruption strategy because I’ve not heard anyone from the president, the attorney general or the vice-president who is a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, say, this is our anti-corruption paper. It’s when you release a paper, then you work towards implementing the goals. If I was attorney general, I would break EFCC into three – Investigation is a very difficult field. To add prosecution to the job of investigator make sit doubly difficult. This is the only country in the world that has this model. In the UK, the model is Serious Fraud Office does the investigation and passed it to the Crown Prosecution Services. And then the final one – Assets Recovery – is another huge job. Forget, can they tell us really exactly how much they have recovered.

    That’s the question.

    Can they tell us? What if they have recovered N7tr, N8tr, then why are they borrowing money?

    On the issue of security, the question is that you said you have finished Boko Haram then you have herdsmen. So one cancels the other. Even if you have credit and there is some credit because  they don’t occupy territories the way they used to do and there’s a lot of work going on with rehabilitation of IDPs and state government (like) Borno is doing right now. And then came the issue of herdsmen. And the question is that the president has not been seen to have come out in any clear terms to condemn it. And when it happened in such a big way in Benue State, it took such a long time to visit.

    Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s part of the challenge too. You know, if you say alright, some credit to Boko Haram, it’s cancelled out by herdsmen. But I do hope. One part I don’t understand in this country, I don’t know what day it would blow up. I just do not know what would make Nigerians angry enough to pile into the streets.

    As a very major personality in the past two decades at least in civil society, why do you think it is so because civil society used to be vibrant? Was it vibrant just for military and after the military went, the civil society as a force virtually fizzled out. Were they bought over?

    They were not bought over but it is a double-edged question. The strategies to confront a military government by civil society is entirely different from that used for a so-called democratic government. First, in military government, there are no parties. So, you become the voice of the people. And what we do tends to drive a process.

    It takes the form of an unofficial political party.

    That’s it. Right now, we don’t have that kind of form. Back then, we had national unity. Shehu Sani was our man. He was the leader for the civil rights movement in the north. There wasn’t that Muslims, Catholics, Christians – it wasn’t there. So, we had concentrated power. Now, we don’t. Civil society is riveted by the ills facing society. And then, it is made the worse by the fact that there is no strong political party that civil society can latch on to like happens abroad. Like civil society is generally with the democratic party in the US. Here, there is no political party that is immediately left or centre that you can work with.

    There is no ideology

    Yes, there is no ideology. And without an ideology, there’s chaos.

    But it’s difficult to have an ideology in a kind of liberal-capitalist society. I mean, ideology in any clear sense. In the US, you don’t really have much of an ideology but you have something like a little to the right, a little to the left kind of thing, social conservative, liberal positions and so on and so forth. President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote a letter and he almost called himself the Third Force and people drew your attention to your group. How did you guys respond to that?

    He didn’t say he was the Third Force.

    People started attributing him to the Third Force

    I can just quickly summarise the story. I just felt that we needed something new, some fresh blood in the process. So I said to myself, why have I lived this public life at 29, now I’m 65, no change. So, I was really gutted and angry. So, I said okay, I studied the situation carefully and I knew that we needed some heavy lifters to assist us to push down the barricade, the concrete barricade of thieving politicians. So, I went to Obasanjo and said, ‘at 80, the only legacy left is to assist to resurrect some of these processes you helped put in place.’ So, he responded. We met and I told him, here’s what we want to do. Alright, go start something, he told me.

    He told you.?

    Yeah, yeah. So, we started the National Intervention Movement aka The Third Force and then he wrote his letter. And then people said this man must be up to something. So that misnomer that he’s the Third Force came. But does it matter? No. If you ask me, people say, are you sure you’re really going to impact on 2019. I say, ‘we have already because virtually all the… the play now is in all parties. I don’t know about APC because APC may feel if we have a winning formula with Buhari and Osinbajo, why do we. But most parties are looking to see if they can introduce a fresh face because Nigerians are very angry, extremely angry. Unfortunately, you need somebody to aggregate the anger, to harness it and that somebody hasn’t emerged. But I still feel there’s time. I still feel there’s time for somebody to come and just walk into this anger and change things. If that happens, I’ll be satisfied that the Third Force has achieved its objective.

    Which means that your Third Force is different from Obasanjo’s movement

    It’s different.

    But you’re giving the impression now that you actually had an arrangement

    We spoke. We spoke. Yes, I accept that. We spoke but we’re different. But that does not stop us from collaborating.

    But you’re endorsing Obasanjos’ ways – you said the things he set up. What things did he set up?

    No, no no… I said let us repair those things that you damaged.

    Oh, let us repair those things that he damaged

    That’s it.

    Did he agree that he damaged things?

    He said he didn’t. You know he is a stubborn man. He didn’t agree. He said, what do I mean, that I am sitting on the fence here.

  • Corruption still high in Nigeria, claim Agbakoba, others

    Some Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SANs) have said corruption is still prevalent in the country despite the government’s effort to tackle the malaise.

    They agreed with the corruption index released by global watchdog Transparency International (TI) that corruption was still high in the country.

    The respondents include former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), Layi Babatunde (SAN), Sylva Ogwemoh (SAN) and Vice President of the NBA, Monday Ubani.

    While Nigeria scored 27/100 and was ranked 136th in 2016, the latest Corruption Perception lndex (CPI) scores Nigeria 28/100 out of 180 countries surveyed.

    Agbakoba argued that corruption was still very much in the country.

    He said: “Transparency International is very correct as corruption remains rife and the agencies charged with this responsibility are not fund well.”

    Babatunde said the perception of TI on corruption in Nigeria could be very dangerous.

    He said it could become an impediment, if not properly managed.

    “For the anti-corruption war to achieve greater success, the drive must evolve and progress rapidly, from being  just a campaign  by government, to becoming a way of life of Nigerians.

    “It must be internalised by the citizens. That way, we will grow to abhor it, without regard to tribe or religion or whichever government or who is in power. It won’t matter whether or not your father  or uncle or townsman or kinsman is president or IGP.

    He argued that Nigeria is still at a stage where the ‘war’ was being  seen from  perspectives of tribe and religion and that leads to complications and accusations, especially if perceived as ‘the government war against its enemies ‘instead of being a ‘war’ against enemies of our collective well-being.

    ‘’Perception, as we know, can be dangerous and can be an impediment, if not well-managed.

    “Besides there is no alternative  to  enthroning rule of law, even in ‘war ‘situation, otherwise the ‘war ‘takes on a different and unhelpful coloration, with avoidable negative consequences”.

    According to the learned silk, “battling corruption is not a tea party in any clime and we must not lose sight of that, so not that the government has not achieved anything in that direction”.

    Ogwemoh said he had no reason  to doubt the Transparency International report on corruption in Nigeria.

    He believed that it must have been based on a survey by TI and an assessment of the current state of affairs in Nigeria.

    To Ogwemoh, nothing had truly changed. Though efforts were being made by President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption, these efforts had not produced the expected results.

    He counselled that serious effort must be geared toward addressing  the causes of corruption.

    “What is being done is akin to treating symptoms rather than rooting out the disease itself. The fight, beside being focused on perceived enemies of the regime is not agenda driven, which ought to provide a roadmap for curbing corruption in the future.

    “I believe there has to be concerted efforts on the part of all Nigerians to fight corruption. Both the public and private sectors must come together to fight it.

    “Institutions and processes must be set up coupled with adherence to the rule of law at all levels of government,” he advised.

    Ubani also said he had no reason to doubt the rating index of TI on Nigeria noting that anytime the organisation passed a verdict on any nation, it is hardly faulted.

    “The truth of the matter is that Nigeria is yet to be free from corruption. It is more dangerous for a regime that boasts of fighting corruption to be found liable of committing corruption in large scale.

    ‘’This verdict calls to question the sincerity in the fight by this regime.’’

    “From  close observation of the fight against corruption by this administration,  it looks targeted against those who are in opposition. The  government has treated with kid gloves her members  who were accused of corruption.

    “The second issue that makes this fight to look like a child’s play is the inability of the present government to involve the people in the fight, it is not people-driven. One man alone does not fight

    corruption in a country,” he argued.

    Ubani recalled that the first falter in the fight against corruption was when the government soft-pedalled on her decision to publish the names of corrupt Nigerians that returned money to the government coffers when they came in.

    He said immediately they failed on this, it became obvious they were not sincere with the fight and the insincerity is very evident in some of the wrong decisions they have taken concerning  some of their cabinet members that are accused of corruption  which they have failed to prosecute.

    He said the worst crime in this fight was disobeying court orders and using impunity to run a government, adding: “In fact, these things are the worst sort of corruption. Why would a head of an agency that fights corruption not be subjected to the constitution and laws that set up the agency?

    “The world watches and they draw their conclusions from facts, raw data and situations they observe and see in our system and environment. It is pure madness to do the same thing, same way, and expect a different result. As it was in the beginning, so it appears even now, it is like the more you look, the less you see,” he argued.

     

     

  • Agbakoba: super coalition of groups, parties coming

    Agbakoba: super coalition of groups, parties coming

    National Intervention Movement (NIM) Leader Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) yesterday said a “super coalition” of political groups and parties would soon be unveiled.

    He said he met with Nigerians in the diaspora and global leaders and had nationwide consultations towards actualising the partnership.

    Agbakoba said NIM was pushing for “a revolution for true social, economic and political change in Nigeria”.

    According to him, the “extensive consultations with both Nigerians in Diaspora and a variety of global leaders” is aimed at “seeing a secure Nigeria re-attain democratic leadership in Africa and reliability as a member of the 21st century’s progressive international comity of nations”.

    A statement by NIM Director of Communications Mr. John Ekwuyasi said: “Dr. Agbakoba, accompanied by NIM Co-Chairman Dr. Abdul Jhali Tafawa Balewa, has since commenced further nationwide consultations with all like-minded Nigerian leaders and groups.

    “It is with the intent of partnering in the creation of a super-coalition of groups and parties determined to bring about real sustainable change to the present politico-economic status quo, and betterment of the lives of Nigerians nationwide, with especial emphasis on establishing a compass to liberate and empower Nigeria’s teeming millions of neglected youths and women.”

  • Challenge panel’s decision in court, Agbakoba, Ubani tell minister

    Challenge panel’s decision in court, Agbakoba, Ubani tell minister

    Former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Olisa Agbakoba has advised the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to challenge in court the decision of the Judicial Commission of Enquiry which barred him from holding public office in Ekiti State and other parts of Nigeria for 10 years.

    NBA’s Vice-President Monday Ubani concurred with Agbakoba that unless Fayemi urgently challenges the decision of the panel, it might affect him in the nearest future.

    Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, on Monday, banned Fayemi from joining the 2018 governorship race, after governor accepted the recommendations of a Judicial Commission of Enquiry, which recommended barring the former governor from holding public office in the state and other parts of Nigeria for 10 years.

    The panel, which was chaired by a former Acting Chief Judge, Justice Silas Oyewole (retd.), also recommended a 10-year ban from public office for a former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mr. Dapo Kolawole, who served under Fayemi.

    Speaking with The Nation, Agbakoba said: “This reminds me of Obasanjo vs Atiku, when Atiku was barred from holding public office and was disqualified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    “Kayode Fayemi will need to challenge the action in court; otherwise, it may be an issue for him, rightly or wrongly. If I was Dr Fayemi’s Legal Adviser, I would be heading to court.”

    Ubani described as “ridiculous” Fayose’s ban on Fayemi.

    He said: “It sounds ridiculous under our democracy for an executive arm of government to usurp a role of another arm of government (Judiciary) by banning a candidate from holding public office. It is repeated for the umpteenth time that it is only a properly constituted court that can ban a citizen of Nigeria from holding any public office.

    “I see this ban as a political vendetta targeted against the rumoured ambition of Fayemi to take another shot at the governorship contest in Ekiti. It is clearly in bad taste. Fayemi is hereby advised to proceed against this alleged ban in a court of law. We hope the court in the land will grant him a reprieve.”

    The NBA vice-president noted that there is need to always separate witch-hunting from attempts to make people account for alleged corruption while in office.

    He added: “If the report of the proceedings at the Commission of enquiry is anything to go by, then the White Paper must been based on some other proceedings that were held in secret.

    “The beneficiary bank, which was involved in the deal, was reported to have cleared Fayemi. So, upon what evidence was Fayemi held liable? This is a big question that deserves a big answer.”

  • I agree with Buhari on INEC’s credible polls, says Agbakoba

    I agree with Buhari on INEC’s credible polls, says Agbakoba

    A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment on the elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last year.

    In his New Year’s Day broadcast, the President described the by-elections conducted last year as credible.

    Agbakoba said:  ”INEC has not done badly at all. I give INEC kudos for conducting elections in a credible way, in spite of difficult circumstances. So I agree with President Buhari on this, that INEC has conducted credible elections in the past few years.

    “I give INEC strong commendations for the work it has done. The electoral process has also been strengthened, especially with the inclusion of electronic voting in the electoral act. INEC has really shown capacity to organise a credible election, so I think they will be able to deliver well in 2019.”

    But the activist said the president was undermining the challenges in the country by saying that such challenges could be tackled by the right processes.

    He said: “I don’t understand what he meant by process. What does process mean? That to me cannot address the issues. The issue is that Nigeria is in distress. If you rush a dying patient to the hospital on an emergency, you don’t subject him to process such as filling a form. Rather, you take him to the intensive care unit immediately and start to treat.

    “So Nigeria’s problem is not process. Nigeria’s problem is more fundamental. The problem is about who are we? Where do we want to be? How do we want to live together? Those are the issues. These are not processes. He completely undermined Nigeria’s problems by saying it is process. What is process? I don’t understand.”

    He said Buhari’s promise to embark on massive road repairs were impracticable, urging him to reconsider his position on restructuring which he believes would solve the country’s problems, including that of road infrastructure.

    Agbakoba also yesterday said the Executive had not fully complied with constitutional provisions in preparing this year’s Appropriation Bill with regards to the Judiciary.

    He said he would initiate legal proceedings and pray the court to set aside the 2018 budget if the right thing is not done within seven days.

    Agbakoba, in January 3 letters to Senate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, noted that President Buhari discussions are ongoing on the 2018 estimates but said sections 81 to 84 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) set out the procedure for preparing the Appropriation Bill, but that it was not complied with as far the Judiciary is concerned.

    “The Constitution requests each arm of government (the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary) to lay before the National Assembly its estimates of revenue and expenditure for each financial year, after which it is appropriated, harmonised as a Bill and presented to the President for his assent.

    “Unfortunately, the Executive has failed to comply with this procedure by laying before the National Assembly estimates of revenues and expenditure for the Judiciary.

    “This is in spite of a subsisting Federal High Court decision in Olisa Agbakoba vs. Attorney-General of the Federation & Others, with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/63/2013 that has declared this practice unconstitutional,” Agbakoba said.

    The frontline human rights activist urged the National Assembly to draw the Executive’s attention to the Federal High Court’s decision.

    He urged the National Assembly to send a request to the National Judicial Council (NJC) to lay before it the Judiciary’s estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2018.

    Agbakoba said the Executive should be made to represent its estimates for 2018.

    “We are unaware if the National Assembly has laid it budget estimates. But, please note that if after seven days the constitutional procedure is not complied with, we shall have no choice but to initiate legal proceedings to enforce the decision of the Federal High Court and set aside the 2018 Appropriation Bill,” Agbakoba said.

  • Buhari’s cabinet has failed, says Agbakoba

    Buhari’s cabinet has failed, says Agbakoba

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet has failed and should be disbanded, a leader of the National Intervention Movement (NIM), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), said yesterday.

    The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President at a briefing in Lagos on NIM’s objectives, said the movement aims to mobilise Nigerians to hold government accountable at all levels.

    “We want government to work for Nigerians. Presently, it does not. President Buhari needs to take his job seriously. He needs to sack his entire cabinet because they have failed.

    “Why? for instance, has nobody been fired for Mainagate? What is government’s plan for unemployment? Seventy per cent of our young people are unemployed. It is alarming! What is the Federal Government’s plan for power?

    “Should the privatisation process be reversed? Why are our bidding and procurement processes failing? Why is government still appropriating billions of naira for turnaround maintenance of dead refineries?” Agbakoba queried.

    According to him, governors must deploy resources efficiently.

    Agbakoba cited instances of Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode, who he said “is fixing federal roads when Lagos State roads are deplorable” and Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, who Agbakoba said “is erecting statues of all kinds of people when Imo State owes pensioners”.

    He said Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose “is making Christmas clothes for children but has not paid Ekiti workers”.

    The senior lawyer added that Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike “is using state money to buy SUVS for members of the National Assembly”.

    “Is it not a scandal that oil producing states like Rivers, Bayelsa, Abia, Delta etc owe salaries?” Agbokoba said.

    He said NIM’s mission “in the long run” is to wrest power from the political elite.

    “We believe strongly that the way forward is for civil society (including the media) to wrest power from this ruling political elite to achieve a new system that is inclusive and works for all and not a few,” Agbakoba said.

    To him, more is expected of the judiciary.

    He said: “How come corruption cases involving politicians never terminate in our courts? Governors accused of corruption after office get judicial immunity? Politicians charged with corruption present themselves for public office in every election circle. Some are senators making laws for the country.”

    According to Agbakoba, it was unfortunate that a country that produces crude oil cannot refine it.

    He said queues were returning due to fuel scarcity when “dead” refineries ought to have been “sold a long time ago”.

  • Agbakoba urges court to disqualify Buhari as Petroleum Minister

    Agbakoba urges court to disqualify Buhari as Petroleum Minister

    A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr Olisa Agbakoba SAN has urged a Federal High Court in Abuja to disqualify President Muhammadu Buhari from holding office as Petroleum Minister.

    Agbakoba prayed the court to declare that Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution bars the President of Nigeria from holding another executive office or paid employment, such as that of a petroleum minister.

    He is also seeking a declaration that by Section 147(2) of the Constitution, the President cannot lawfully hold the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources without confirmation by the Senate.

    A restraining order, he contended, ought to be issued to bar the President from simultaneously holding a ministerial office.

    Agbakoba further prayed the court to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, to, within 30 days, cause an appearance to be entered on Buhari’s behalf.

    In an originating summons filed yesterday, Agbakoba raised two issues for determination by the court.

    He asked: “By virtue of Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution, which disqualifies the President of Nigeria from holding any other executive office or paid employment, can the Nigerian President simultaneously serve as Minister of Petroleum Resources, which is an executive office?

    “By virtue of Section147(2) of the 1999 Constitution, if the President is not disqualified, can the President hold the office of Minister of Petroleum Resources, without confirmation by the Senate of the National Assembly?”

    In a 14-paragraph affidavit, which he personally deposed to in support of his suit, Agbakoba explained that the basis of his suit was the recent management crisis in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), between Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and NNPC Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti Baru.

    He said: “I verily believe that the governance chaos of NNPC could not have occurred if the President is not also the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

    “I am worried that the crisis in NNPC will greatly reduce Nigeria’s revenue generating capacity and will affect revenue distributable to Federal, States and Local Governments in Nigeria. This will gravely affect development nationwide and drastically impact on me and all Nigerians including those in Anambra state (my state of origin) and Lagos state (my state of residence).

    “I looked at Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution and I verily believe it disqualifies the President from holding executive office including that of Minister of Petroleum, during his tenure of office as President.

    “I also know that the President did not go through nomination process and confirmation by the Senate, before holding the office of Minister of Petroleum Resources

    “I again looked at Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution and I verily believe it prohibits anybody from holding the office of a Minister of the Federation, without confirmation by the Senate.”

  • Buhari can’t delegate restructuring power, says Agbakoba 

    Buhari can’t delegate restructuring power, says Agbakoba 

    President Muhammadu Buhari cannot delegate the responsibility of leading the process of restructuring Nigeria, a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) yesterday.

    At a briefing in Lagos, Agbakoba said contrary to the President’s position that the National Assembly should lead the process, the Constitution empowers him to do so.

    He said: “The president has delegated the responsibility to restructure Nigeria to the National Assembly and National Council of State.

    “But, this responsibility cannot be delegated. Section 5 of the Constitution vests the President with executive powers of the federation and this includes the power to restructure Nigeria.”

    Agbakoba said President Buhari would be compelled to reconsider his position should all Nigerians, especially key Northern and Southern leaders, agree on restructuring.

    He urged the South, which he said appeared to have reached a consensus on restructuring, to engage the North and persuade Northern leaders on the need for a new Nigeria.

    Agbakoba faulted the military action against the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying it had complicated the issues.

    He said were he the President, he would have engaged IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu and face the issues rather than “crushing” the group, which he said is “gaining international traction”.

    To him, the agitation for true federalism and complaints about marginalisation went beyond IPOB.

    The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also blamed Kanu for misusing what he described as a good opportunity to push for a referendum, which he said international law allows.

    Agbakoba said he agreed with eminent constitutional lawyer Prof Ben Nwabueze (SAN) that Nigeria needed a new constitution anchored on a new political order.

    “The way forward for Nigeria is for the citizens, in exercise of the power inherent in them as a sovereign people, to make, through a referendum, a new constitution, constituting a new political order.

    “The process must be led by the President as the elected leader of the people,” he said.

    Agbakoba said Nigeria was increasingly becoming a fragile state, with conflict and agitation everywhere, and most parts of the country feeling either marginalised or excluded, leading to calls for restructuring.

    He said restructuring must address other connecting issues, such as the bloated size of the public service in which 80 per cent of the national budget is used to service three per cent of the population.

    “The Orosanye committee reviewed 263 statutory agencies of government and asked government to scrap 102 agencies. Government should implement the Orasanye report immediately.

    “Government should then focus on its core mandate, which is, policy execution and regulation and stay completely away from business matters. This will empower a new set of economic actors (civil society and the private sector). This type of restructure is critical for economic development,” Agbakoba said.

    On how the restructuring should be done, he said it must have a national outlook in which every constituent part of Nigeria is carried along.

    “The president should initiate the restructuring project by providing context. Restructuring can be implemented by executive and administrative orders and also presenting the 2014 National Conference Report to the National Assembly.

    “The 2014 National Conference Report actually examined and resolved a lot of the restructuring issues. So, we should start with the report,” he said.

    Agbakoba said the restructuring process must resolve fiscal federalism and determine how to create a balance between the federal and federating units in revenue sharing.

    He suggested that Federal Government allow states control over natural resources in their domain.

    An alternative, he said, is to isolate hydrocarbons, and create transitional provisions (a sunset clause) to transfer ownership to oil bearing states over a period, but in the meantime review percentage derivation.

    A third possibility, he said, is to demarcate onshore hydrocarbon to be left to the littoral states, and offshore to the Federal Government.

    According to him, there is the need for “subnational groups” to develop a blue print on restructuring so as to have charity.

    “A fifth challenge is to recognise the difference between devolution of powers and redistribution of powers. The relevant concept for restructuring is redistribution and not devolution of powers. The concepts are mixed up.

    “Redistribution is when power is rearranged between the federal and regional governments. Devolution relates to powers given up by the unitary government to the regions. Nigeria is a federation and not a unitary state,” Agbakoba said.

    On former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s advise to Agbakoba to join politics, the former NBA president said: “When I met Obasanjo, I said: ‘Thanks for the reply, but know that to contest for a political office today requires all kinds of resources.

    “There is no way that a young man can become Nigeria’s president if the obstacles that are on ground do not shift. Obasanjo has the capacity, in collaboration with others who should be concerned with bequeathing the legacy of a strong Nigeria. If they part the red sea, people like us will cross it.”