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Tag: anti-graft war

  • Nigerian press, anti-graft war and rule of law

    Nigerian press, anti-graft war and rule of law

    The Nigerian press has an impressive record of which it can be justifiably proud. In the colonial era it was in the vanguard of the long and difficult struggle to rid our country of the degradation of colonialism. This era produced such fine writers and editors as Ernest Ikoli of the then Daily Times, owned then by the Alakija family, Anthony Enahoro of the West African Pilot, owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and S.L. Akintola of the Daily Service, of which the Doherty family were the proprietors. The latter eventually became a politician and controversial premier of the old Western Region. A succession of bright, fiercely independent and determined journalists has since maintained this fine tradition of the Nigerian press.

    In those early days, the Nigerian press and journalists were united in their opposition to colonial rule and to any form of social injustice in our country. Later, after independence, they helped define the political and economic challenges facing the country, and fought hard in defence of the liberal values they believed in, such as democracy and respect for the rule of law in our country. Much more importantly, they mobilised the people and the country against any form of authoritarian rule and political excesses by those in authority. Some Nigerian journalists have paid a heavy price for their determined opposition to the excesses of our rulers, particularly during the long period of military rule in our country. Under military rule many of them were detained, and some actually jailed. One can easily recall how Messrs Tunde Thompson and Tony Irabor of The Guardian were tried by military tribunals and sent to prison by the military government. As may well be expected, independent journalism, the freedom of speech and the rule of law suffered terribly during the long period of military rule in Nigeria. Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for their dogged fight against any form of arbitrary rule. We owe the limited freedoms we enjoy today to their eternal vigilance.

    Today, the political situation in Nigeria has changed largely because of their tenacity in defending personal freedoms. The press is certainly freer. It is more robust in its defence of the democratic process and the rule of law in our country. The political space is freer and journalists are now less likely to be hauled off to jail for expressing views and opinions that the authorities may not like. There is also a far greater variety of news media and views than ever before. Most of the newspapers are now privately owned and there is a healthy rivalry and competition among them for circulation. All this augurs well for the future of the Nigerian press and the rule of law in Nigeria. Altogether the press in Nigeria represents a countervailing force that cannot be ignored for too long by those in authority. It is playing a leading role in exposing and fighting public corruption in Nigeria. To a large extent, it was responsible for the defeat of the Jonathan PDP federal government by exposing the corruption of leading members of that government. President Jonathan lost the presidential election because of his failure, or inability, to take urgent action against some of his ministers known to be corrupt. For this, the nation remains grateful to the Nigerian news media.

    But the enormous power and influence currently being enjoyed by the press impose on it some obligations and responsibilities as well. It must continue to uphold and defend the basic freedoms of our people from any unwarranted assaults by those in authority. It should remain committed to the defence of the rule of law in our country. Whatever else may divide us as a people and a country; we must collectively uphold the rule of law. This is what binds us and our country together. Without it our country and people will not have any future of which we can be proud. So, the defence of the rule of law and basic freedoms in Nigeria is paramount. It is a value that the press should continue to uphold for the good of our country. Without it our country can easily fall apart.

    However, we do not do the rule of law any good when we use it to try and restrain, or impede, the government from discharging its responsibilities to the nation, particularly on such an aggravating issue as the fight against the widespread public corruption in our country. The entire nation is behind President Buhari and his APC federal government in its efforts to stamp out public corruption in our country. The social and economic consequences of corruption for our country are so grave that we should all, including the press, continue to support the government fully in its efforts to stamp it out and restore financial accountability to our country. There will always be some irritations about this but we must keep the goal clearly in our sights. President Buhari should not be blamed for fighting corruption in our country. He has the mandate to do so and he knows that if he fails to tackle this evil, the defeated and corrupt PDP may regain power in the next election.

    President Buhari was elected primarily because of his pledge to rid the country of public corruption. He has the support of the entire people of our country to take urgent and practical measures against public corruption in our country. In fact, most of our people feel he has been too slow in tackling public corruption. They want those suspected of corruption to be tried swiftly. But this is not a military regime and President Buhari is obliged to follow due legal process in his fight against public corruption. If this were a military regime, many of these people suspected of corruption will be in detention already. In Ghana, four former military rulers were once executed by Jerry Rawlins, then Ghana’s military ruler, on charges of public corruption. We must condemn such a crude and extra judicial method in our country, but it rid Ghana of corruption.

    Now, President Buhari is being unfairly criticised by some sections of the press and newspaper columnists for complaining that undue delay in the legal process is a major hurdle in the fight against corruption. In fact, his resolve to fight public corruption in our country is admirable and should earn him our full support. He has not in any way interfered directly with the independence of the judiciary, which has often been accused of corruption… As I write this, the media has reported that an Abuja High Court has ruled that the re-arrest after bail of Dasuki, the embattled former NSA, does not in any way amount to a breach of the rule of law. The country has persistently asked for a massive reform of the criminal justice system in our country. Every Chief Justice of Nigeria has had to complain publicly about corruption in the Judiciary and the delay in the delivery of justice in Nigeria. This is the point that President Buhari tried to make. The press has often taken the lead in attacking the Judiciary for its massive corruption. It has exposed many corrupt judges and some of these have been retired. Corruption in the Judiciary is so bad that many suspects, except the poor, escape trial and convictions in the courts by resorting to all kinds of legal subterfuges, including, contrived delays and frivolous injunctions in the courts. In most cases, the trial of suspects takes years and is often inconclusive. Both Ibori and Alamieyeseigha, two former governors, escaped conviction here in Nigeria for massive corruption, but were subsequently convicted in Britain for money laundering. Is that not a clear indication that the Nigerian Judiciary cannot be trusted to dispense justice swiftly where the suspects are leading public figures? Is this not a clear case of double standards in the Nigerian criminal justice system in which the rich are treated differently from the poor, a negation of the basic principle of the equality of justice for all people in the courts? Is this not a breach of the rule of law by the few bad eggs in the Judiciary?

    There is a pervasive and justifiable feeling in our country that the political elite enjoy some kind of immunity from prosecution for public theft and corruption. Our prisons are full of convicts, usually poor people, rightly jailed, for minor criminal offences. Some are detained in the prisons for years while still awaiting trial, often deliberately delayed. They are hardly ever granted bail by the courts. In the case of the rich and powerful, the courts tend to treat them with kid gloves by granting them bail capriciously. This is morally unacceptable and reprehensible, as many of them who were granted bail by the courts fled the country and have refused to return home to face trial for public theft and corruption. There must be scores of these public officials abroad who fled the country after securing legal bails.

    The Nigerian press must remain committed to its defence of the rule of law. This is in the interest of the country. But it must be careful enough to avoid, or create a situation, in which the fight against public corruption is unwittingly turned into a fight against the government. This can only give comfort to those being tried for looting the national treasury. Is corruption not itself a breach of the rule of law? Is that not why it is a criminal offence against the state? Does it not undermine the basic freedoms of the people and their inherent economic rights to decent living standards? If there is any breach of the rule of law, those standing trial for public theft and corruption are rich and powerful enough to contest such alleged breaches of the rule of law in court.

    These people are enemies of the state and, if found guilty after a fair trial, they must pay the full legal penalties for their crimes against the nation. They should not be allowed to use the press to bail themselves out of the financial mess created by them. There is no need to call into question the motives of a few columnists and journalists who, in this grave matter, have written very passionately about possible breaches of the rule of law. They fight for a lofty and noble ideal. But the evidence that President Buhari has interfered or plans to interfere with the Judiciary, as claimed by some journalists, is weak and untenable in present circumstances.

  • Buhari, judiciary and anti-graft war

    How supportive is the judiciary in the anti-corruption stance of President Muhammadu Buhari administration? Is it really slowing down the move to stamp out corruption in the country or just observing and following the required due process.

    These are some of the questions Nigerians want answers to. But only time will give them the answers.

    Over the years, the judicial system has been considered to be too slow in the dispensation of justice for cases brought before it.

    While delay in court cases are attributed to a thoroughness in examining every side of a matter and  avoiding mistakes in judgment, they have, however, been considered to be un-healthily slow.

    Some cases that should have been dispensed with within a year have been allowed to drag for up to 10.

    This has not only slowed down prosecution of criminals walking free on bail but resulted in overcrowded prisons across the country, filled with suspects and inmates.

    Most of the suspects in detention, in many cases, have ended up spending more years on trial than the number of years they would have got if they were promptly convicted on the cases.

    Just like the rising overcrowded prisons with inmates and suspects for other crimes, the ongoing cases of money laundry and theft in public offices brought forward by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have began to pile up in courts.

    The piling up of the financial crime cases in courts is a result of what Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, described as ‘only one bleeding point’, which is investigation of funds meant for purchase of arms and ammunition under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration via the office of the former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.

    With the seeming slowness of the processes in courts, Nigerians have started to wonder further if the judiciary will really stand up to the occasion and speedily and accurately dispense more financial and economic crime cases that will be brought before them when government’s investigation goes to other key areas of the economy like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    Unlike in the past fight against corruption that appeared to be a lip service business only, not a few Nigerians under the new dispensation want to see looters of the treasury convicted and jailed for their crimes.

    The actions of the looters have not only impoverished many Nigerians, but have also sent a lot of Nigerians to their early graves due to dilapidated healthcare facilities in the country among other decaying infrastructures.

    Those pushing for their speedy conviction may not derive any special pleasure from such looters being jailed, but they want it to serve as a deterrence to others that may want to venture into such treasury looting.

    Fighting corruption to a standstill will make the commonwealth of Nigerians be more available for infrastructural and other developments and in turn benefit more Nigerians in the short and long run.

    Because of the importance of the anti-graft war, the issue was brought to the fore a fortnight ago when President Buhari held a town hall meeting with Nigerians living in Ethiopia.

    Buhari did not fail at the interactive session to call for strong support of the judiciary in order to win the war against corruption.

    Against some online reports, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu last week insisted that the President didn’t launch any onslaught against the court system in Nigeria during the session.

    He said: “The President did not embark on that. In fact, he said that he had a partner in the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mahmud Mohammed and he is counting on his support to ensure that the war against corruption is won.”

    But expressing worries with the present system, Shehu said: “If EFCC will do their duty, ICPC or the Office of the NSA, which is now involved in this investigation, if all of us will gather all the evidences in this world against one official or the other at a court, and the court decides that all the evidences have come to nothing, then there is a problem.”

    To tackle the congestion of cases in the conventional courts, which result from high rate of cases filed, it may not be out of place here to support the call for establishment of special courts to try economic and financial crimes.

    Creation of special courts for labour-related issues in the country have helped in speeding dispensation of justice for labour matters.

    So, special courts for economic and financial crimes will go a long way in killing the ‘cancerous’ corruption in the country and make more Nigerians benefit from the dividends of democracy.

     

    Adopting Kenya’s agric system 

     

    Despite having less than 8% of its land for crop and feed production, agriculture has remained the most important economic activity in Kenya.

    About 80% of the work forces are engaged in agriculture or food processing in the country

    With this, Kenya is not only meeting local demands for many agricultural produces, but it has also been exporting them abroad.

    Items like tea, coffee, horticultural exports, including green beans, onions, cabbages, snow peas, avocados, mangoes, and passion fruit are being exported  to earn foreign exchange for the country.

    While flowers being exported include roses, carnations, statice, astromeria, and lilies, Kenya also exports sisal, tobacco, and bixa annatto (a natural food coloring agent).

    Kenya is the world’s largest producer and exporter of pyrethrum, a flower that contains a substance used in pesticides.

    Other important crops being produced by Kenya include sugarcane, corn, wheat, rice, cotton, potatoes, beans, peas, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas, and oilseeds.

    Nigeria’s over dependence on oil as main source of government revenue since its discovery in Nigeria has made the country lose its past and enviable glory in agriculture.

    While agricultural produces like groundnut, cotton, palm oil among others were the mainstay of the Nigeria economy in the 1960s, the abundant arable land in the country were neglected for oil, which many now consider to be a curse rather than blessing for Nigeria.

    Declining revenue of oil from the international market has now forced Nigeria to begin to diversify its economy or be ready to perish.

    To get the new moves right in agriculture, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is not closing its eyes to nations with success stories in agriculture.

    He therefore did not fail to take advantage of his visit to Kenya end of last month to take a look at Kenya’s agricultural system.

    Speaking on the visit to Kenya, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said: “Agriculture has raised life in Kenya and you can see quality of lives at the bottom of the societal ladder. The quality of life in Kenya is higher than what it is in Nigeria.

    “Forget about all the years of oil well in Nigeria. Is this wealth evident among the lowest of our people? It is not there, there is still poverty, hunger and disease. But Kenya is rising and it is like everyone is being carried along. Kenya is exporting so much.

    “We also came back from Kenya with the idea of free trade between the two countries. They will not pay duty on goods they bring from Kenya while Nigerians can also take advantage of it to take their goods to Kenya without paying duties. We hope that will help in bringing their expertise in agriculture. They also can learn from the good practices we have concerning our oil,” he said.

     

  • No going back on anti-graft war – Osinbajo

    No going back on anti-graft war – Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday said that pressure from some Nigerian elites to slow down the ongoing fight against graft would not deter the Buhari presidency from ridding the country of the problem of corruption.

    He made the remark during a meeting with a delegation from the Moslem Congress of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Osinbajo, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, noted that the government has been getting regular messages from some Nigerian elites urging it to cool down on the war.

    He said: “It is a very strange morality that some of those people have, very complicated but cutting across all tribes and religious differences.”

    He however observed that the masses of the Nigerian people encouragingly have a clearer understanding of right and wrong.

    “The masses don’t have that problem,” he said.

    According to him, a new tribe of Nigerians who would not compromise their values but would maintain a sense of right and wrong is now emerging.

    “The man on the street is very clear, so whatever some of these elites say, we shall keep our focus on the masses who voted for us,” the Vice President declared.

    He said it is simply unacceptable that in the last 16 years there is not a single federal government completed road project, not to talk of rail.

    Noting that the reason for their failure was corruption, he said that the cost of projects was often inflated as people entrusted with public trust struggle to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.

    He said it was the same inordinate desire for enrichment that explains why money meant to procure arms was being distributed among persons at a time when the territorial integrity of the nation was being attacked.

    “The insurgency has gone on for 6 years because government could not adequately equip the military,” he said

    But the Vice President assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari and himself would not relent.

    He said the president and himself have no other agenda but “the progress of this country.”

    Continuing, he said: “Mr. President and I are extremely focussed on what we need to do. We will focus on critical things, infrastructure and social investments.”

    Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation from the Moslem Congress of Nigeria, Imam Abdulahi Shuaib conveyed the support of the organization to the government’s programmes including anti-corruption, and expressed readiness to offer assistance.

    According to him, “we are thankful that our candidates of choice in the election emerged.”

    He said the choice of the President and Vice President were made by God Himself during last year’s presidential election.

    The Vice President also received delegations from the Nigeria Society of Engineers, NSE and the Facility for Oil Sector Transparency Reform, FOSTER, a group composed of NGOs involved in different issues in the Niger Delta areas.

    At his courtesy meeting with the NSE, Prof Osinbajo praised the engineers and highlighted the importance of the profession in national development.

    “There is no question at all that engineers are central to the development of the society,” he noted.

    The NSE delegation was led by its President, Engineer Otis Anyaeji.

    Speaking while receiving FOSTER, the Vice President restated the government’s commitment to the development of the Niger Delta.

    He also commended the group for coming together to develop a common framework to support the process of development in the area.

    The group, which said it adopted a common framework in order to avoid duplication, was led by Mr. Richard Oshowole.

  • Emmanuel backs Buhari’s anti-graft war

    Emmanuel backs Buhari’s anti-graft war

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel yesterday backed President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign.

    The governor addressed State House correspondents after meeting the President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

    Emmanuel noted that the anti-corruption campaign deserved the support of all Nigerians, saying the campaign was fantastic.

    The governor, who is a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the anti-corruption war needed effective institutional structures that would enable the system run smoothly.

    He also said Nigerians should purge themselves of insincerity and impunity because corruption goes beyond the exchange of money between corrupt persons.

    Emmanuel said: “…If we must move forward as a country, we must tackle corruption. I believe it’s essential to put in place strong institutional structures to fight corruption, to set up structures that would enable systems to run effective without interference. All hands must be on desk in fighting corruption.

    “When we’re talking about corruption, we’ll start looking round. Why can’t we start looking at ourselves?

    “Let’s start from even you as a person. What is corruption? It’s not only when money exchanges hands that is corruption. Somebody trying to influence an unjust cause; it’s corruption one way or the other.

    “Corruption is a broad concept: If you gave N10 at hand and you’re not honest about it, you will never be honest about it when you have N10 million at hand. So, corruption has a lot of ramifications; it is not in terms of the magnitude.

    “It is core value system that really needs to be analyzed. We strongly support the fight against corruption. All the governors in Nigeria are waging the same war in their different domains, trying to set up structures, trying to see how we can minimise, at least, if it is not possible to deal with it overnight.

    “But at least we must deal with corruption, even to the barest minimum.”

  • Increasingly controversial anti-graft war

    Increasingly controversial anti-graft war

    The facts are truly and depressingly worrisome. First was the $2.1bn arms scandal allegedly directed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which has sucked in so many people, especially top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders, and many companies, local and international, in all sectors of the economy. While the dust was yet to settle, the focus has shifted to arms procurement directed by top officers in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). A report by the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment set up to look into how and at what prices NAF procured arms between 2007 and 2015 has established that another $2bn and more was also spent in very questionable circumstances with little result. President Muhammadu Buhari has, therefore, ordered a probe of the 17 top officers and 21 firms involved in the scandal. The list includes former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, and two former Air Marshals.

    The audit committee gave a horrendous account of military equipment purportedly bought but were either not supplied, were obsolete, or were already mothballed. In virtually all the procurement, said the audit committee, the prices were horrifyingly inflated. The impression the report gave — and the public will remember that the ONSA scandal was not any different — was a military establishment gone absolutely raving mad with corruption. The EFCC has now taken over both the ONSA case and the NAF bazaar. Many officers will be hauled in for interrogation in the coming days, and after a while they will have their day in court. But far beyond the coming trials and the sickening amount involved is the fact that in the case of the NAF procurement, the audit committee was actually able to establish some links between the purchase of obsolete equipment and the death of air force officers in crashed helicopters.

    The scale of the thievery perpetrated by those put in a position of trust, especially military officers who had a professional duty to ensure their men had access to fighting tools in order to fight and win, has led many commentators to insist that whatever constitutional rights of suspects were being allegedly violated should be overlooked as collateral damage in the great and transcendental war to save the nation. As they put it, national interest must always be prioritised above private interest. Lawyers are duplicitous and venal, they suggest, and the character of judges, sadly, cannot be certified. The government, they conclude, is therefore justified to take some extraordinary measures to protect national interest. The public must remember, they further suggest, that the thievery that attended arms procurement led to the prolongation of the Boko Haram war, and the death of many fine soldiers sent to war either improperly kitted or with poor and inadequate weapons.

    This sentiment, which its protagonists insist is absolutely justified, is shared by President Buhari himself. In his maiden media chat, he was so openly outraged by an interviewer’s suggestion that he seemed to place his desire to punish suspects outside legal and constitutional provisions that he wondered why anyone would talk of bail in the light of the gravity of the offences the suspects committed. This sentiment, this outrage, is now almost so universal in the country that a few Nigerians, including this columnist, are beginning to worry that a national hysteria may be brewing capable of perpetrating a worse crime against the law and constitution in the name of fighting corruption. Corruption should be fought, and fought until justice is served for the millions, including fighting men, who have lost their lives because of the stealing by a few, because of the abuse of public trust by a few. But there is need for caution.

    Of all those horrified by the scale of thievery, and of all those baying for blood, the president has the highest responsibility to ensure that public revenge is moderated and mediated according to the law and constitution. He has not discharged this responsibility in line with the oath he took. He is attempting to fight the corrupt outside the provisions of the law. It is true the law is inadequate. But until he can sponsor changes in the law, he is not at liberty to fight as he pleases, nor does he have the freedom to pronounce or think the suspects guilty until the courts have said so. Importantly too, he must be extra careful, notwithstanding his outrage, not to create a groundswell of lynch mentality upon which suspects would meet their doom, and the judiciary would be ridiculed and undermined. Should he and millions of his frenzied supporters create an atmosphere reminiscent of the United States McCarthy witch-hunt and the Chinese cultural revolution, they will open up the country to anarchy much worse than the financial scandal orchestrated by looters.

    The president is not careful enough. And his refusal to exercise care in prosecuting a great cause is manifesting in ugly colours apparently because he does not have impressive understanding of the kind of society he wants to help create. He has no social charter, no political philosophy, and no nuanced understanding of the dangers constituted by impunity, whether soft or brazen. The president must be told that while he is engaged in a good cause to fight corruption, which he rightly argues is a great national interest cause, he undermines that national interest by inadvertently subverting the courts and the judiciary, and giving the general impression that suspects can be lynched figuratively on the pages of newspapers or literally on the streets, in prisons and in EFCC custody. He must not have any illusion how national interest is defined. He has a responsibility to define it as the constitution has done, and be faithful to that definition.

    From the alarming positions taken by many commentators, some of them eminent lawyers, the foundations for anarchy, self-help and legal and constitutional expediencies are being sown. They are wrong, and the president is wrong. A good cause can be damaged by the manner it is prosecuted, as even common sense teaches. The standards the society must uphold — and the president is the battering ram in the hands of the society — must transcend that of the suspects and other criminals. The society cannot be bigger or more civilised than the standards it embraces. Nothing on earth, therefore, justifies what the Buhari government is trying to do to the law and the constitution. For justice must not just be done, it must be seen to be done.

    President Buhari must listen not only to those baying mindlessly for blood because in their opinion the Nigerian justice system appears inadequate to take care of the huge scale of malfeasance perpetrated by suspects. He must listen very carefully also to those who say he has a greater and more binding responsibility to fight his causes within the ambits of the law. The society is bigger than its thieves, more civilised than they are, and for the sake of coming generations, the president who is the chief custodian of the country’s laws and emblem of all that is good and noble about Nigeria, must ensure that at no time will the society descend to the brutish, reckless, self-help levels embraced by thieves who have nothing to lose, not even their names or dignity.

    The next set of suspects the EFCC will bring to trial must show that the agency and the president have learnt from their mistakes. But if they will not change because of the overwhelming support they are receiving from the public, if they look more at the magnitude of the crime than the danger of undermining the constitution, if they keep arguing with scant regard for the laws of the land that public or national interest overrides private interest, they must also know that those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. Indeed, the Buhari presidency must take caution now, for there is no telling what he would do, or how dangerously he would whip up emotions once the searchlight is beamed to other sectors of the economy and the true scale of the stealing perpetrated in the past decade or so comes to light.

  • Buhari’s anti-graft war selective, says PDP

    Buhari’s anti-graft war selective, says PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of pursuing a selective anti-corruption agenda, with its chieftains as targets.

    In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said “we are completely against any one-sided public trial and mob conviction of accused persons without following the agelong and worldwide legal process wherein accused persons were presumed innocent until the contrary is lawfully proved.

    “We do not believe that mere investigation confers a guilt verdict on those concerned and the government should stop the brutal mob and public conviction of individuals and the transfer of the burden of proof of people being investigated”.

    The party challenged the Federal Government to set up a National Truth Commission “where politicians and other Nigerians publicly discuss the true meaning of corrupt practice in our land”.

    According to the PDP, the “commission” would also provide a platform for a proper public inquisition into the mind-boggling wealth of some Nigerians in public office.

    The party observed that the corruption investigation was targeted at only those opposed to President Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “In fact, until top officials of the former government open up on the exact source of the funding, it remains premature to be accusing our party members of corrupt practices”, the statement added.

    The party said if indeed the government’s investigation included the expenditure of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s security votes from 2011, then the investigation should be extended to 1984.

    According the PDP, the investigation should be extended to the security votes of past Presidents and Heads of State from 1984; the award of contracts by the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) from 1993 to 1999.

    The party called for investigation into expenditure of military purchases and expenditure during the Bakassi wars; the fight against militancy in the Niger Delta; military interventions in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda, among others.

    The PDP also demanded investigation into sources of funding for its 2015 presidential campaigns and that of the APC.

  • ICPC to enlist youths in anti-graft war

    ICPC to enlist youths in anti-graft war

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has agreed in principle to deploy  Nigerian youths to monitor corruption in public sectors at both  federal and state levels.

    They are to report cases of grafts for necessary action. Already, the anti-graft Commission in a communique agreed to the process of urging the youths, mostly students in the tertiary institutions to monitor the disbursement of the bailout funds released by the Federal Government to the states, while reporting any fraud associated with process of disbursements.

    The youths are also to  pay attention to cases of unnecessary increase of school fees by school administrations, police extortion, and other corrupt acts that affect students in their respective states.

    A synergy between ICPC and the Nigerian youths on the fight against corruption was the fall out of just concluded two-day National Conference on Youth against Corruption which held at the International Conference Center Abuja.

     

  • Support Buhari’s anti-graft war, cleric urges Nigerians

    Support Buhari’s anti-graft war, cleric urges Nigerians

    Provost of Saint Theresa’s Church of Christ Cherubim and Seraphim, Imene El’Shaddai, Lagos, Prophet (Captain) Babawole Shitta, has called on Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign.

    Shitta, who spoke at the annual anniversary and harvest thanksgiving of the church, noted that corruption has had adverse effect on the development of the country.

    Infrastructures such as roads, electricity and potable water, among other things, have eluded the people due to corruption, he stated.

    “In every sphere of our lives now, Nigeria wears the look of a worn out clothes because of the extent corrupt officials have dealt with this country,” he said, urging Buhari to sustain the fight against the menace to restore the nation’s glory.

    The cleric appealed to the Lagos State government to intensify efforts on roads rehabilitation across the state.

    He cited Mushin as example, saying almost all the roads in the area are in terrible state and require urgent attention.

     

  • Monarch drums up support for anti-graft war

    Monarch drums up support for anti-graft war

    The traditional ruler of Ossomala Kingdom in Anambra State, Chief Victor Awogu, has urged traditional institutions to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft war.

    He spoke yesterday when he visited Vintage Press Limited, publisher of The Nation.

    Awogu said the war against graft would be accomplished if government at all levels were involved in the crusade.

    He said as custodians of morals, traditional rulers were better positioned to show good examples, adding that they were better positioned to fish out criminals within their domains.

    The monarch hinted that traditional rulers should be accorded the fourth level of governance.

    “It comes before the local government, which is a conglomerate of several towns. In these communities, there must be peace for things to functional well and that depends on the traditional rulers.”

    He noted that those not happy with the fight against graft would want to frustrate it, adding that Nigerians must be resolute in the crusade.

    “The government is doing well in its fight against corruption. Again, if you fight corruption, it will fight back. We can all see it that corruption is fighting back.”

    He urged government to fight corruption in its totality, irrespective of political, religious affiliation.

    “The court has to prove them guilty and whoever has done wrong should pay for his or her sins no matter the side of the divide he belongs to, they must account.

    “Whoever has consumed what does not belong to him or her must return it. There should not be any selectivity.”

    On the issue of approving state policing, he said Nigeria was not fully prepared for state policing.

    “It is a long-standing issue and lots of interests are involved. Nigeria, whether we like it or not, is a conglomeration of different ethnic groups. Again, is Nigeria actually prepared for armed groups in the name of state police?

    “We are not prepared and I stand by that. Nigeria is not well positioned, not yet ripe for armed groups. We are talking of 36 constitutionally armed groups, when we talk of state police. So, you are talking of 36 independent armed bodies. If you add that to the proliferation of small arms, the question we ask ourselves is, are we prepared for it?”

    The traditional ruler said the type of state police the country had in the past did not have the kind of power being canvassed because, according to him, the state police of the past were restricted to skeletal services.

     

  • Anti-graft war: We don’t torture suspects in EFCC, says Lamorde

    Anti-graft war: We don’t torture suspects in EFCC, says Lamorde

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does not obtain statement from suspects under duress, its chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde, said yesterday.

    He said the state-of-the-art recording facilities in the EFCC interrogation rooms would not allow any investigator to humiliate a suspect.

    He, however, pleaded with Western nations to reject and return stolen funds.

    Lamorde, who made the clarifications during a visit by two officials of Amnesty International (AI), said corruption was the worst form of human rights abuse.

    He said: “The EFCC follows the rule of law. Our statements are recorded and are not taken under duress. Our rooms have cameras in them. So, it is not possible to humiliate anyone.”

    He urged Western countries to continue to reject and return stolen funds.

    Lamorde added: “Western countries must end the impoverisation of developing countries. They must reject and return stolen funds, so that respective governments of the affected developing countries could use the money to better the lives of the poor in their countries.

    “It is the commonwealth of the people that has been diverted for private use. So, it is the worst form of human rights abuse. When corruption and impunity become the order of the day, human rights abuses flourish.

    “When you consider the cause of water-borne diseases suffered by people in rural areas, it is because someone has diverted the funds meant for pipe-borne water in those areas.

    ‘Also, when you consider the fact that our hospitals lack basic amenities, it is because some people have kept the funds allocated to the hospitals to themselves. I, therefore, urge you to consider partnering the EFCC.”

    On his part, the Senior Director, Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Mr. Colm O Cuanachain, said  nations that take anti-corruption war seriously would experience “phenomenal growth”.

    Cuanachain, who expressed the readiness of AI to partner EFCC, also talked about the activities of the AI in the Northeast, the Niger Delta and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he said corruption had contributed to human rights violation.

    He decried the death penalty as punishment for looters of the treasury.

    “It is not the best option in the fight against corruption,” he said.

    The Executive Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, M.K. Ibrahim, emphasised the need for the people to be educated on the effects of corruption and human rights violations.