Government will sanitise the oil industry and free it from corruption and shady deals, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday in United States.
He said those responsible for the corruption in the giant oli firm will soon be prosecuted.
The president spoke in New York during a meeting with President Xi Jinping of China on the side lines of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations.
He said the first step in this direction had already been taken with the appointment of a new management for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsequent reorganisation.
He said that the prosecution of those who misappropriated NNPC’s revenue under past administrations will soon commence.
Buhari commended President Xi for China’s assistance to Nigeria to curb the theft of crude oil.
He applauded China’s interception of shipload of crude oil stolen from Nigeria which was to be sold and their proceeds paid into private accounts.
“We know your stand on corruption and we are grateful. Your continued cooperation in curbing oil theft from Nigeria will be appreciated, ” he said.
Buhari told his Chinese counterpart that under his leadership, the Nigerian military had been re-trained and re-equipped and was now making steady gains in the fight against Boko Haram.
President Xi said China was involved in the development of Nigeria in diverse areas like construction of railways, airports, agriculture, Mambilla Hydro-power project, among others.
He promised that China would increase its investment in Nigeria’s agriculture sector to boost food security.
Xi also promised that his country would invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and assist in the development of human resources.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday insisted on capital punishment for corrupt public office holders.
It opposed life imprisonment for treasury looters, saying the country was not ripe for it.
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, spoke with newsmen in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, during a condolence visit to former vice president of the union, Issa Aremu, on the death of his mother, Hafsat.
He said: “We must canvass for capital punishment. It is only people who are stealing that will go against it.
“If we are campaigning for capital punishment and people are kicking against it, we must be consistent because people are reaping from where they have not sown.
“Except we begin to do the needful, it will be difficult to change our society. If you have followed up our argument, we have said clearly that part of why we are in this quagmire of challenges is that a lot of people have appropriated the resources that we need to drive development.”
Wabba went on: “Schools are not developing; there are no drugs in hospitals. People have helped themselves and Nigerians are suffering.
“So we have the right to demand good governance and accountability. The major problem in Nigeria is corruption.”
He said workers kicked against plea bargaining because “it will be an incentive to encourage treasury looters because the loot will be too much so that during the process of plea bargaining, they may just part with little.”
On factionalisation within the union, he said the rift has been settled.
He explained: “The disagreement has been settled by the grace of God. We have settled and we are pushing ahead with a very strong force that all of us are, workers, citizens of this country will be happy with and you have seen the action we took, the protest which was for good governance and against corruption.”
Labour is pushing for death penalty for treasury looters. But lawyers think otherwise. To them, there are better ways the Buhari administration can fight corruption other than capital punishment. ROBERT EGBE writes.
The hangman’s noose? A firing squad? Stoning? Have your pick. You steal public funds, you die. This is the penalty the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) want for looters.
Their demand, made last Thursday at a joint press conference in Abuja by NLC President Ayuba Wabba and TUC President Bobboi Kaigama – as radical as it seems – was not arrived at lightly.
Only 39 of the world’s 175 countries were more corrupt than Nigeria last year, according to the Transparency International global corruption index.
In a paper titled: “Corruption, national development, the Bar and The Judiciary” presented at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in 2012, former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa and former Minister of Education Dr. Oby Ezekwesili said $400 billion of Nigeria’s oil revenue has been stolen or misused since independence in 1960.
The severity of the problem was acknowledged by President Muhammadu Buhari during his trip to the United States, when he declared: “If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”
The president has since set up a seven-man Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption headed by eminent lawyer Prof Itse Sagay (SAN). The committee will advise the government on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of the required reforms in the criminal justice system.
All Ministries, Departments and Agencies are to maintain a Treasury Single Account (TSA); the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have stepped up their investigation of corruption cases.
But, labour is not satisfied. It feels that a harsher penalty is needed to combat what it sees as problems of weak laws, especially the granting of perpetual injunctions stopping corruption cases. To labour, the way out is to make corruption a capital crime.
Crimes, such as armed robbery, murder, treason, conspiracy to treason or instigating invasion of Nigeria, are already subject to the death penalty. But the use of death penalty usually generates mixed opinions and for seven years between 2006 and 2013, there were no executions in Nigeria. Things changed in 2013 when four condemned robbers were executed.
Lawyers disagree with labour
Lawyers do not seem to share labour’s enthusiasm for capital punishment.
Alegeh
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Augustine Alegeh (SAN) said death penalty is against global trends and won’t help efforts to recover stolen funds.
He suggests the encouragement of proactive steps that will prevent looting or make it difficult, if not impossible.
Alegeh said: “With respect to labour’s views, what we think we need to put in place are more measures that will ensure that stealing is made impossible or very difficult for people to pillage treasuries; that way, we secure ourselves so that money is not taken away.
“Current efforts by this government are in line with modern practices. If we kill them and we don’t get the money, what have we gained as a country?
“Even in capital offences, there is an increasing trend against the death penalty, so, I don’t think we should be in the opposite direction at this time of our national history.’’
He added that NBA encourages the strengthening of institutions and systems in the fight against corruption.
“Our position at NBA is that there should be more measures to strengthen the system, and ensure that pillaging of the system is reduced to the barest minimum, and we see that the steps the government is taking are along the same lines; single treasury, single account, etc.
“These measures will significantly take care of the loopholes through which looting could occur. These are proactive measures that saves the country from the cost of litigation, cost of prosecution, loss of revenue, the time lapse between when the money gets into the wrong account and when it is recovered.”
Ubani
According to a former chairman, NBA, Ikeja Branch, Onyekachi Ubani, death penalty by itself is not the solution to the problem of corruption.
He said though capital punishment for looters appears to be having the desired effect in China, Nigeria’s problem is not the absence of penalties for offenders.
“If you take into cognisance what corruption has done to the nation’s growth, you’ll tend to agree with anyone that is calling for the death penalty for offenders,” Ubani said, adding: “but I tell you that the death penalty alone cannot deter corruption in Nigeria.
“Our problem is actually the willpower to implement the laws even as enacted. Enforcement is difficult and as long as we don’t enforce our laws, even if we make death the penalty for corruption, you’ll find out that the institutions will not even apply it.”
For Adetokunbo Mumuni, director of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), death penalty is a complete no-go area. Mumuni is an advocate for the cancellation of the death penalty for all capital offences, let alone corruption. He also feels killing people for stealing public funds would be tantamount to allowing them to escape.
He said: “Once someone is killed for looting, you have more or less allowed him to go without experiencing the shame that is associated with what he has done. I would prefer that the person be given life imprisonment.
“What he has made from the corrupt practices should be recovered, including even what he has legitimately acquired. That will ensure absolute deterrent and that person will now live a life of penury. Unlike when you kill the person and the family will begin to benefit from his loot.”
Although NBA Ikorodu Branch Chairman, Adedotun Adetunji, feels labour’s call for death penalty is in order, he believes the National Assembly would be reluctant to pass such a law.
“This country is so complex that I don’t see the legislature agreeing to enact such law,” he said. “I think such law would actually be the best, because it would serve as a serious deterrent.
“When one or two people are caught and executed for corruption, all of these incidents of people storing huge amounts of stolen dollars in rooms and the craze for illegally amassing wealth will stop.”
Activist-lawyer Ebun Olu Adegboruwa also feels that resorting to death penalty is retrogression.
Ebunoluwa Adegboruwa
“I think it will be retrogressive for us as a nation, because of the frustration of corruption, to be moving backwards, to be activating what others are doing away with,” he said.
Adegboruwa also says some members of the unions are guiltier of the corruption they accuse politicians of. He suggests that the cleansing must start from within labour itself, especially its civil service arm, otherwise labour would have no moral grounds to condemn anyone.
He said: “Globally, the death penalty is becoming an anathema, whether it’s for corruption, drug trafficking, murder, or any other offence. The United Nations is making a campaign to abolish the death penalty.
“Secondly, I do not think that labour leaders, civil servants are in a good position to advocate for any penalty for corruption.
“Those who carry files, directors, permanent secretaries, they are the problems of this nation, beyond politicians who are just figures, who are expected today and leave office tomorrow.
“So, they don’t have the locus, it amounts to sheer hypocrisy; the unions have to clear the whole house first. To be pointing fingers at people for corruption is to be pointing it at themselves. Until that lesson is done, I think the blame in this game should go back to the civil servants.
He gave what happened with former Minister of Health, Mrs Alonge Gray, as an example.
“No politician can embezzle money without the connivance of civil servants. You remember the experience of Mrs. Gray Longe, the former Minister of Health that former President Olusegun Obasanjo disgraced?
“It was civil servants that told her ‘Mama, there is excess money, don’t return the money.’ And they were the ones that shared it; they gave her a formula for sharing.
“So, civil servants are the ones who put politicians’ hands in corruption. The war against corruption should start with the civil servants, when they’re making this clamour, they’re making it against themselves.”
Perpetual injunctions
The unions also kicked against the grant of perpetual injunctions in unjustifiable situations. On this issue, they find common ground with lawyers.
“It’s quite a challenge for us as lawyers,” said Adegboruwa, “we cannot out of blind patriotism cover up the rot in the judiciary, whether at the Bar or Bench.
“It is still painful to me today that the court gave a perpetual injunction in favour of the former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odilli, to the extent that up till today no one can take anything done by that administration. It’s painful for us at the judiciary.
“The EFCC refused to appeal against that, for whatever reason. If at all there should be such an order, it should be a temporary thing, when their positions are laid bare, and there is no persecution, no witch-hunting, the person should go and clear himself in the court.
“By giving such an injunction, the court is indirectly working against itself. I think the NBA will have a lot to do in this regard, in terms of the attempts to restrain courts and the police from investigating people.”
Mumuni agrees. He feels such injunctions ought to be challenged.
“You can’t give an injunction against somebody who has a legal duty to carry out,” he said. “So those kinds of orders are manufactured in mischief, conceived in mischief and delivered in mischief.
“What the EFCC would have done would be to challenge that type of terrible order before a higher court, and I believe that the higher court would not have agreed with that particular judge.
Declaration of assets
Labour’s call for office holders to declare their assets thrice; before swearing-in, while in office, and upon leaving office is already covered in a similar constitutional provision.
Section 11 (1) of the fifth schedule of the 1999 Constitution mandates public officials to declare their assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau at least twice; before and immediately after leaving office.
The declaration, which must be in writing, shall include all of the office holder’s properties, assets, and liabilities and those of his/her unmarried children who are under 18.
SIR: The news stories in national newspapers on Sultan’s call to jail looters and seize their assets, published on August 18, 2015, made an interesting reading.
In the story, our respectable leader, Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, said President Muhammadu Buhari “should send those who loot the treasury to jail”.
I also watched the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) network news of August 17, 2015 and saw the Sultan making the same call.
To be honest with our Sultan, what he said at the Abuja Security Summit was what all Nigerians have been calling for: Jail the looters and punish the corrupt!
However, I am afraid that if President Buhari is to dig deeper, many traditional and religious leaders may be among those to be called to answer questions as some of them are now AGIP (any government in power).
There was a story published by an online newspaper, which said a prominent traditional ruler mounted pressures on the leadership of the Seventh House of Representatives to drop the probe of the former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison–Madueke, over private jets’ saga, among others. If this allegation is true, then there is a problem.
There was also an allegation that former President Goodluck Jonathan approved sales of scrap helicopters to a certain northern traditional ruler at a ridiculous price. Jonathan also allegedly approved the allocation of an oil block to this same traditional ruler through a middleman. The deal was allegedly facilitated by the former petroleum minister.
The proceeds of the oil block were allegedly used to purchase a mansion located at Maitama District Abuja.
The traditional ruler also allegedly mounted pressure on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) leadership to steer clear from the graft investigations in the petroleum industry and Diezani in particular.
Some traditional rulers have started creating Foundations, where politicians and public servants, particularly in the last administration, were coerced into donating money.
The Sultan’s clarion call is expedient because fighting corruption is beyond “show off” or “notice me.” Nobody should be spared in this fight against graft.
We are happy that Buhari is bent on “killing corruption before it kills Nigeria”.
Not a few Nigerians have reacted to the comment of fiery cleric Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, on President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to bring to justice those who plundered the nation’s wealth. In the article below, Moses Akinola Makinde, a professor of Philosophy and Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Letters (FNAL), feels such remark shouldn’t have come from a respected Nigerian in the mould of the former Secretary-General of Catholic Secreatriat.
No case of corruption against Jonathan–Kukah” (Punch August 17, 2015, p.19). Concerning a probe that is yet to take off, the above statement was not a hypothetical, but most certainly a categorical assertion (of sureness and certainty) by Bishop Hassan Matthew Kukah, the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto. It was Bishop Kukah’s definitive – though imaginary- judgment before a possible judgment on Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and others, whose involvement in the looting of Nigeria’s treasury is common knowledge. Either a probe or an investigation? The one shares the same connotation with the other. Talking of any difference between both, as Kukah might think, is a terminological howler.
Our Roman Catholic cleric spoke eloquently on the Channels Television’s evening and morning programmes respectively on August 12 and 13. I was baffled at the palpably incoherent presentation of what the Peace Committee, headed by Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami (rtd), had asked Kukah to disseminate to the general public. After introducing him, in glee, as the spokesperson for the Committee, Kukah began to speak as if he was afraid of something. He kept on repeating himself, saying one thing and then another, changing or correcting his previous statement up and down like yoyo, thus getting trapped in what is known in logical parlance, as contradictory supposition. The reason for this was obvious. He wanted to hoodwink the public that the committee was in support of Buhari’s anti-graft campaign that will enable his administration to recover every public fund looted from the treasury and, if found guilty as charged, prosecute them according to the laws of the land.
On the other hand, and from the other side of the mouth, he spoke as if he was denying his feigned support against corruption but then said, that a probe was unnecessary and that President Buhari should not waste his time on his anti-corruption agenda “at the expense of providing good governance for the country”.
Despite the identified $11 trillion allegedly stolen from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) alone (see Punch, & Nation 17 August, 2015, front pages 1 & 2) and many trillions from others yet-to-be named government agencies under former President Jonathan’s administration, Kukah spoke as if he was “charged” or under a spell, in favour of the looters. He was almost pleading that Jonathan and his disciples should be left alone or given soft landings. In fact, he said that President Buhari, who got into power through his vigorous campaigns against corruption should stop his anti-graft crusade and put aside probes (which he prefers to call investigation) and, instead, face the business of governance, as if fighting greed, lawlessness, corruption, impunity and all other vices that characterised Jonathan’s administration which brought Nigeria to this sorry mess are not, indeed, the beginning of good governance, or that the woeful economy handed over by Jonathan to Buhari is something that we should hail and not deal with decisively once and for all, if the present administration is to ever start off on a reasonably strong footing. Or, he meant that Buhari should go on with the kind of crude governance that consisted mainly of looting, dishing out of oil money in hard currency to selected Nigerians, including clerics and rented protesters while the Jonathan “governance” lasted. Even right now, there are rumours that a lot of stolen money are kept in huge, “golden” vaults underground of some of the looters’ mansions (see Chukwudi Emekwedu, “The alleged hiding of stolen funds in private homes” (Daily Sun, August 20, p19).
Now, people have said that the Peace Committee was fronting for Jonathan when they visited Buhari in Aso Rock Villa on August 11, following Jonatan’s previous meeting with the President also at the Presidential Villa on August 6.
At the Peace Committee meeting with Buhari, Kukah had defended Jonathan and his ministers against Buhari’s intended probe by making his second categorical assertion that, after all, “there are no charges against President Jonathan or anybody for that matter”.
Yes, there have not been charges. But, trillions of dollars had been identified as stolen under Jonathan’s watch as president, and this is why a probe or investigation is absolutely necessary. And this is why Kukah, as a man of God, should have praised Buhari to high heavens over his intended probe. But then, Kukah would not have any of what he called “lynching” of Jonathan. Rather, he wanted everybody to just go to sleep and forget everything about the ugly past and let the sleeping dogs lie after many Nigerians had lost their lives as a result of Jonathan’s mismanagement of the nation’s economy. Yet, Kukah wanted the looters to be left to enjoy their stolen wealth, irrespective of who had died, are dying and will die as a result of the looting of the people’s money. Kukah is even predicting that it might be Buhari’s fate of looting the nation’s treasury “tomorrow”, which means he does not trust Buhari’s avowed discipline, incorruptibility and transparency for one second, but harping on the over beaten “spectacular benefit” of a spectacularly defeated President, handing over power, as if that is not the normal thing to do in a civilised democracy unless of course, our own is a morbid democracy in a primitive society.
He (Kukah) said: “What everybody should focus on is that it might be Jonathan today, and we don’t have a case against Jonathan on the table. Even if we do, this public lynching is not going to help anybody. Nobody knows whether when Buhari steps aside, he might face the same thing. What we are talking about is that we are not in a military regime, we are in a democracy. Even if we are going to go into probe, it is not a substitute for governance, and we are interested in the fact that every sane Nigerian must be conscious of the fact that it might be another person today and might be you tomorrow.
“And I think that we should not become so preoccupied with Jonathan to the extent that we forget the spectacular benefit that we gained under his presidency. Politics has ended and now is the time for governance.”
If I may add to Kukah’s statements, “not the time for probe and recovery of trillions of dollars of people’s money looted by Jonathan and members of his infamous administration.” But, this is precisely what the electorate who had voted Buhari into power, wanted him to do with all the ammunition at his disposal – to recover every kobo stolen, without remainder, and bring the looters to the book of punishments.
I believe the All Progressives Congress (APC’s) publication of more than $11 trillion stolen by the Jonathan administration from just one of the many agencies is mind-boggling enough. Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s revelation (The Punch & The Nation, August 17, 2015, front & p2) was an appropriate response to Matthew Kukah’s gesture as supported by his rremarks. It is for the same reason that the highly revered Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, told Buhari to “go after the looters, prosecute and send them to jail” (Punch, August 18, front page) and quickly followed by The Nation’s editorial titled: “Sultan’s Salvo” (The Nation, August 20, p.19). It is also in response to Kukah’s attempt to find a soft landing for Jonathan and his followers that Buhari, in anger, vowed to “resist pressure on the anti-graft war” (The Punch, August 18, front page) and to “seek fearless judges to try looters” (The Punch, August 17, 2015) for which he is to “set up special courts in each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for looters” (The Nation, Sunday, August 22, front page & p3). It is also in a response to Kukah that Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and others “urged Kukah not to obstruct loot recovery” (The Nation, August 18, pp 14 & 58). Even Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chief, backed Buhari on the recovery of looted funds, claiming that by punishing those looters, “Buhari would have solved the problems of Nigeria”. (New Telegraph, August 20, pages 5 & 11). For Gen Oladipo Diya (rtd), “the only opportunity, which must not be lost, to salvage Nigeria of corruption is through President Buhari’s administration” (Silverbird T.V, 10pm, August 23) while for former President Olusegun Obasanjo, “there is no alternative to Buhari or his leadership style at this peculiar period of the country’s life” (The Nation, August 23, p4).
Right now, some people are already thinking of probing those kicking against the probing of looters. For those crying about selective probes, it is important to let them know that the present probes affect mainly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its corrupt administration under President Jonathan. I do not see how anybody, who was not in Jonathan’s government or its beneficiaries, could be a candidate for the ongoing probes, and certainly not the APC, Labour Party (LP) or All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), whose members had no access to the nation’s treasury, let alone looting it.
And it is known to the ordinary man on the street that the Buhari’s fight against corruption is economic and not political. Perhaps the probe should be extended to the National Assembly which consists of different political parties.
Now, it appears the die is cast and looters, small or big, no matter how highly placed in the Jonathan’s administration, must face the music and realise that they cannot escape justice, hoping that some commercial clerics will not be caught in the looting bazaar.
After all, some of them had prayed and boasted that God would not allow Buhari to become President. But God did not answer their prayers. Instead, He installed Buhari as a divinely ordained popular President in a grand style!
Right now, Buhari does not need the hypocritical advices and prayers of clerics, who preach morality in the morning and break it at noon!
When everything is considered, we believe that Bishop Kukah spoke for members of the Peace Committee, which means he was not acting alone. After introducing Kukah as the person to speak on behalf of the Peace Committee by Gen Abdulsalami, we may now ask a legitimate question: was Kukah on his own while he was delivering the cruel message, supposedly for the Peace Committee, to the public on Channels Television on August 12 and 13, and which has been repeated several times since then? This question is in need of an answer, just in case Kukah turned out to be a mere scapegoat, but nevertheless a scapegoat that deserves serious bashing. When all is said, we believe that the duties of the so-called Peace Committee should have ended after the inauguration of President Buhari on May 29, and should not have been extended to the aftermath of “war” to the extent that the committee took undue advantage of its continued existence to canvass a soft landing for Jonathan and his ministers over a serious matter that had gone beyond the shores of Nigeria – yes, serious matters, like looting of the treasury that belongs to all Nigerians, young and old, majority of whom had given Buhari the strong and irreversible mandate to rule and with the high expectation that he would fight corruption to a standstill or in his own words, kill corruption before it kills Nigeria!
Prof Makinde is the Director General/Chief Executive Officer,
Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance, Osogbo in Osun State.
Kukah’s comment that stirred the hornet’s nest
After the meeting of the Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami-led Peace Committee parley with President Muhammadu Buhari, spokesman of the committee, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, briefed State House reporters on the mission of the group to the seat of power.
He said the committee was not at the State House to plead for former President Goodluck Jonathan, even as he confirmed that the committee had earlier met the the immediate past leader.
According to him, the committee also met with Senate President Bukola Saraki and had plans to seek audience with House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara.
He described the sessions as ‘a hearing-out process.’
“We gave a bit of update about the relevance of the Peace Committee itself and how we can help to nurture what God has given to us. Anybody is free to come to our committee but President Jonathan never by telephone or another means talked to the committee. We went to see him, but that was after we had already seen members of the political party, members of the civil society; we plan to see the Speaker because we couldn’t see him yesterday.
“This is a very planned series of interventions essentially just to hear out everybody and I think the good news is that Nigerians are committed to a new nation. They are committed to ensuring that the gains and blessings God has given us come to fruition.
“This is not an intervention. It is a hearing out process. When we had election, it was like a wedding, now the reality of government is the marriage and people need to be encouraged. We need to reaffirm that this is our country and the only thing we can collectively be opposed to is injustice, inequity, corruption and in that regard we all had one single conversation.
“The President has also reaffirmed the need for this committee to continue and the international committee has very much welcomed the contributions of the committee. Essentially we are not policing, but when the need arises, we will help to build confidence in the process.
“It is not heating up the polity. In our conversation with former President Jonathan and members of the parties, I don’t think any Nigerian is in favour of corruption or is against the President’s commitment to ensuring that we turn a new leaf. I think what we are concerned about is the process. It is no longer a military regime and under our existing laws, everybody is innocent until proven guilty.
“Again, our own commitment is not to intimidate or fight anybody. The former President’s commitment and what he did still remains spectacular and I think that President Buhari himself appreciates that. So, our effort really is to make sure that the right thing is done,” Kukah said.
It will amount to a disservice to Nigerians if the massive looting of the treasury by public officials is overlooked by President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday.
The party said only the total recovery of every kobo could placate Nigerians, who have been short-changed by those entrusted with the commonwealth.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said whoever attempts, either by deeds or words, to sabotage the recovery efforts of the Buhari administration cannot be a patriot and deserves nothing but public opprobrium.
Acknowledging Nigerians’ overwhelming support for the Buhari administration in its tough but important task of tracing and recovering the loot, the APC said the government should take a step further by ensuring that the looters face justice.
The APC statement reads: “It is absolutely gratifying that Nigerians are vehemently opposed to the few who would rather have the government of the day turn a blind eye to the looted funds and, in their words, carry on with the process of governance.
“Truly, what sort of governance can go on if the billions of naira in a few hands are not recovered? In the first instance, the government needs every kobo of the funds it can muster to bring about the change it has promised Nigerians.
“Secondly, leaving such hair-raising funds in the hands of the few looters is dangerous, because they can use the funds to destabilise any government. In fact, no one will be surprised if the looters use their dirty funds to sponsor public demonstrations against the government’s determination to recover the funds.
“Thirdly, allowing those who privatised the commonwealth to get away is offering a thumbs-up for looting. No responsible government will do that.”
The party alleged that the looters were already embarking on a relentless and an increasingly-bold campaign to discredit the government in a spirited attempt to sabotage the funds’ recovery process, using newspaper columnists, “talking heads” and otherwise respectable opinion leaders.
It said: “They and their paid hirelings have tried to employ sophistry to muddle the waters, but Nigerians are much wiser, and will not succumb to the dirty antics of the looters’ megaphones.”
The party said it was necessary to remind Nigerians of the kind of massive looting that took place in the past few years, so they can better appreciate the seriousness of the issue at stake.
Putting the issues in perspective, it said: N3.8 trillion out of the N8.1 trillion earned from crude oil (2012-2015) was withheld by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); $2.1 billion from Excess Crude Account (ECA) unaccounted for; N109.7 billion royalty from oil firms unremitted by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and $6 billion allegedly looted by some ministers in the immediate past administration.
Others are: $13.9 billion being proceeds of 160 million barrels of crude lost between 2009 and 2012; $15 million from botched arms deal yet to be returned to Nigeria; $13 billion Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividends mostly unaccounted for; N30 billion questionable waiver granted to rice importers and N183 billion unaccounted for at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The party said these “missing” funds constituted just a tip of the iceberg since they were from a few sectors of the economy – mostly the oil sector – and were discovered even before the forensic audit now being undertaken in some key areas.
“The level of looting that went on in other sectors is better imagined, hence the need for all Nigerians to rally around the Buhari administration to recover the loot, bring the looters to justice and to put in place measures to prevent such looting in the future,” the party said.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has urged President Muhammedu Buhari to go ahead with his plan to probe and prosecute looters of the nation’s treasury.
Its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the president should note that he was elected based on his integrity and promise to clean the rot in the system, adding that he should not give in to any pressure from anybody or group.
“One person who will serve as good example for all Nigerians is the president and he must be ready to lay a good example.
“We are aware that some people are persuading him not to go ahead with the probe, but he should not allow any pressure from anybody. He should go ahead with it and even prosecute whoever is found guilty,” he said.
Wabba said labour was planning a rally in support of the probe, adding that labour was ready to stand by the Presidency.
“We are planning a rally and we will continue to support him if he continues to stand on the basis of the truth,” he said.
Wabba pointed out that June allocation was increased by about 13 per cent. He said the increase would have ended in private pockets if the president had not taken some measures to stop corruption.
“This increase showed that there has been a leakage in the past. This 13 per cent would have ended in some individual pockets. This shows that President Buhari is ready to fight corruption and he if continues, it will help the economy,” Wabba said.
On the jumbo pay allocated to the National Assembly, Wabba said it is unfortunate that despite the promised by the lawmakers to reduced and re-address the allocation, the lawmakers have rejected the a cut.
According to Wabba, labour will engage the lawmakers over the issue.
He demanded explanation on how the National Assembly allegedly spent N600 billion in the last four years.
“Nigerians are concerned and want explanations on how the National Assembly budget, which in 2003 was N23.347 billion rose to N66.488 billion in 2007, and then climbed to N104.825 billion in 2008.
“By 2011, all that appeared under the National Assembly budget was N150 billion without any breakdown. Nigerians need explanation.
“They should try to conform to the system and allow the rule of law to prevail. This jumbo allocation is not what was approved, rather it is what they approved for themselves.
“They should explain to the Nigerians how they arrived at this figure. This is corruption from the highest order and we will not allow this. Our lawmakers should be ready to leave by good example because Nigerians are watching,” Wabba said.
President Buhari’s insistence that all who looted the treasury will be brought to book is commendable
President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to restoration of probity and sanity to national life should be sweet music in the ears of patriots and nationalists. For so long, things have gone wrong and the easy way that have been preached by many Nigerians is privatisation of the nation’s patrimony. Despite that path, values and virtues have virtually disappeared from the public space.
The President, who was elected on the solemn pledge to reduce corruption to the barest minimum and make that path unattractive, has been confronted with a stiff resistance by those who may soon be charged before the law courts to answer to charges of theft and fraud. In the past two weeks, the President has been receiving visitors ostensibly on matters that relate to the plans to expose those who fiddled with the national wealth.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan was at the Aso Villa, where he called the shots until May 29, to confer with his successor. He was reported to have brought up the ordeal of his aides who had been guests of the security agencies to respond to queries. Former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki, the former Chief Security Officer Gordon Obua and some of the ministers are said to have been invited as a probe has been launched into large-scale malfeasance under the Jonathan administration.
Thereafter, the General Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee was seen at the Villa to confer with the President, ostensibly on related matters. Although details of discussions held behind closed doors have not been made public, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, The Most Rev. Matthew Kukah, gave credence to speculations that they had come to mediate at the instance of Dr. Jonathan.
He indicated that the President should spend more time in addressing other pertinent problems confronting the country and insistently said the former President deserved commendation for his “spectacular act” of conceding defeat after the March presidential election. He subtly upbraided President Buhari for “frittering away” the goodwill engendered by the Jonathan concession.
We find nothing wrong in the voluntary activities of the Peace Committee. Nigerians, especially those who have held high offices in the land, have a duty to take more than passing interest in national affairs.
However, it is unacceptable that a matter that came up during the election and on which the electorate have spoken so loudly should be made subject to undue negotiation after the inauguration of the administration. President Buhari campaigned on the need to stem the tide of corruption. He solicited the support of Nigerians in undertaking the battle. It is therefore unacceptable that he would be reminded of a need to soft-pedal on the battle. Both Dr. Jonathan and the Peace Committee should be reminded that, in a democracy, the will of the people is paramount.
The mind-boggling revelations coming out on how the national wealth was shared among a few should have elicited a strident call from the former president, his aides and admirers; as it would avail him the opportunity of laying the truth in the public domain. All that the administration’s key officials could ask is that the due process be followed. We agree with the Peace Committee that the Department of State Services, the Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have a duty to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails in the process of investigation and prosecution of suspects.
To this end, we commend the president’s resolve to take those against whom prima facie cases have been established to court speedily. He has said, very soon, they would be arraigned and the charges against them made public. Thus far, no one has been unduly detained for days or denied access to their lawyers. The appointment of the Itse Sagay Panel to insulate the process from allegations of partisanship and pettiness is a step in the right direction. The reputation of the eminent lawyers and academics is an indication that the President does not intend to witch-hunt anyone.
It is obvious that if the corruption virus is not exterminated, it has the capacity to snuff life out of Nigerians and Nigeria. The high level of unemployment in the country, poor state of infrastructure and the capital flight engendered by the sorry position of educational and health facilities, could be traced to the evil that general maladministration and corruption wrought on the economy.
The Augean stable must be cleansed and there is no better time to do so than now. Rather than stand in the way of the Buhari administration to clear the mess, all statesmen and nationalists — indeed, all patriots —should lend a helping hand in ensuring that those duly ascertained as having a hand in perverting the course of national growth and development are punished and their loot recovered.
All felons, no matter how highly or lowly-placed, must be punished to serve as deterrence to others, especially as President Buhari is taking steps to set up the structure of his administration.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to fight corruption got a major boost yesterday.
His party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) – and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had a rare agreement – that Buhari should go after corruption suspects.
But the PDP cautioned him “not to victimise innocent citizens”.
Some prominent citizens have been arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Others are being investigated.
To the APC, the investigation of those who plundered the nation’s commonwealth and prosecution is necessary to remind future officials that “holding a public office is a call to service”.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the APC noted that the unfolding revelations, especially in the oil sector, were too serious to be ignored by a forward-looking administration like Buhari’s.
The statement reads: “Some people have insinuated that the Buhari Administration should ignore the massive looting of our patrimony and move on. We say no responsible government can afford to do that, because it will amount to endorsing corruption and impunity.”
“In the oil sector alone, billions of dollars have been skimmed off by pathologically-corrupt public officials,” the party said, wondering how the government can meet its obligations to the citizens if it refuses to recover the huge funds stolen by officials.
The APC went on: “It is an irony that those who are suggesting that the Buhari administration should turn a blind eye to the incomprehensible looting are the same ones accusing the government of not doing anything.
“It is even a cruel irony that the same party that presided over what is fast emerging as the worst governance in the history of our country is the same one that is daily bad-mouthing an Administration that is cleaning up its mess.
“Even if all the acts of corruption that were perpetrated during the tenure of the last administration are limited to what is now in the public domain, it is still absolutely exigent for the Buhari Administration to do all it can to bring the perpetrators to book and recover the looted funds.
“Where does one start from? Is it the fact that the NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) failed to remit N3.8 trillion to the Federation Account or the mind-blowing stealing of 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day?
“Is it the fact that the NNPC itself does not know how many bank accounts it had or into which ones the payments for Nigerian crude are made? Could anyone have imagined that a government minister would steal the unprecedentedly huge amount of $6 billion of public funds as being alleged?
“How does any sane person rationalise the fact that one billion dollars was unilaterally and illegally withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account just because, as the immediate past minister of Finance has disclosed, the President ordered the withdrawal? What about the billions of naira waivers recklessly approved to dubious importers by the Jonathan administration?
“Is it not clear now that the stealing and the profligacy – more than anything else, including the fall in oil price – helped to drastically reduce the monthly allocation from the Federation Account from about N800 billion to about N400 billion, thus pauperising the states and the local governments and, by extension, the citizenry?
“Against the background of the stunning revelations, what message will any government be sending to its citizens and indeed the global community by looking the other way, when it could still recover some of the looted funds for the benefit of the people? This is why we are supporting the Buhari administration’s probe decision, and calling on all Nigerians to support ongoing efforts to get to the root of the matter.”
The ruling party noted that the refusal of the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration to pass its handover note to the then president-in-waiting was deliberate.
“The Jonathan administration cleverly delayed giving the then incoming Buhari government the handover note so as to avoid being asked critical questions pertaining to the unprecedented looting under its watch,” the party said.
SIR: “No one can be a billionaire in Nigeria today without being corrupt. If you are a businessman, you would have evaded tax or other levies like import duties with the active connivance of those in charge”…Prof Bolaji Akinyemi.
A few days ago, the media reported that Bayelsa state Governor Mr. Seriake Dickson has signed into law The Anti-kidnapping and Connected Matters Law. The law is said to impose the maximum punishment of death without an option of fine on any convicted kidnapper. Of course, kidnapping is a condemnable offence in any society in view of the embarrassment to the nation and psychological trauma to the victim and family of the victim.
Today kidnapping has assumed an alarming dimension in the Nigeria. For instance, the mother of finance minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala was kidnapped, the Nollywood actress and Special Adviser to Gov Okorocha was also abducted and lots of others. It is an open secret that ransom is paid to secure the release of the captives.
After all there are news report that kidnappers often smile to the bank or where the money is lodged to enable them claim it before releasing the captives. Evidence has shown that graduates, undergraduates, serving and retired military personnel mastermind some of these kidnap. The conclusion is that poverty has overwhelmed the entire nation. And this is caused by massive looting of the nation’s treasury that is gradually becoming a family affair among a certain clique.
It is equally no longer news to hear a public servant or political office holders arraigned for offences of Corrupt Practices like embezzlement of public fund. Indisputedly, our greatest problem today as a nation is corruption. Individuals now build plazas, hotels, estates, mega stations and oil depot from looted public funds whereas government cannot even build a block of toilet. The looters become proprietors of private schools and charge exorbitant school fees. Infact, the easiest way to join the league of millionaires (or billionaires) is to loot the treasury.
Despite these heavy looting, it is the fowl thieves, handset thieves, pick-pockets that get maximum prison sentence. The treasury-looter gets off the hook through plea bargain; a concept that has abused through wrong application in Nigeria.
It is commendable that Bayelsa State governor signed into law, death sentence for kidnappers. Let me quickly add that treasury looters also deserve such punishment because they do more damage than kidnappers. The treasury looters divert money meant for pensioners, money budgeted to buy drugs, books, rehabilitate our roads, provide potable water, revamp our ailing industries.
I call on the National Assembly to compliment the step taken by National Judicial Council by amending our laws to provide for death penalty for treasury looters. The NJC just sacked three High Court Judges; let us have speedy amendment of the Penal code, Criminal code, EFCC Act, ICPC to provide for death penalty so that resources won’t vanish like smoke into thin air. The obsolete Sections in our penal laws should be amended to conform to present trend.
So it’s unfair to have death penalty for kidnappers alone. The sooner we impose capital punishment for treasury looters, the better for our nation.
