On Workers’ Day, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) told President Goodluck Jonathan that he is not fighting corruption hard. It observed that, over the years, the country has been pilfered by those charged with the mangement of its resources. But Jonathan told workers to advise their colleagues to stop stealing. To some lawyers, Labour is right. The Jonathan administration, they say, has been treating corruption with kid’s gloves. JOSEPH JIBUEZE reports.
Is the Federal Government losing the fight against corruption? To the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the answer is yes. Lawyers think so too. The issue of corruption in public service came up last week when, speaking during the Workers’ Day celebration, NLC President Comrade Abdulwahed Omar said the government had not successfully prosecuted those accused of embezzling public fund in the past 10 years.
“Corruption remains the most serious factor undermining the realisation of our economic potential. Government must not only make commitments to fighting it, government must demonstrate this commitment by its actions, by its style and by its body language,” Omar said.
He added: “We find the pardon granted to a former governor who was convicted of corruptly enriching himself as unfortunate and a major dent on the government’s commitments to fighting corruption. To reclaim lost ground, government needs to reassure Nigerians that it is still committed to fighting corruption by conclusively dealing with pending cases of corruption.”
The President-General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele, condemned the light sentence given to John Yusuf, who pleaded guilty to stealing about N23 billion pension fund, even as he called on the National Assembly to review the laws under which he was tried.
He said: “We also prescribe that the provisions of the laws under which he was charged and sentenced be reviewed by the National Assembly with a view to stipulating commensurate punishments for the offences therein. John Yusuf and his likes should not be allowed to loot our collective commonwealth and go scot free.”
Responding, Jonathan condemned junior and senior civil servants, whom he described as the perpetrators of corrupt practices. He recommended civil servants for peer review.
His words: “Labour has been in the forefront of the demand for good governance and the increase action against corruption and these issues are been vigorously tackled on various fronts. Prosecution is being pursed in matters arising from the fuel subsidy fraud, embezzlement of pension funds and other serious long standing malpractices being demystified by this administration. Even at the core of this perpetration are the senior and junior members of labour unions. Greater attention to peer review action on the part of labour will be much appreciated.”
Political corruption is not a recent phenomenon that pervades the state. Nigeria is ranked 139th out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index. It tied with Azerbaijan, Kenya, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Analysts blame greed and ostentatious lifestyle as the cause of corruption. Others attribute it to poverty of the mind.
Another major cause of corruption is ethnicity, called tribalism. Friends and kinsmen seeking favour from officials may impose difficult strains on the ethical disposition of the official. Many kinsmen may see a government official as holding necessary avenues for their personal survival or gain. However, the bottom line of the views of many is that corruption is a problem that has to be rooted out.
Corruption has an adverse effect on social and economic development and also in building a nation. The effects include diversion of development resources for private gain, misallocation of talent, negative impact on quality of infrastructure and public services and slowing of economic growth.
For lawyers, labour has a valid point. They readily point to the state pardon granted former Bayelsa State Governor Dieprieye Alamiesiegha as a demonstration of the fact the government encourages corruption.
They also alleged that the government has been selective in those it prosecutes, giving the impression that some are untouchables. They cited the House of Representatives member, Farouk Lawan, who is facing trial for allegedly receiving bribe while the alleged bribe-giver, Femi Otedola, was not charged.
Again, to lawyers, not much progress has been made in the prosecution of public officials and former governors charged with graft, with one of them even obtaining a perpetual injunction against his trial.
For the analysts, to deal with corruption effectively, Nigerians should emphasise transparency, integrity, and accountability in private and public transactions. It must begin at the level of the individual.
There is also the need to enforce the laws without fear and favour. The establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Code of Conduct Bureau and its Tribunal was seen as a laudable start in the war against corruption.
Unfortunately, though some successes have been registered, the general impression is that these bodies have gone after the tail of the monster of corruption rather than its head.
It is not helpful that some politicians allege that these bodies are being used by the Presidency as instruments of blackmail or vendetta against political opponents. There is, therefore, a need to expand the activities and range of instruments available to the bodies.
A social analyst, Oyinola Ayobami, said an effective war on corruption has to be fought from three angles: Prevention, Detection and Sanctions and Restitutions.
A human rights group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Projects, urged Jonathan to show leadership and end impunity. It said rooting out high-level official corruption, ending impunity of perpetrators, and turning around Nigeria would take more than mere promises and preaching of decency. It requires strong leadership at the highest level of government, the group said.
SERAP said half measures which avoid public scrutiny of the President’s own asset declaration, and effective prosecution of corruption cases when they involve those connected with this government were utterly inadequate and threw the government into disrepute.
It added that the lack of accountable leadership and transparency in the management of public finances and spending has continued to exacerbate the growing poverty and underdevelopment.
“Ultimately, the responsibility for sorting out Nigeria rests with President Jonathan. The buck stops with him,” SERAP said.
It added: “This government should be concerned about the 2012 Failed States Index published by the United States based Foreign Policy Journal which placed Nigeria in the 144th position of its annual ranking of 177 countries; and the 2012 United Nations’ Human Development Index, which rated Nigeria 159th out of the 172 countries polled.
“This shows low quality of life across the country brought about by the systemic denial of access to safe water, health and educational infrastructure, among others,” said SERAP.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Deacon Dele Adesina said it is not the government’s responsibility alone to fight corruption. “This issue is not limited to leadership. The followership also has a responsibility to fight corruption in our land. Both the leadership and the followership have a role to play.
“We need to look at some of these things, including even our culture, practice, our habit, our behavior. For example, if your neighbor today is appointed a minister in Nigeria, the expectation of everybody around that person changes suddenly.
“If he is a person who has been giving N500 to his dependant, that his dependant would no longer expect N500. He would be expecting N1,000 because he is now a minister or member of the parliament. So, we have to change our expectation. We have to change our habit and change our culture.”
On Labour’s accusation that Jonathan’s government was corrupt, SERAP’s Executive Director Adetokunbo Mumuni said: “Yes, of course, the Labour is absolutely right. The government has a lot to do. The President has not even publicly declared his assets, Ribadu’s recommendations have not even been implemented.
“Alamieyeseigha’s pardon perhaps is the strongest sign that this administration is not tackling corruption as it should. And on top of this, nobody knows what has happened to recovered stolen wealth. Also, anti-corruption agencies have to be strengthened to be more proactive and efficient in going after the ‘big fish’.”
Former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Dave Ajetumobi, agreed that the Labour leaders have a valid point in saying the government has not shown seriousness in the fight against graft.
He said: “The President said fuel subsidy scammers and others were being prosecuted, yes, but has there been any result to date? No! The prosecutors have been lackadaisical. Perhaps that was their instruction because government has never complained about the pace of prosecution.
“In some cases, the government embarked on plea bargain which tend to rob Peter to pay Paul, thus sending the wrong signal that you can steal and negotiate later.
“Lawan Farouk is facing prosecution, but Otedola the alleged giver of the bribe is moving about freely. Does that show seriousness? We should ask ourselves how many cases involving government officials, eg, ex-ministers, governors, National Assembly members have been concluded by due trial from 1999 to date?
“For instance, what has happened to the criminal charges against Orji Kalu, Ayo Fayose, Chimaroke Nnamani, Rasheed Ladoja, Adolphus Wabara, Mrs. Patricia Etteh and Dimeji Bankole, etc? The criminal case against Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) was withdrawn by the Federal Government so he could be made a minister. Corruption is an official state policy in Nigeria for now,” Ajetumobi added.
Activist-lawyer Bamidele Aturu said the President was not fair to Nigerians by trivialising a weighty matter. “There is no doubt that there is no more war going on against corruption in Nigeria. All the matter that we have about prosecuting people have become mere drama. People are not seeing any conviction; people are not seeing any commitment about fighting corruption,” he said.
He said those being tried give one flimsy excuse or the other, collect their passport and travel out of the country. “Nobody is really taking the government serious on the war against corruption.”
Aturu added: “NLC was right on target when it criticised the government for not doing much on corruption. I agree with the NLC and would even go further to say that I do not see any war going on in this country against corruption.
“So, that is why we must be careful not to use some people as scapegoats or to just sacrifice them though they must have done something wrong. I think that if the government must be fair to us, it must admit that we have never had it so bad.
“Corruption is really thriving and this culture of impunity has really been promoted in Nigeria. People do what they like, without anybody stopping them. Everywhere you go, it is all about corruption. People believe that the best way to survive is when they steal public money and this is going on every day at all levels and everywhere, all over the federation.”
Aturu believes the problem is not with the laws, but with adequate and effective enforcement. “It is not that we don’t have laws to fight it. We have adequate laws and these laws have been there since God knows when. But, the point is that we have a system, a state that elsewhere, I would call a rogue state.
“A rogue state is one where people that compose the state, that form the institutions do all possible to promote looting. In such a state, other institutions — the Judiciary, Executive, whatsoever, tend to, one way or the other, do everything possible to promote corrupt practices. It is only those who are corrupt that have a chance of rising in a rogue state.
“Nigeria has become a rogue state, not because it produces one resource or the other but in the sense that all the structures, the agencies, the ministries are just there to protect a culture of looting. So, we need to do something politically about it.”
Aturu added: “We need a social revolution if we must deal with corruption. In other words, people must be involved. We need the kind of people that must be ready to change Nigeria. So, we must put the question of change on the political agenda and that is not the kind of thing the existing parties can do. We must be honest with ourselves.
“So, how do we stop what is happening now? We need a vanguard political party, a vanguard organisation, with a new attitude of democratic culture to challenge this kind of thing with all means possible.”
Lagos lawyer Emeka Nwadioke is of the view that corruption is endemic in Nigeria and that Labour is right.
He said: “While Mr. President is at liberty to urge Labour to do a self-appraisal in matters of corruption, it seems to me that Mr. President was merely playing to the gallery by perhaps alluding that the pension scammer was a public servant and therefore an NLC member. Such light-hearted treatment of a very grievous subject is unacceptable.
“What most watchers expect Mr. President to do is to outline in a more focused manner how the government is tackling this very serious malaise that is causing so much privation to all. Aside from the fact that the battle against corruption is at best weak, even the government is perceived as either corrupt or hobnobbing with corrupt persons or both.
“A Gallup poll published at the height of the petroleum subsidy protests showed that a whopping 94% Nigerians perceived the government as corrupt. More recently, a report by the US State Department towed the same line, stating that ‘Massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government and the security forces.’
“It is also instructive that there is a widespread perception that the Legislature and Judiciary are equally tainted with corruption. One can then see that we are firmly swimming in a cesspool of corruption.”
Nwadioke said after doing an indepth, multi-jurisdictional study on corruption, with EFCC as a case study, he came to the conclusion that several dynamics in the anti-graft fight were patently out of sync.
His words: “It was obvious to me that the EFCC lacked the capacity to deal a fatal blow on corruption. What was an EFCC operative doing pursuing oil bunkerers? Does the EFCC have too much on its plate? A prosecutor indeed confessed to me that charges could not be filed due to work fatigue. While capacity may have increased, I am not aware that an optimal level has been achieved. Even routine tools were not in place.
“Also, who polices the police? Who is policing the wide discretion given the EFCC on plea bargaining? Or do we merely wait and shout later? Even the National Assembly that the EFCC is required to submit an annual report to has apparently not been rigorous in its oversight role, moreso as it has had its fair share of corruption related scandals.
“It is only in Nigeria that an EFCC czar is hunting governors today and hobnobbing with them the next day as their DG! Aside from telling riggers to go and sin no more, who has been convicted for rigging in Nigeria or for thuggery and sundry cases of political corruption? More recently, there is a seeming resurgence in deploying anti-graft machinery for selective hounding of political opponents, even as some persons perceived as having less than stellar reputations hobnob with the power elite. The anti-graft war in Nigeria is one huge macabre dance with neither rhyme nor rhythm.
“Combating corruption has never been a tea party. Accordingly, government must pay living wages to dissuade people from pandering to corrupting influences, while a moral rebirth has become urgent. A reform of the anti-graft agencies is imperative; what we need are strong institutions, not strong men or women. Such reform must be extended to the oversight and enforcement mechanisms.”
