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  • Anti-graft war: A case for special court

    Anti-graft war: A case for special court

    Excessive delays in the regular courts have necessitated the call for the establishment of special courts to try corrupt public officers. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines what the nation stands to benefit from the innovation.

    The anti-corruption drive of President Muhammadu Buhari requires a judicial system that will accelerate the trial of corruption cases. Eminent jurists have warned that excessive delays in trying high profile corruption cases can frustrate and undermine the credibility of the government’s commitment to anti-corruption and fuel the culture of impunity. They contend that that the establishment of special courts to handle corruption and related cases will buttress the seriousness of the government in its campaign against corrupt practices.

    The reason special courts are being proposed is the failure of the court system to facilitate prompt prosecution of suspects. Judges in the regular courts are fond of questionable long adjournments, frivolous injunctions and undue emphasis on technicalities that detract from the essence of corruption trials. The sad commentaries trailing Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC’s) efforts in prosecuting corruption cases justify the demand for special courts manned by judges with iron cast will to bring the corrupt to justice and fence off deliberate hindrances stalling quick, diligent and successful prosecution of public officers and other prominent Nigerians docked for corruption.

    It is public knowledge that the EFCC is yet to seek superior court orders to overturn dubious perpetual injunctions against the prosecution of many former governors who ruled between 1999 and 2007 accused of money laundering and frauds running into billions of naira. No tangible result had been achieved in prosecuting them. Worse still, most of them are not just freely enjoying their loot, a lot of them are occupying other political offices particularly in the legislature making laws for the people they had short changed.

    It was the helpless situation of the EFCC that prompted the Commission’s chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde to make a case for the establishment of special courts to prosecute corrupt persons as a way of facilitating the anti-corruption war. He maintained that the anti-graft agencies are bugged down by the slow process in the regular courts.

    To get it done, Lamorde suggested the amendment of the Nigerian Constitution to make provision for special courts to handle corruption- related cases and bring the culprits to book. “Some relevant laws in the Nigerian Constitution needed to be amended before the adoption of an action plan towards the fight against corruption. The challenge my colleagues and I are facing, especially in the EFCC and ICPC, is issue of prosecution of corruption and economic and financiall crime cases in regular courts”, he stated.

    A former boss of the EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri, alleged that some senior lawyers were frustrating the fight against corruption by stalling the prosecution of their clients docked by the anti-graft agency. She lamented the activities of such lawyers, who, according to her, fraudulently obtained money from their clients under the guise of delivering same as bribe to officers of the commission to kill cases under investigation. She said the lawyers most often exploit the weakness of the judiciary by filing frivolous applications to frustrate the trial of suspects for corruption and money laundering.

    Constitutional lawyer Professor Itse Sagay (SAN) said the establishment of special courts is the best option for the present administration that has zero tolerance for corruption. According to him, the special court will accelerate and give a sharper bite to prosecution of corruption cases in the country.

    Sagay noted that corruption cases linger for such a long time that there is little hope of timely justice both for plaintiffs and defendants. The purpose of trying a corrupt person in order to serve as deterrent to others is lost as the case drags for long while the suspect facing serious charges of corruption is left to strut about and use proceeds of such crime to thwart the judicial process.

    “No doubt, the country needs special courts but it cannot be achieved overnight. It requires Constitutional amendment to give it legal backing. The executive has to send a Bill to the National Assembly for their consideration and approval.  It will take between six months and one year to pass the bill”, he stated.

    The Head of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption explained that there are alternatives that could be used pending when the special courts would come on stream. According to him, government can create criminal law division and identify particular judicial officers who have the capacity, integrity, courage and knowledge to do justice without fear or favour.

    “Pending the time the special court will get legal backing, government will put in place other alternatives to ensure quick dispensation of corruption cases so that the objective of this administration to fight corruption headlong will be achieved”, Sagay said.

    Supporting the call for the establishment of special courts, a lawyer/human rights activist, Mr Monday Ubani said it will enhance President Buhari’s anti-graft war. He said if established, the courts will add fillip to the expeditious trial of corruption and related cases that have for long been suffering due to a combination of several factors  such as court congestion and the complicity of some unscrupulous members of the bench and the bar to scuttle high profile corruption cases.

    Ubani observed that the general lethargy, sabotage and scant commitment of the judicial system are the major reasons many Nigerians believe the anti-graft war is deceptive and not working. He believed the proposed special courts to be established by the Buhari administration to handle corruption and other related cases will buttress the seriousness of the government’s resolve to confront corruption.

    Apart from setting up special courts, the former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, called on government to introduce socio-economic policies that would discourage corruption among the people. For instance, government should ensure judges and civil servants are well enumerated, job opportunities for school leavers and social welfare programme for the unemployed.

    A Kaduna based lawyer, Mukhtar Modibo endorsed special courts because the nation’s judiciary as operated today cannot bring speedy justice to corruption offenders. He observed that corruption cases, like other cases linger for a long time that there is little hope of timely dispensation of justice. Prosecution of corruption cases involving high profile suspects are frustrated due to frivolous applications, questionable injunctions and long adjournments granted by the judges.

    He said the courts if established would facilitate the work of the anti-corruption agency. The EFCC, according to him has 1,500 cases pending in various courts across the country; seventy-five per cent of these cases involve high profile persons whose cases have been pending for more than seven years. He suggested that the courts should be established in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.

    Modibo noted that the courts are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cases before them which is responsible for slow adjudication process that is brazenly exploited by suspects. According to him, it is not enough to put in place special courts for corruption. The authority should ensure judges of proven integrity are appointed to preside over them. Otherwise, the objective for setting them up, which is to quicken administration of justice will be defeated, he added.

     

    Special courts in other clime

    Specialised law enforcement bodies dedicated to the fight against corruption have been established in several European countries. They often focus on middle and high-level corruption offences and corruption related acts committed by high- ranking public officials. Investigators and prosecutors are usually specialised in corruption and financial crimes and have access to special investigative techniques.

    Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania have all adopted specialised law enforcement bodies as part of their efforts to curb corruption and end the culture of impunity that permeates these countries. The results achieved are varied.

    Few countries have also established specialised anti-corruption courts. They have jurisdiction over the offences investigated and prosecuted by special anti-corruption bodies. These are far less common than specialised law enforcement.

    In Bulgaria, a specialised court and prosecution office for organised crime became operational in 2012. The court deal with crimes committed by organised criminal groups, including corruption-related crimes.

    Special court departments were established in Croatia in 2008. These courts have subject matter and territorial jurisdiction of criminal cases. They only hear middle and high-level corruption and organised crime related cases. The judges in the special department have more experience of working on complex cases. They are appointed through the annual schedule by the court president, based on the opinion of the Council of Judges. They also have to pass through a security check. According to Amnesty International, special judges receive higher salaries and are recruited from amongst the most experienced criminal law judges.

    In Slovakia, the Specialised Criminal Court was created in 2009. The main rationale for establishing the court was to build the capacity of the judicial system to deal with complicated criminal cases that are often also of great economic and social significance. The specialised criminal court in Slovakia is a court of first instance positioned at the same level as regional courts. Its decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court. It has jurisdiction over criminal matters and it adjudicates on the following offences: fraud and corruption in public procurement, abuse of power, acceptance of a bribe, economic crimes and crimes against property, indirect corruption, creation and promotion of criminal or terrorist groups, crimes committed by criminal or terrorist groups and deliberate killings.

    The analysis of corruption related judgments, according to Transparency International report on Slovakia, shows a steep increase in the number of convictions after the establishment of the court –from 25 per cent in 2005 to 75 per cent in 2011. The court is perceived as independent and very professional. Financial as well as human resources are considered to be sufficient and the educational background of judges and the staff is also said to be adequate.

    For Advocates of anti-corruption courts laid emphasis on training on complex issues related to corruption and economic crimes.

  • Buhari’s appointments: War of the ‘southern leader’

    Buhari’s appointments: War of the ‘southern leader’

    BARELY two days after the accusative Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, a.k.a. southern leaders or SNPA, pointed out what they described as President Muhammadu Buhari’s inequitable pro-North appointments, the president blithely went ahead to announce a few more positions along his idiosyncratically default, pro-North mode. The new appointments have caused a huge uproar, an uproar that had been seething below the surface for weeks.  After he was sworn in on May 29, the president’s critics reminded the nation, his first set of appointments largely benefited the North. Some three or four tokenistic positions, they added, were grudgingly conceded to the South out of the 15 or so appointments made so far. And in a scathing but informative July interview, Col Tony Nyiam (retd) had also wondered whether those who accused President Buhari of being caged were not accurately reflecting the nation’s sad reality.

    At any rate, Thursday’s fresh presidency appointments will doubtless give amperage and trenchancy to the criticisms of the southern leaders who had suggested in their Tuesday Akure, Ondo State, meeting that the president was not really mindful of the insularity of his appointments. There had been some suggestions that the public needed to wait until the president had concluded his appointments in order to be able to accurately gauge their temper and colour. After Thursday’s announcement of fresh appointments, it is doubtful whether apart from the expected ministerial postings in September there are any other presidency appointments sensitive enough to arrest the attention of the public or preclude an accurate conclusion.

    Perhaps President Buhari will feel the need to offer logical reasons for what his critics say is the skewness of his presidency appointments. And perhaps those reasons will be persuasive enough. But if the reasons do not cut ice with the people, if indeed the critics see the appointments made so far as indicative of the president’s mindset and of his general lack of exposure and closed circle of trusted friends, he faces the danger of allowing a critical mass of southern animosity to form against his presidency and against his government’s political and bureaucratic exclusionism. In particular, the southern leaders in the SNPA will feel reassured in their conclusions about the Buhari presidency, and engender a new vroom and venom to their pained voice, if the public and commentators respond well to their pungent view of the Buhari presidency.

    Politics is all about perception. President Buhari must be encouraged to deftly manage how his government is perceived. It is doubtful whether at the moment, and given the temper and colour of his appointments, his presidency is managing that perception with the sensitivity the situation and the distress of the country demands. He of course has the freedom to make appointments to suit his purpose; and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), can do little to shape those appointments. But in Nigeria’s syncretic and still coalescing democracy, it is expected that the ruling party must form part of the defence bulwark for the president and the government. Whether the APC can play that onerous role when the chips are down is, however, a different matter, going by how the president has seemingly shut out the party from his critical appointments.

    Shortly after the APC won the presidential election, Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos was quoted as privately urging those who knew how to pray to intercede on behalf of APC leaders who, it seemed to him, were about to be shortchanged in terms of the spoils of electoral war concluded in April. Some weeks later, former APC interim leader and one-time Osun State governor, Bisi Akande, stridently warned that some parochial northerners were ganging up against the Yoruba in the party. It is not clear just what level of disquiet exists in the APC, particularly its southern wing. But it won’t take many more appointments, especially if mismanaged, to unravel the careful edifice built to snatch power from the conservative Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    After the elections, groups that reasoned and politicked like the SNPA were fading in national significance and relevance. The SNPA had met in January in Enugu at a well-attended forum to endorse former president Goodluck Jonathan. Critics had suggested they were presumptuous to label themselves southern leaders, not to talk of the additional mishap of choosing Dr Jonathan as the South’s standard-bearer. The spectacular shellacking they and their candidate received was strong enough to consign them to the dunghill of Nigerian politics. Unfortunately, President Buhari’s leadership orientation and methods are exhuming them and imbuing the pressure group with a new life and purpose. The resurgence may gather steam in the weeks ahead, going by the southern leaders’ clever casus belli. Apart from suggesting President Buhari’s appointments so far have not been fairly spread, a point seized upon by the Southeast to label the president insular, they are also suggesting that his anti-graft war has become selective.

    As brilliant as the need to fight graft is, and as great as it sounds to talk of looking for brilliant people to serve in his government, President Buhari must not forget that in a democracy, politics is the common denominator, the unassailable leitmotif. He must be cognisant of the numerous, if sometimes powerful, tendencies in the society, not only in terms of opinions and beliefs, but also in terms of appointments, positions and ethnic dynamics. As popular and timely as the first 1966 coup was, for instance, it quickly became embroiled in the quagmire of tribal and regional politics because of wrong perceptions. Part of the job of politics is recognising, managing and placating society’s competing tendencies. President Buhari will have no choice but to find ways to manage this difficult political chore that obtrudes on his leisurely pace and programmes.

    For now, the southern leaders, the Southwest section of which is an aggrieved faction of the Yoruba socio-cultural and political organisation, the Afenifere, are more or less a part of the Peoples Democratic Party defeated in the last presidential poll. President Buhari should run his government at an elevated, transcendental level, and make appointments and enact policies that will persuade the public to view the SNPA as an appendage of the loathed and defeated PDP. If by chance that loathsome view is altered beneficially for the southern leaders and they gradually become rehabilitated and are recast as the South’s popular and leading opinion moulders, then the South’s progressive forces will become weakened, thereby vitiating the hold of the APC on the South’s geopolitical zones.

    This dreaded mutation is not far-fetched. Even if APC leaders refuse to acknowledge it, the Southeast and a section of both the South-South and Southwest are beginning to fear that an unhealthy skewness might have slipped into the Buhari government’s appointments. That skewness, which may in time be transferred to policies, has probably led to appointments that give the wrong impression of deliberate orchestration of northern political irredentism and bureaucratic reclamation. This is probably unintended. If that impression is in fact unfounded, then those who have the ears of the president, either in the wider public or in the ruling party, must give him the benefit of their wisdom. They must remind him that a few months ago, Dr Jonathan found himself in that distressing position of trying to undo the damage his thoughtless appointments of many years had caused him. Perhaps the damage during the Jonathan presidency was also unintended. But, alas, it was too late by the time he sought to remedy the situation.

    If the progressives are to lead the country for a much longer time than their enemies hope, they will have to do much better in policies and appointments. So far, their puny and conflicting efforts are depressingly uncoordinated and disconcerting. They will also have to learn to listen to those who even appear, like Bishop Matthew Kukah, to be in love with the enemy and the former president. They will have to learn to prosecute their good causes, not with the reckless bravado of fanatical politicians, but with the calm and magisterial detachment of wise elders and statesmen. They will have to look at the bigger picture with the paradoxical humility of those awed by the importance of their future goals and the attraction of the distant utopia of their dreams.

    President Buhari will have to change tack and, in a  brilliant and sublime manner, do much more than he has done so far in policies, appointments and methods. He needs an expanded and expansive vision of himself and the country he leads to enable him engage the electorate and revamp and remould Nigeria. For, whether he likes it or not, his methods are as relevant and invaluable as his goals. If democracy is to endure, and if Nigeria is to achieve the greatness that has eluded it for decades, then President Buhari will have to dig deeper and fetch a magical rabbit from somewhere. It will indeed be sad if the southern leaders who foolishly endorsed Dr Jonathan in Enugu in January, and gathered again in Akure early this week to complain of selective anti-graft war and parochial appointments, are rearmed by a presidential lack of caution to regain their force and voices in the nation’s body politic.

  • More support for anti-graft war

    A Coalition of civil right groups has called on Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari in the fight against corruption.

    At a conference yesterday in Lagos, they said enemies of the war against corruption had started a grand battle against fail.

    The group leader, Olanrewaju Sura said Nigerians must take the battle to the door steps of those who have plundered the commonwealth of the people.

    He said: “We call this interactive session in view of the seeming grand conspiracy and groundswell to frustrate the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

    “We call to sensitise Nigerians on the need to rise and support the clamour for transparency in all facets of life and to sack corruption from public and private lives.”

    He said the only way the President could fulfil the electoral promises was to recover Nigeria’s stolen wealth, noting that it is the only way to return the country to track.

    Suraj added that the body language of the President alone that has sent shockwaves across the country, noting that when the recovery process commenced the looters will try to thwart it.

    He said: “Nigerians must not leave this war for Buhari alone; we in the civil rights movements have resolved to be fully involved.”

     

  • North Korea warns of war with South after artillery fire

    North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, yesterday declared his front-line troops in a “quasi-state of war” and ordered them to prepare for battle a day after the most serious confrontation between the rivals in years.

    South Korea’s military on Thursday fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border in response to what Seoul said were North Korean artillery strikes meant to back up a threat to attack loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda.

    Yesterday’s declaration by Pyongyang is similar to its other war-like rhetoric in recent years, including repeated threats to reduce Seoul to a “sea of fire,” and the huge numbers of soldiers and military equipment already stationed along the border mean the area is always essentially in a “quasi-state of war.”

    South Korea has vowed to hit back with overwhelming strength should North Korea attack again.

    The spike in tensions prompted the U.S. to halt an annual military exercise with South Korea that began this week, U.S. defence officials said. North Korea had criticized the drills, calling them a preparation for invasion, although the U.S. and South Korea insist they are defensive in nature.

    Pyongyang denied firing at the South, a claim Seoul dismissed as nonsense.

    Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to “enter a wartime state” and be fully ready for any military operations starting last night, according to a report in Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.

  • Constitution amendment crucial to anti-graft war, says EFCC

    Constitution amendment crucial to anti-graft war, says EFCC

    The Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Lamorde, has said the amendment of the 1999 Constitution is important in the anti-corruption battle.

    He made the submission at a one-day meeting of heads of anti-graft agencies on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) Review, Recommendations and the Draft National Anti-Corruption Strategy at Barcelona Hotel, Abuja

    He said some relevant laws in the Constitution needed to be amended before the adoption of an action plan towards the fight against corruption.

    He also said the effectiveness of any anti-graft activity could only be judged by the number of convictions recorded

    Lamorde said: “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be considered in whatever strategies being developed.

    ‘’The challenge my colleagues and I are facing, especially in the EFCC and ICPC, is the issue of prosecution of corruption and economic and financial crimes cases in regular courts.

    ‘’All these include making new laws, amending existing ones and improving on the efficiency of adjudication and sanctioning.

    He commended the efforts of the European Union (EU), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other agencies.

    A former Secretary to the EFCC, Emmanuel Akomaye, who spoke on the outcome of the Country Review Report and Follow-up Actions by National Partners, advocated better inter-agency coordination, building institutional capacity and legal reform.

    On his part, the ICPC Chairman Mr. Ekpo Nta, advocated better funding for anti-graft agencies.

    The Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr. Joe Abah, said both the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal needed to be strengthened in order to be more effective in the fight against corruption.

    But Lilian Ekeanyanwu, representing the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), said the implementation of the strategy document would be the responsibility of the Presidency.

    Other participants at the meeting included the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), National Planning Commission (NPC) and Public Complaints Commission.

    Also yesterday, the EFCC said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had donated a forensic work station to it.

    It said the donation of the equipment was a way of enhancing the collaboration between the EFCC and the U.S. in the fight against economic and financial crimes.

    A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said: “The equipment, technically referred to as FRED (Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device) was presented to the Head of Operations, Lagos Zonal office of the EFCC, Iliyasu Kwarbai by the U.S. acting Consul General, Dehab Ghereab.

    Ghereab on her part praised the long-term partnership between the FBI and EFCC which has existed for more than a decade. She commended the EFCC for its professionalism and encouraged it to keep up the good work.

    She said the equipment will enhance the EFCC’s effort in the fight against cyber crime and standardise its operations.

    She said: “As we engage in these practices, we needed our counterparts. So, the FBI office made an assessment of the prevailing cases of cyber-based crimes which are not unique to Nigeria.

    “In the views of Fritz Kennely, a technical personnel with the FBI, the device will help the EFCC in analysing, processing and preservation of digital evidence which can be presented in court in a clear, concise and understandable manner, thereby aiding judges to adjudicate effectively.”

    After receiving the device, Kwarbai thanked the FBI for their support to the Commission in the areas of manpower development and investigation.

  • Anti-graft War: IBB’s baccalaureate

    “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered”. That is the pithy line from the Psalmist. It is found in the very first line of Psalm 32. Behold, there is joy in abundance to be mined from the timeless and regenerative verses of David and his co-authors as contained in that glorious body of Biblical works – the Psalms.

    Hardball commends it to those who seek wisdom and understanding. But the line quoted above is particularly instructive for its relevance to the matter at hand today. Just as it was in the Old Testament pre-Christ era that no man was without sin, so it is today.

    Sin abounds today; man does not only live it, he seems to revel in it. Many today go through a lifetime without knowing any scripture or abiding by any moral codes. They live purely according to their whims and caprices often oblivious of the difference between right and wrong. But the holy book recognises that from age to age, man in his frailty, is bound to fail and fall. Thus, man is offered escape and redemption.

    What this means is that you could work for your redemption and go through bouts of penitential rigours to atone for sin. Then there is also a select few who enjoy divine favours, whose transgressions are automatically forgiven; whose sins are overlooked and indeed written off like bad debt.

    Such is the sunny story of some of our former leaders and ‘statesmen’ in the recent past who managed the affairs of state in such riotous and prodigal manner. Over the years they have hedged from giving account of their stewardship. At the beginning of the current dispensation, it seemed the chicken would come home to roost this time but somehow they have managed to wriggle out of it and instead, signing on as advisers and confidants of the new government.

    But one of them has gone even one step further; he has become an expert on sleaze control and anti-graft wars. He is no other than the inimitable gap-toothed former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who turned 74 recently. The indefatigable political impresario, whole held Nigeria by the scrotum for eight turbulent years (1985 – 1993) recently granted interviews rendering a baccalaureate on how to recover stolen funds.

    Hear it from the one fondly call IBB: “If he (President Buhari) is resolute, I believe he will achieve some degree of (success in the recovery of) stolen funds.” To abridge a long tale, the IBB years were long, licentious and reckless. It was an era of debasement of not only the system but the very soul of the nation.

    That debilitating era was capped by the spiriting away of a $12.3 billion Gulf oil windfall that is yet to be resolved today. On a serious note, if only President Buhari would resolute enough to revisit the $12.3b affair.

    And on a final note, the times call for sobriety and comportment; especially from those whose atrocities have been overlooked.

     

  • Buhari’s anti-corruption war in order, says ex-PDP’s national secretary

    The ex-National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Dr. Musa Babayo, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption is in order.

    Babayo, who spoke at the weekend with The Nation in Lagos, said the President should be hailed for waging a war against graft.

    He said: “President Buhari is determined to change people’s lives. He believes in the core values of integrity, service to humanity, building and moving the society forward and strengthening our institutions so that our country can progress. This is why I support his anti-corruption crusade despite that I am a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain.

    “Buhari is the president of Nigeria. He is not the President of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He took an oath of office and allegiance and it is our responsibilities, based on his antecedents, based on his track record, to support him. I have no doubt that he will perform. In fact, he is already performing.”

    Babayo said contrary to the PDP opinion, the President was not slow.

    His words: “Basically, when people talk of being too slow or too fast, I laugh. Whenever you take an assignment, the first thing you do is to conduct a detailed diagnostic study of your internal environment because you have to know the depth of your problem. You don’t begin to prescribe solution; you don’t begin the treatment of a disease when the diagnoses are not complete. You may not get it right if you do that.

    “Some people are saying Buhari should have done his homework before assuming office. But there are some assignments you cannot do from outside, you need to be inside before you can do them. If a patient goes to see his doctor, the doctor will first know his medical history. He will not prescribe Panadol for you simply because you have headache. He will want to do something more by diagnosing, in order to give you the right treatment.”

    The ex-PDP national secretary and former chairman of TETFUND Board of Trustees said President Buhari had the strength, moral focus and posture to fight corruption.

    Said he: “Things are happening already and in the positive direction. I believe strongly that this is the right way to go. The change has begun, the change of attitude. If you are able to stop people who undermine institutions, that is a monumental achievement. The fear of Buhari should be the beginning of wisdom, but that fear should be in the positive sense because the fear is providing leadership and he has started providing good leadership, from what we have seen.”

  • EFCC and anti- corruption war

    In all honesty, President Muhammad Buhari’s determined drive to frontally tackle the monster of crass corruption in high places and bring it to its begging knees deserves commendation. Indeed, it takes uncommon courage for any leader to set in motion pragmatic mechanisms to rein in the twin evils of corruption and impunity which have enjoyed a free rein in Nigeria for decades and made us a laughing stock in the comity of nations. Little wonder that such moves have attracted national and global acclaim.

    And deservedly so, because no nation ever achieves sustainable socio-economic growth when corruption assumes the dangerous dimension of a rampaging cancer spreading within its body polity and nothing is done to contain it. With the sweeping broom to cleanse the Augean stable, the president’s action is largely viewed as patriotic since we are all victims.

    It is against this bright backdrop that one would view the recent resurgence of the anti-graft Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate those alleged to have soiled their hands with filthy lucre especially since Buhari became the new president. The fact that the searchlight is being beamed on the high and mighty makes it more credible. Within the short span of two months for instance, the former governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Lamido and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha along with some others have been facing prosecution. They are to answer questions on 28-count charges related to N1.35 bn fraud.

    In a similar vein, the EFCC invited Toyin Saraki, wife to the former Kwara State governor and currently the Senate President, for questioning. She has to explain the execution of several contracts traced to her while her husband held sway as the state’s helmsman. On her part, Mrs. Zaina Dangigari, the daughter of late President Umaru Yar’ Adua and wife to the ex-governor of Kebbi State, is being quizzed for alleged misappropriation of N2bn state funds.

    Not done, the agency has also grilled Baraka Sanni, who was the Senior Special Assistant to former president Goodluck Jonathan on Schools and Agricultural Programmes. She has to defend herself against weighty allegations of diversion of funds earmarked for her office.

    President Buhari is also taking a closer look into the operations of the NNPC, allegedly responsible for monumental fraud, not excluding massive oil theft. One cannot but align with such moves to reposition the nation’s economy for impactful growth.

    The truth, however, is that as one praises EFCC’s salutary efforts, it must be able separate the wheat from the chaff , so that some Nigerians  won’t  capitalize on the wave of allegations to raise false alarm and perhaps settle scores. Only such would not distract well-meaning, focused public servants who are passionate about deploying their energy and intellectual skills for the best of their country.

    The recent invitation of the much-respected Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr.Paul Orhii, by the EFCC readily comes to mind. Even while he willingly obliged the invitation out of his own volition, the sensational and screaming headlines crafted by some section of the media had the intention to paint the suspect guilty, even before investigations started. People became jumpy, getting into hasty conclusions that not only undermine the image of the suspects but ultimately that of the agency in question.

    Is it not curious that one Mr. Ademola Magbojuri, the erstwhile Director, Finance and Account made allegations of acts bodering on financial impropriety on the part of Orhii only after he was redeployed to NAFDAC Training Institute at Kaduna? It is ridiculous that a public officer who has exhibited an act of insubordination would turn round to cook up cock and bull stories against his boss. That is pure mischief.

    What has he been doing all the while, even as media reports claim that he has all along been presiding over the meetings of the same fund disbursement he is accusing Orhii of? This, in my humble opinion shows that the former finance director has ulterior motives. Such vindictive people, out on a mission of vendetta, should not be allowed to distract the Buhari administration from its anti-graft war which is not meant to witch-hunt any citizen.

    Having read and investigated with apt interest Orhii’s giant steps since assumption of office, there is ample evidence that he has taken NAFDAC notches higher even if has chosen to be on the quiet side and allows his achievements to speak for themselves. What with, for instance, the construction of new laboratories, upgrading them to international standards, the use of cutting-edge technology against counterfeit drugs, to mention but a few. Anyone in doubt should pay a visit to the new edifice at Isolo, Lagos. In fact, for a world-renowned medical practitioner, lawyer and expert on drug-related matters to have chosen to return to serve his country shows the trait of a patriot. Should we pay him back in bad coins? While one is not advocating that he should not be investigated, that should be done with utmost caution. The EFCC has to differentiate between the motive of the petitioners and the method it adopts in carrying out its investigations, especially under the current tense political situation.

     

    • Obalola, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

  • The politics of war, peace and terrorism

    It  was shocking  to read in the news media   this week that  Nigeria’s top  military  chief  said at the pull  out ceremony of his retirement  that he led an army during his tenure  that  lacked funding and  equipment. If  you  remember that our President Muhammadu  Buhari, [and  not Ribadu as the printers devil  made out last week ]was  reported to have said on his  last trip to the US that the  US in not  selling arms to  Nigeria to fight terrorism  was inadvertently aiding and   abetting terrorism,  then  you wonder  about  the saying that there  can  be no smoke  without fire. Surely  the  two  statements compliment  each  other even though they  were said  at  different places.  More  ominously    though they  are as disturbing as they are credible  given the  political  stature and office  of the two  speakers.

    To  stop  any  doubts  on the authenticity  of the two  observations the former National  Security  Adviser  was  reported  to have  said  that Western  powers  sabotaged  the efforts  of the Jonathan Administration  to buy arms  to  fight  Boko  Haram and  terrorism. Surely  the jigsaw puzzle  is  unraveling on why  Boko  Haram has  become an unsolvable military  and  security conundrum  for the  Nigerian  nation, people  and their leaders.  A  clear case  of treachery  in high places  and  amongst  so called nations  that Nigeria  has come to rely on is  slowly  but  surely  emerging. That  is the problem  we shall  deal with today as we identify  the contents  of this betrayal  of our people  and nation.  We  shall   discuss  the  global politics  of war, peace, insurgency and terrorism that has claimed so many innocent Nigerian  lives  and does not seem  to be abating in spite  of assurances to  contain it by our leaders, both military  and elected.

    We  have  to confront  the problem war  and peace by thinking of what to do to those we call friends  but   who block  our capacity to defend ourselves when terrorists kill our people and such people show concern and sympathy  but refuse to sell arms to us to redress the situation and stop the killing of fellow  Nigerians. What  could be the motive  for such reluctance or outright denial and what is the grouse  of the so  called  Western powers against  Nigeria? That is a question  begging  for an answer. Could  it be that the Western powers  have started  to exact  their  pound of flesh from  Nigeria over the gay rights  issue and was  that why they  did not sell arms  to the Jonathan Administration?  If the  answer is positive then the action or decision is wicked  and  hostile  and the present Nigerian  government  must make inquiries and  seek  the appropriate  redress at  least  diplomatically as  soon  as  possible.

    This  becomes  imperative given the pledges  of western  nations  to  support Nigeria  against the terror  of  Boko  Haram. Really   of  what use  is such a pledge if the same nations or people refuse to sell  arms to us to fight what  they claim is a threat to their civilization – just as it is to our collective security  in the global  village that the world has become?  Surely  something is amiss on this development and  Nigeria  must demand  and deserves  an urgent explanation from  those  friends,  who  as things stand,    seem  tohave been shedding crocodile  tears on our bloody ordeal and  predicament in the hands of the perfidious   terrorism  of  Boko  Haram.

    Nothing illustrates  our befuddlement and consternation on this matter  more than the argument  of the US President Barak  Obama to woo the American  public on the newly signed Nuclear Deal with Iran. In  a one  off speech  delivered at the American University in the US  the US president  was appealing to the American people to talk to their lawmakers in the US Congress not to jettison the Deal because to do so will lead to war  and dent the credibility  of the US in the Comity  of nations. He  assured his audience  that Iran will never have nuclear bomb on his watch as he promised. He  acknowledged the fears of Israel’s PM Benjamin  Netanyahu  on the deal and his campaign  against  it but noted  strongly  that the Israeli PM was wrong on all counts and  that again  brings in another Gordian Knot  to unravel. Is  an American  President  more capable than an Israeli PM to determine the Security  of the state  of Israel? Must  Israel  abide by such  reasoning and conclusion because it depends on US largesse  for its security  and peace in a hostile environment?  Again  answers  need  to be found to these burning questions.

    Indeed the US President rested his case on the issue of credibility  and rightly so except  that in this instance credibility has become  a two  way street and not a presidential close. As  a law professor the US president  should  know that he who comes  to equity must come with clean hands and   that  trust  is an essential ingredient of human cooperation  and progress and the Iran Nuclear  Deal is no exception. At one extreme the Iranians don’t trust either the US or  Israel  but would go ahead  with the deal anyway to make sanctions stop  and ease the economic hardship in the Iranian nation, to reduce pressure on the Ayatollahs ruling the theocracy. On the other hand Israel under its present PM mistrusts  this sitting US president and would risk even its security  to say  it loud and clear as its PM  has  been doing in the life of the Obama presidency. The fact that the two are slugging it out to buy the acceptability or otherwise   of  the deal in the media showed the failure  of diplomacy and bilateral relations between two  traditional and ancestral friends  and neighbors. Either  side has said the alternative  to its stand on the deal is war and  that its view  assures global peace. But  then the nagging question is whose definition of war is correct and whose categorization of peace is wrong?

    Obama quoted   Reagan to the effect that the peace is not the absence of  conflict    but the capability to   control  conflict. However  the issue  seemed  to have drawn attention to the issue of trust   outside  diplomacy and that is the  disturbing fact that the Israeli  leader has  confused distrust of Obama as a person with that of a diplomatic mistrust  and that is a   fallacy. He  may  not like Obama  as a  person  but he cannot make that personal as Obama is the US  and  is not representing himself but the  great US which  has guaranteed  the security  of Israel  since 1948 when the state  of Israel  was established;   and  the  US is in a position to do so under Obama  as  he has promised, an act  which  should have credibility  with any  Israeli  PM who  should normally  be trusting of any US President,  except this Benjamin  Netanyahu.

    In  this particular  instance  the issue  may not be simply that of separation  of morals amongst individuals from that of morals  or  values  amongst  nations. In  personal relations great store is placed  on loyalty and consistency. In  international relations  however  there  are  no permanent  enemies  but  permanent  interests.  On  both scores US – Israeli  relations seem  to have nose dived steadily  on this Iran Nuclear  Deal and  both nations should  take a good look at the strategies being used to sell or jettison the Iranian Nuclear  Deal both in the US and globally  because credibility  is taking a hiding on the international stage as both sellers and buyers  of the deal are exhausting their  goodwill and trust  capital without showing a clear path to  peace. And  at the end of it all  that is really  the light at the end  of the tunnel.  Similarly  such  a debate  is necessary  in Nigeria too.  In  our  own case   it will  be to  find out why those we call friends have not been willing to sell arms to us to fight those killing our people with impunity.  Again  long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • How corruption, leadership hamper NDLEA’s drug war (1)

    How corruption, leadership hamper NDLEA’s drug war (1)

    In spite of mammoth arrests, seizures and convictions of drug peddlers, the battle against illicit drugs is far from being won, as the criminal market continues to grow, drawing profit and impetus for organised crime. After keeping a close tab on the agency for more than two years, Assistant Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF reports that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) requires an overhaul if it is to regain  its teeth to fight the drug war.

    It was in the wee hours – a time many residents were still asleep in an upscale housing estate in Akure, capital of Ondo State. Suddenly, a mild commotion erupted like an angry volcano, disrupting the tranquil sweetness of the night. In a gestapo-like manner, officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), apparently acting on a tip-off, swooped on a secret cannabis warehouse inside Shagari Housing Estate, spewing a shocking discovery that literally stole headlines. Many residents – who had their sleep abruptly cut short by the whoop of invading ‘warriors’ in 12  trucks – were shocked, as NDLEA operatives evacuated a staggering 34,030kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of N364 million from the criminal stockroom. Starting before the break of the dawn, the successful raid, which resulted in the single largest seizure of the illicit drug ever recorded in the state, lasted for more than eight hours that fateful Thursday, April 9, 2015.

    Basking in the euphoria of the exploits of his officials’ exploits, Ibrahim Abdul, NDLEA commander in Ondo State, boasted that his men would never rest on their oars until the state is rid of prohibited drugs. He named two arrested suspects, who he also paraded: God-day Chibuzor, 27, and Collins Nmor, 35, who are said to be cooling their heels in an NDLEA holding cell, assisting investigators in getting to the roots of the criminal network.

    “We began evacuation of the drug since 4 a.m. with 12 vehicles and the operation lasted over 12 hours. As we speak, three sensitive operations involving the destruction of cannabis plantation are going on simultaneously,” Abdul said.

    But that commendable feat was not an isolated case, as daily news reports are always awash with exploits of various states – drug seizures, arrests of suspected couriers, etc. More often than not, NDLEA officials in the various commands across the country risk their lives as they cross rivers, walk through valleys and ascend unwieldy mountains to access cannabis plantations. Because cannabis farmlands are usually tucked away in the far-flung corners of Nigeria’s vast forest reserves to escape the eagle eyes of ever-ready anti-narcotic operatives, their destruction operations are said to be quite cumbersome and hazardous – with dangers of predatory animals that populate the largely impenetrable jungles.

    That perhaps explains why NDLEA hardly raises eyebrows anytime the agency boasts that it has a superlative record in drug supply suppression index – in terms of size of drug farmlands destroyed, persons arrested and the quantity of drugs seized from couriers. As a matter of fact, in the last three and a half years, NDLEA has destroyed unprecedented hectares of cannabis farms and intercepted kilogrammes of narcotics, including cannabis, psychotropic substances, ephedrine, heroine, amphetamine, cocaine and methamphetamine. And with a staggering conviction statistics of 8,637 persons in five years – 1,509 in 2010; 1,491 in 2011; 1,718 in 2012; 1,865 in 2013 and 2,054 in 2014 – it will be difficult for any doubting Thomas to distrust NDLEA’s scorecard. “NDLEA has one of the highest criminal conviction scorecards among security agencies in the country. In line with our prosecution policy, all arrested drug traffickers are diligently prosecuted. Conviction is a top priority to us because it serves as a punishment to offenders while it also deters many from indulging in drug trafficking,” Ahmadu Giade, national chairman of the agency, bragged recently.

     

    Drugs, drugs everywhere!

    As alluring as the statistics on arrests, seizures and convictions are, they lie about the drug conundrum afflicting the country. Behind the façade of regular self-glorification headlines that cannot be tethered to reality is a country reeling under the pangs of a roaring drug business. From the north to the south, east to the west, there is proliferation of illegal drugs in all the dark and dank places in the country, as more and more people are losing their souls to destructive drugs, ranging from cannabis to heroin and cocaine etc. Although Nigeria used to be referred to as a drug transit nation, it is now fast becoming a haven for illicit drug manufacturers and consumers, with visible effects in major cities such as Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Owerri, Ibadan, among others, as people openly consume cannabis sativa (otherwise known locally as Indian Hemp), which is now commonly cultivated and consumed publicly in many parts of the country.

    Nigerians with criminal intents  regularly walk into the waiting arms of security operatives in many countries, with many drug barons and couriers alike falling for the guillotines, especially in nations where peddling in illicit substances attracts capital sentences.

    Last April, the world was jolted when Indonesia executed eight drug convicts, including four Nigerians – Jaminu Abashin, 41; Martin Anderson, 50; Okwudili Oyatanze, 41; and Sylvester Obiekwe, 42. The others were two Australians, one Brazilian and one Indonesian. Earlier in January, Indonesia also executed two Nigerians for similar offences, while eleven others are said to be on death row for drug offences. In China, Malaysia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore and other countries where drug peddling attracts death verdict, hundreds of Nigerians have been reportedly executed in the last five years. A staggering number is said to be awaiting the hangmen for indulging in illegal drug businesses.

    Of course, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) used to label Nigeria in the 80s and 90s as a mere transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for markets in Europe, East Asia and North America, among other places. Besides Nigeria, other West African countries have also become veritable routes for smuggling large amounts of illicit drugs from South America into Europe and North America. Sadly, experts are worried lately that the new stark reality is that Nigeria is fast becoming a production ground for psychotropic substances, worsened by a drastic increase in the rate of drug abuse among the young segments of the population, since there is still large availability of these illicitly manufactured products despite enormous efforts by narcotics operatives to frustrate the drug market. Topping the chart of most drugs most abused in the country is cannabis, which is not only consumed massively in various forms, but is also widely grown distributed in many parts of Nigeria. Although the NDLEA flayed the report for not being scientific in its method of arriving at its conclusions, a recent UNODC World report fingered Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest use of illicit drugs in Africa. The same report also rated the country high, lauding it for having the highest seizure of cannabis in Africa.

     

    Operatives collude with barons, aid couriers

     As many homes are forced to wear the mourning clothes whenever their kith and kin play into the hands of public executioners in foreign lands, it hardly occurs to them that it is as a result of institutional failures in the country.

    Unknown to many Nigerians, friends and family relations who get caught abroad for indulging in criminal acts of drug trafficking are individuals who are at their wit’s end after the initial déjà vu for beating the security checks in the home country. Although NDLEA is always quick to deny it, discreet investigations have shown that it is increasingly common at the agency’s several commands for some bad eggs to collude with the criminals they are being paid to hunt and bring to book, giving them access to traffic in illicit drugs for a fee. As if the NDLEA is primed to be a house of scandals, some of unscrupulous operatives at the various ports of entry and exit have inculcated the treacherous habit of working in cahoots with drug criminals, seeking the merchants of death the same way a salesman looks out for customers to buy his wares because of the love for filthy lucre.

    Even if it is not a business that is transacted in the open, compromising narcotics control and policing is prevalent at the nation’s international airports and seat ports where officers that have been found most worthy by the agency leadership are expected to be posted. In fact, for every three arrests or seizures, it is disheartening that no fewer than ten will have been criminally aided to beat the security apparatus at most of Nigeria’s airports and seaports. Because the drug barons have evolved into a cartel with huge resources to grease the palms of willing operatives, the gates are easily flung open for easy passage, with each smart drug passenger parting with at least N1.5 million. As some corrupt operatives sometimes look the other way at the country’s entry and exit points to ensure safe passage for their partners in crime, some of their colleagues that man the various NDLEA commands in many states are not saints too, for it is becoming increasingly disturbing for the operatives to connive with criminals they are being paid to hound.

    But this is not unknown to NDLEA, as a few instances will suffice. In January last year, Ogun State command of the agency was alleged to be enmeshed in a scandal involving its commander. For allegedly tampering with exhibit money recovered from a drug baron in the state, Mohammed M. Mohammed was reportedly queried by the agency. As one of those in possession of one of the keys to the exhibit room, the commander allegedly broke into the room of the agency and stole exhibit money which were retrieved from drug barons and kept in the exhibit room. The amount he was alleged to have stolen was said to be in six digits. To forestall fraud and corruption, NDLEA encourages that the keys to the exhibit rooms are separately kept by three different personnel so that no single officer would have access to the room at any time. But Mohammed was said to be under intense financial pressure occasioned by the burial of his deceased mother. He was said to have needed money desperately and his relief was to break the exhibit room with his personal carpenter and made away with money recovered from drug barons in the state. The commander  fled to his country home for the burial of his mother. When the scam was leaked, Mohammed was contacted on phone concerning the fraud. In order to cover up, he allegedly sourced for funds immediately and deposited it in the account of another officer, identified as Saminu Sanni, who  withdrew the money at his Abeokuta bank and handed same to the exhibit keeper, Chuwang Bulus.

    Also last year, specifically in early August, many major national dailies feasted on acts of malfeasance involving some commanding officers of NDLEA in Ondo State who were alleged to be providing paid protection for drug barons in the state. When the dust raised by the scandal in Ondo was yet to settle, news of a bigger show of shame broke weeks later, as another set of drug cartel was unmasked in the agency’s command in Kaduna State. At the heart of this scandalous compromise were Mohammed Kaka Jibrin, the state commander, and Goddy Obainoke, assistant state commander in charge of operations and intelligence, as well as a coterie of other senior officers in the command who were alleged to be hobnobbing with drug barons for monetary gains. While it is widely believed even within the agency that mindboggling unprofessional practices are entrenched in the command, sources said luck ran out of these unpatriotic officers following a disagreement over the sharing of the loot and proceeds from recycled drugs after parties in the cartel felt cheated by the commander. Besides this, it was also discovered that the command was entangled in several unwholesome cases bordering on recycling of seized drugs and extortion of huge sums of money from arrested drug dealers in exchange for freedom. Scores of cases of arrests with considerable drug seizures, which were later compromised for huge monetary returns, were uncovered when the national headquarters of the agency beamed its searchlight into the scam.

    The ugly discoveries were said to be so overwhelming that Ahmadu Giade, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, who visited the command immediately, ordered the immediate detention of Suleiman El-Gandau, Isa Hayatou, Ikumelo Segun, and Alao Sulaimon Dawodu. He also directed the allegedly compromising commander and his deputy to hand over to Alabe Azinge Samuel, presumably to restore normalcy in the command and mitigate the condemnation that the incident might engender. Sadly for  Giade, some of the affected officers were alleged to be some of his favourites who had enjoyed unmerited special treatment under him.

    Another operative of the NDLEA who specialised in passing drug traffickers at the airport was arrested for abetting and aiding drug traffickers in June last year. Ibidayin Godwin, an operative attached to the command in Anambra State, was arrested at MMIA by fellow NDLEA officials. He allegedly abandoned his duty post in Anambra and flew to Lagos to pass a drug trafficker who was to use the MMIA to his destination. He was quickly picked up for allegedly aiding and abetting Adetoye Taiwo, a suspected drug trafficker, in smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But Ibidayin was not alone in the scam, for he reportedly fingered three others in his clandestine drug cartel: Taiwo Ososanya, Fatai Olawale Akera and Yusuf Olayemi Bankole. It was learnt some other senior colleagues were involved.

    To be continued.