Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former finance and coordinating minister of the economy, has described an attempt by renowned Lagos lawyer and human rights activist Femi Falana (SAN) to rope her falsely into the ongoing $2.1 billion arms purchase scandal investigations as a disservice to law, justice and the image of the country.
Okonjo-Iweala said it is sad that Falana who has earned some prominence as a human rights lawyer, now tramples on the rights of others as a political jobber.
Mr Paul C. Nwabuikwu, Media Adviser to Okonjo-Iweala, in a statement on Monday, condemned the prominent lawyer, saying together with his sponsors, they are engaged in nothing but media harassment, cyber-bullying and intimidation of innocent persons like Dr Okonjo-Iweala for political and pecuniary gain.
Consequently, Nigerians should not give in to Falana’s self-imposed Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA), Nwabuikwu said.
The rest of the statement reads:
OKONJO-IWEALA: A STRONG TRANSPARENCY ADVOCATE AND ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHTER
A RESPONSE TO FEMI FALANA, AN INTEGRITY-CHALLENGED CHARLATAN (ICC)
The malicious attempt by Lagos Lawyer, Femi Falana to mix Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala up in issues that have nothing to do with her in his letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a desperate joke by an integrity-challenged charlatan (ICC).
This misadventure shows that the so-called learned lawyer does not have any idea of what the mandate of the ICC is about.
He has resorted to this action because his previous efforts to tarnish her name – through his discredited NGO, SERAP and petitions to the EFCC – failed because they were lacking in credibility.
This latest effort to try to attach her name falsely confirms that Femi Falana is nothing but a tool of corrupt elements whose interests were hurt by the work Dr. Okonjo-Iweala did in fighting corruption while she was in office.
These elements have now made a habit of making false allegations against Dr Okonjo-Iweala whenever she receives any national or international recognition for her work. The pattern is clear and Nigerians should be alert to it. But Dr Okonjo-Iweala will not be intimidated from going on with her life and performing her duties. She will not give in to cowardly and unmanly bullying.
Falana’s latest attempt to implicate Dr Okonjo-Iweala falsely suggests that he is suffering from an ailment that may be described as Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA) because he simply has no grasp of the facts.
Here are the facts:
FACT NO 1: OKONJO-IWEALA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE $2.1 BILLION ARMS CONTROVERSY
Contrary to Falana’s lies, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged misuse of $2.1 billion by the office of the former National Security Adviser. Falana and his sponsors are simply trying to invent a connection where there is none.
The January 20, 2015 memo in which Dr Okonjo-Iweala sought and received the approval of former President Jonathan for the release of part of the newly returned Abacha funds to the NSA for purchase of arms is totally separate from the $2.1 billion issue.
The memo which is now in the public domain speaks for itself. The release of the resources was in response to an approval by the former President following a meeting chaired by him after a committee had considered the request.
The memo clearly documented Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s insistence that the proper procedure be followed, subject to appropriation and according to financial regulations. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala went further to state that the former NSA should account for the funds to the former President since she is not a member of the Security Council. The attempt to link Okonjo-Iweala to the $2.1 billion issue is therefore dead on arrival.
FACT NO 2: OKONJO-IWEALA WAS NOT IN GOVERNMENT WHEN MOST OF THE ABACHA FUNDS WERE RECOVERED
Falana and his sponsors have claimed that billions of dollars of Abacha funds were recovered and that Dr Okonjo-Iweala should account for the recovered funds.
The fact is that some of the funds recovery was done under the regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar and the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo when Dr Okonjo-Iweala was not even in government.
During the time Dr Okonjo-Iweala was Finance Minister in the second Obasanjo administration, $500m was recovered. As documented by the Field Study conducted by the World Bank with the assistance of national and international NGOs, this amount was properly applied.
Falana’s insistence on the contrary shows how despicable he is and how he is ready to ignore facts and concoct a fiction in the service of his sponsors.
FACT 3: OKONJO-IWEALA LEFT STRONG LEGACIES AS A CHAMPION OF TRANSPARENCY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION WHILE IN GOVERNMENT
It is on record that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala championed transparency and vigorously fought corruption during her two terms as Minister. Among other actions, starting from the second Obasanjo administration, she, for the first time in Nigeria’s history, published monthly revenue allocations to all tiers of government for Nigerians to see.
While serving in the Obasanjo administration, she requested the assistance of the World Bank and DFID, the UK’s development agency to build institutions and systems that could block leakages from the treasury. This work stalled after she left office in 2006. In August 2011, when she returned under the Jonathan government, with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance Team, she re-invigorated the establishment and use of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management Systems (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA), all of which saved the country billions of naira by drastically reducing avenues for corruption in the public service. These facts are well documented in successive World Bank, DFID and IMF Article 4 Reports.
It is gratifying that the present government has adopted and is further building on these systems for the benefit of the country.
FACT NO 4: DR. OKONJO-IWEALA’S MOTHER WAS KIDNAPPED AND ALMOST KILLED BECAUSE OF THE FORMER MINISTER’S STANCE AGAINST CORRUPTION
Falana is callous beyond belief for ignoring a fact of recent Nigerian history: the kidnap of Professor Kamene Okonjo, the then 83-year old mother of Dr Okonjo-Iweala by agents of fuel subsidy fraudsters who were angry that the former Minister had blocked them from defrauding the country further.
The kidnappers had told the traumatised old woman that they were sent to punish Okonjo-Iweala for refusing to pay some oil marketers. It is on record with the State Security Services that the kidnappers initially demanded the resignation of Dr Okonjo-Iweala in return for the release of her mother. Thank God Professor Okonjo is still alive to tell her story today and she will not be silenced.
It is extremely insensitive and, in fact, inhumane for Falana and his sponsors to level false accusations against someone like Dr Okonjo-Iweala who went through this kind of searing personal ordeal for her principled fight against corruption.
CONCLUSION
Falana’s attempt to implicate Dr Okonjo-Iweala falsely is a disservice to law, justice and the image of the country. It is sad that a person who had earned some prominence as a human rights lawyer now tramples on the human rights of others as a political jobber.
He and his sponsors are engaged in nothing but media harassment, cyber-bullying and intimidation against innocent persons like Dr Okonjo-Iweala for political and pecuniary gain. That is why Nigerians should not give in to Falana’s self-imposed Chronic Cerebral Amnesia (CCA).
Dasukigate: Falana writes ICC, demands prosecution of indicted Nigerians
Human rights activist Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the alleged diversion of $8 billion meant for the procurement of arms to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
Specifically, Falana wants ICC to investigate what he termed allegations of crimes against humanity committed against the Nigerian people by former and serving military officers as well as public officials and private persons who were said to have diverted the money.
The lawyer, in the letter addressed to the Prosecutor of the ICC Fatou Bensouda, also wants the court to bring to justice “those suspected to bear full responsibility for deliberate under-funding of the armed forces through widespread and systematic corruption in Nigeria.”
He urged the court to invite representatives of the Nigerian government to provide written or oral testimony at the sitting of the court, so that the prosecutor will be able to conclude on the basis of available information whether there is a reasonable basis for an investigation, and to submit a request to the Pre-Trial Chamber for authorization of investigation.
Falana further asked ICC to urge the Nigerian government to fulfil its obligations under the Rome Statute to cooperate with the court, including complying with requests to arrest and surrender suspected perpetrators of the criminal diversion of security fund, testimony, and provide other support to the ICC.
The lawyer, in the letter dated January 19, 2016, stated: “We are a firm of civil rights lawyers based in Lagos, Nigeria. We are the defence counsel for the majority of the members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Nigeria who were charged with mutiny, cowardly behaviour and sundry offences before the courts-martial instituted by the former military authorities.
“As we shall demonstrate the only “offence” proved against our clients in the military courts was that they had the temerity to demand for weapons to fight the well-equipped troops of the Boko Haram sect.
“On account of the deliberate refusal of the former military authorities to equip and motivate the members of the armed forces involved in combat operations, the insurgents have killed about 25,000 soldiers and civilians, including children, and displaced over 2,000,000 people.
“Having compromised the security of the people of Nigeria by collaborating with the terrorists, the former military authorities deliberately encouraged the brutal killing of innocent people, including ill-equipped officers and soldiers.”
Falana remarked that it was during a visit to Borno State in 2014 that former President Jonathan revealed to some selected leaders of the community that it was when Alhaji Modu Ali Sheriff caused the extra-judicial killing of the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Mohammed Yusuf, that the group declared war on the Nigerian people.
He lamented that even though President Jonathan knew that Alhaji Sheriff was a major sponsor of the terrorist group, the government did not charge him to court under the Terrorism Act applicable in Nigeria.
According to him, “In order to divert the attention of the Nigerian people and the international community from the afore-mentioned crimes against humanity, scores of soldiers were put on trial before courts-martial for demanding equipment to fight the well-armed members of the Boko Haram sect. The military courts convicted the soldiers and sentenced them to various terms of imprisonment while 70 were sentenced to death. Over 3,000 others were dismissed from the Nigerian Army in similar circumstances.
“Having investigated and confirmed that the said soldiers were sacrificed to cover up the criminal negligence of the former military authorities, the current Army leadership has ordered the recall and reinstatement of the 3,000 dismissed soldiers and commuted the death sentence of 66 out of 70 convicts on death row to 10 years’ imprisonment.”
Falana further stated that the inquiry conducted by the Presidential Panel on arms procurement has established that the bulk of the sum of $2.1 billion and N643 billion ($4 billion) earmarked for the purchase of military hardware to fight terrorism had been criminally diverted by the former government through the office of the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd).
“It has also been confirmed,” he wrote, “that the said Col. Dasuki colluded with some serving and retired military officers and civilians to divert the sum of $2 billion and N29 billion set aside for the procurement of fighter jets and other equipment for the Nigeria Air Force.
“As if that was not enough, the sum of $322 million and £5.5 million from the Abacha loot which was illegally transferred to Col. Dasuki by a former finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for prosecuting the war on terror has also been criminally diverted. Part of the stolen fund was used to fund the campaign for the re-election of president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections.
“Apart from diverting the fund for acquiring military equipment, some corrupt public officers also stole money set aside for acquiring the necessary gadgets and equipment for securing the Nigerian people. For instance, the $470 million contract awarded in 2009 for the installation of CCTV cameras in Abuja, the seat of the Federal Government, was poorly executed due to corrupt practices. Thus, the identification of terrorists who launched bomb attacks in public places in Abuja has been frustrated by the government officials who stole the contract sum.”
He noted that although the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had so far shown political will to fight corruption and recover stolen assets, he was of the opinion that an international investigation by the ICC from the perspective of crimes against humanity would complement the anti-corruption initiatives by the current government and contribute to ending a culture of impunity of the perpetrators.
“We submit that substantial grounds exist to warrant the intervention of the prosecutor in this case. Under Article 30(2)(b) of the Rome Statute, a person has intent “in relation to a consequence, [where] that person means to cause that consequence or is aware that it will occur in the ordinary course of events.
“We therefore submit that this is sufficient to hold Col Dasuki and others that have been indicted in the arms theft scandal responsible for crimes against humanity perpetrated against Nigerians. The failure of a former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to prevent widespread and systematic corruption including the re-looting of the Abacha loot amounts to complicity under the Rome Statute, and therefore fits the legal requirements of a crime against humanity,” he stated.
-Vanguard