The ‘fantastically corrupt’ comment by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has raised more questions on the true posture of Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight, writes Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU.
The latest remark on Nigeria by United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, that Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt” has opened another vista on the perception of the nation’s corruption profile, locally and internationally.
Going by the latest news leaked by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the remark was made during a conversation with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The occasion was the Queen’s 90th birthday, just before the global summit on corruption.
Cameron in the chat had described Nigeria and Afghanistan as “fantastically corrupt”, a statement that has raised strong questions on the effectiveness or otherwise of the anti-corruption battle in the land. But reacting, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, exonerated President Muhammadu Buhari from corrupt Nigerian public officials.
There have been mixed reactions by Nigerians over the comment. While some demand that apology must be rendered by the British government, there are others who felt that we deserved what we got since Buhari, at any slightest opportunity abroad, would paint how corrupt his country is. Even at the summit, President Muhammadu agreed with Cameron.
“What type of apology do we need from Cameron? When our President (Buhari) in all his numerous trips abroad goes about declaring that Nigerians are corrupt, what do you expect? You cannot rubbish your country in foreign lands and expect them to applaud you,” Ephraim Suberu, a university teacher told TheNiche.
Buhari lashes back
President Buhari on Thursday, while still in faraway London, equally indicted the international community for looking the other way for too long while corrupt persons were busy stashing away stolen funds in their countries.
He made the observation at the opening of the anti-corruption summit which was hosted by Cameron.
To stem the tide, Buhari tutored the international community to urgently create anti-corruption infrastructure and a strategic action plan to facilitate the speedy recovery and repatriation of all stolen funds hidden in secret bank accounts abroad.
He is of the view that new measures against corruption that would be adopted by the summit should also include mechanisms that will assist countries like Nigeria to combat illegal activities such as crude oil theft to which, he said, Nigeria loses about $7 billion annually.
Said Buhari: “When it comes to tackling corruption, the international community has unfortunately looked away for too long. We need to step up and tackle this evil together. That is why we have gathered here today.
“Corruption creates a system where resources are shared by a small elite while the majority wallows in poverty. Corruption also undermines the ability of countries to finance development.
“I recall, in this regard, the landmark Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the 3rd International Conference on Finance for Development held in January this year. A prominent feature of that global framework is the recognition that good governance and measures to combat corruption and curb illicit financial flows would be integral to the effort to attain sustainable development globally by the year 2050.
“It is for this reason that my government is determined to address illicit financial outflows which have served as a major impediment to progress in our country.
“I wish to reiterate our demand that the global community must come up with mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for stolen funds and facilitate the return of stolen assets to their countries of origin.”
Mirroring corruption through TI report
Despite the ongoing corruption war being waged by Buhari, global anti-corruption agency, Transparency International (TI), does not think much positive result has been recorded.
TI still retained Nigeria in its 136th position out of the 170 countries in its last ranking of global Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
Chairman of TI, Jose Ugaz, who made the disclosure after the anti- corruption watchdog released its 2015 CPI, observed that corruption remains a blight around the world.
Ugaz stated that 2015 was also a year when people around the world sent a strong signal to those in power that it was time to tackle corruption, with various protests across the globe, stressing that more countries, however, improved in 2015.
From TI’s research, the five least corrupt countries are: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, New Zealand and Netherlands. While the five most corrupt countries are: South Sudan (163) (tied with Angola), Sudan (165), Afghanistan (166), Somalia (167 tied) with North Korea.
Given the TI corruption index, Nigeria is expected to genuinely re-fire its effort at anti-corruption drive, but what obtains, commentators insist, is far from being a genuine cause in national interest.
EFCC to the rescue?
Against the backdrop of alleged massive fraud and corrupt tendencies within the nation’s system, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) were all established during the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo to tackle the malaise.
Going by their activities, EFCC has shown to be more action-poised and aggressive in its conduct and perhaps taken the shine off the CCB which is recently bouncing back with the trial of the Senate President, Olusola Saraki, also perceived as a vindictive exercise in most political quarters.
Established under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004, the Commission has, among other functions, the investigation of all financial crimes, including the advance fee fraud, money laundering, counterfeiting, illegal charge transfers, futures market fraud, fraudulent encashment of negotiable instruments, computer credit fraud and contract scam.
It is also empowered to examine and investigate all reported cases of economic and financial crimes with a view to identifying individuals, corporate bodies or groups involved. It can also identify, trace, freeze, confiscate or seize proceeds derived from terrorist activities, economic and financial crime-related offences or the properties the value of which corresponds to such proceeds.
Most political commentators have picked holes in the lack of transparency in the execution of the anti-corruption war.
And it is believed that the transparency of the exercise, or its absence, would signpost the actual direction of Buhari’s anti-corruption agenda.
Political watchers are of the view that both the EFCC and the CCB can be the vehicle to drive the anti-corruption crusade, if the intentions are right.
But as the organisations stand today, most political observers and critics seem to have lost confidence in them going by TheNiche public gauge.
Critique on anti-graft crusade
Critics are of the view that if Buhari wants his war against corruption to be taken seriously, he needs, in the first place, to clean up his own house, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It is believed in most political quarters that it is more of a witch-hunt weapon for perceived political opponents while those of the APC known to be notorious in the art of looting are spared.
Winnable war
History shows it is possible to do it.
For instance, in 1990, Kim Young-sam, the opposition leader of South Korea, merged his Democratic Reunification Party with the ruling and reportedly corrupt Democratic Justice Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party.
He won the presidency in the 1992 elections, served for only one term and used the opportunity to clear the Augean Stables in South Korea.
He arrested two of his predecessors, Roh Tae-woo (1988-1993) and Chun Doo-hwan (1980-1988). Roh received 17 years sentence and Chun was sentenced to life. Kim, in his anti-corruption crusade, did not spare his biological son. In 1997, Kim Hyon Chol, his son known as the “Crown Prince”, was indicted for bribery and tax evasion. He got a three-year sentence. This, political watchers maintain, is what a transparent and sincere anti-corruption agenda should look like.
In Nigeria, critics opine that former presidents and their accomplices believed to have taken part in milking the country dry are left untouched to enjoy their ‘loot’.
The impression carried along by most Nigerians is that the crusade is rather selective.
Some observers have continued to posit that the reality on the ground is that more looting seems to be going on with those in government while the Presidency turns blind eye.
There are some officials in Buhari’s government that were indicted by different panels, and no action was taken. For instance, Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, was indicted by a judicial committee set up in Rivers State, by his rival, Governor Nyesom Wike, to investigate him. But he has been going about as if nothing happened, and the Presidency has remained silent on the issue. As far as the former Rivers governor is concerned, Wike’s panel was out for a vendetta and so should be ignored.
Also, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, was accused of inflating the cost of a website. Despite objections by some groups, Buhari went ahead to appoint him minister.
The public gauge
Most individuals that TheNiche sought their views were unwilling to talk on the anti-corruption issue, as they felt the crusade was lacking in both transparency and sincerity. They view the exercise more from a different side of the prism – to silence the opposition.
The views of most people who spoke on condition of anonymity could be captured with the position of Bekeh Utietiang.
Utietiang, author, teacher and development historian, says the anti-corruption crusade is more of a distraction and deception, arguing that it was not holistic, rather selective.
According to him, the President and his ruling APC have no plans to rescue Nigeria from its economic malaise since they came into power.
He noted further that Buhari and his party had gradually reneged on all the promises they made to Nigerians and used the anti-corruption crusade to distract the people from the serious problems the country is facing.
“Fighting corruption is a noble and courageous act in a country like Nigeria where it has eaten deep into its fabrics, but what we are witnessing is a sham,” he said.
The problem with Buhari’s anti-corruption tactics, Utietiang said, is that they are not sincere, just as he contended that “Buhari cannot prosecute any war on corruption with sincerity” as the major sponsors of his campaign are all corrupt.
Said Utietiang: “It is impossible to advance yourself as an anti-corruption crusader when the major benefactors of your campaign are among the most corrupt Nigerians. After his election, Buhari gave voice to these people by appointing them to his cabinet and other government parastatals.
“Their anti-corruption agenda has been reduced to a witch-hunt of the members of the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It’s getting to a year that Buhari was sworn in as President of Nigeria, (and) no member of the APC has been arrested or prosecuted. Yet, a substantial number of the members of the ruling APC were formerly members of PDP who enriched themselves from the government coffers during the 16 years that PDP ruled Nigeria.”
For elder statesman and founder, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) Frederick Fasehun, the President is ruling the country by intimidation. He believes that the anti-corruption fight is vindictive and used to blackmail the opposition.
But Special Adviser to Buhari on Media, Femi Adesina, differs. He told TheNiche that those afraid of the anti-corruption war are those with skeletons in their cardboard, arguing that nobody, without committing any offence, has faced any punishment.
“There is nothing wrong in the anti-corruption body, EFCC, inviting somebody to make explanations on an issue the person was involved in. It is nothing to be afraid of. You cannot be involved or called upon to come and explain what you are not aware of,” he said.
Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, says EFCC is a mere weapon in the hands of the Presidency to witch-hunt, intimidate and silence the opposition.
Last line
The last time Nigeria had the opportunity to remedy its corruption malady was at the early stages of the EFCC under Obasanjo when Nuhu Ribadu was in charge. But that was bungled by the very same authorities that instituted the Commission, as Ribadu turned out to be a willing tool in the hands of Obasanjo’s regime to intimidate those who were opposed to his style of politics.
With the way Buhari is believed to be manipulating the EFCC and CCB, observers contend that it would spell doom for the future.