Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, examines President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade and matters arising.
President Muhammadu Buhari was unequivocal during the political campaigns that led to his election that one of his cardinal programmes would be frantic battle against corruption.
Even in the three previous failed attempts to emerge as the president, he was unambiguous in his position that he would declare massive anti-corruption war and ensure that corrupt officials implicated during any probe would be made to face the wrath of the law.
Against this backdrop, Buhari has made the corruption fight a sing-song. At home and abroad, he has declared corruption as Nigeria’s number one enemy.
Nigerians seem to be united in their view that corruption has become a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabric and consciousness of the nation.
Most commentators contend that it would not be out of place to say that corruption has been institutionalised in the nation’s system, to the extent that it has become hydra-headed and perhaps a way of life.
The challenge of corruption, according to experts, is that if the country must be salvaged from the mess, then there must be every attempt to stamp it out.
Since after the inauguration of Buhari, he has remained vocal on his anti-corruption mantra, re-assuring that there would be no hiding place for persons who looted Nigeria’s resources while in public office. In fact Buhari has said repeatedly that there is no going back on the anti-corruption war.
Unveiling the corruption index
It has no doubt become axiomatic that corruption in Nigeria has reached its climax. This development has painted the country in bad light, especially before the international community. Little wonder that in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released in December 2014, Nigeria ranked 136th most corrupt country in the world and the third most corrupt nation in West Africa after Guinea and Guinea Bissau.
According to Transparency International’s CPI, it was Nigeria’s best ranking under former President Goodluck Jonathan. The report further showed that Nigeria was ranked 144th in 2013, 139th in 2012 and 143rd in 2011.
Commentators agree that corruption corrodes the fabric of society, undermines people’s trust in political and economic systems as well as institutions and leaders.
To tame corruption, several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations both in Nigeria and across the world have been pressuring governments and businesses to take strong action against corruption.
In Nigeria, sadly enough, successive administrations seem to have treated the fight against corruption with levity, leading to the cry for reforms in all sectors of the economy, if the country must survive as a united entity.
The Buhari stance
Buhari, during his visit to the United States of America, had raised the hope of Nigerians on the anti-corruption war when he vowed to retrieve all the money stolen by ministers who served under Jonathan.
During the tour, he confirmed that there was evidence of massive looting and stealing of Nigeria’s crude oil by some government officials, just as he stressed that former ministers’ names were being compiled by relevant agencies for possible prosecution.
Buhari vowed that his administration would trace the accounts of individuals who stashed away ill-gotten oil money, freeze such accounts, recover the loot and prosecute the culprits.
“As soon as possible, we will approach those countries to freeze such accounts, prosecute the culprits and return the monies to Nigeria,” he had vowed.
According to Buhari, “The amount involved is mind-boggling. Some former ministers were selling about one million barrels of oil per day. I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to prosecute the culprits.”
On Tuesday, August 11, 2015, Buhari, during a meeting with members of the National Peace Committee headed by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, reiterated that his government was “irrevocably” committed to doing all within its powers to break the vicious cycle of corruption as well as tackle unemployment and insecurity in the country.
He said a lot of damage had been done to the integrity of Nigeria, with individuals and institutions already compromised.
Said Buhari: “Nigeria has to break this vicious cycle before we can make progress. We have really degenerated as a country. Our national institutions, including the military, which did wonderfully on foreign missions in the past, have been compromised. But we are doing something about it. The military is now retraining and morale has been resuscitated.
“As Petroleum Minister under Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1970s, I could not travel abroad until I had taken a memo to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) asking for estacode. Now, everybody does what he wants. We cannot continue this way if we must move forward.”
Buhari has vowed to step on toes, to kill corruption.
Controversy galore
The current president’s stand has sent some tongues wagging. While some hail the declaration against corruption as a positive step that would restore the country’s lost glory and perhaps bring back the peoples stolen wealth, others perceive it as a political witch-hunt and an extension of Buhari’s selective vendetta against those who have in one way or another thrown spanner in his works, especially in his tortuous march to Aso Rock since 2003.
At different occasions, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is now in the opposition, and its senators have raised the alarm that the anti-corruption war as championed by the Buhari administration was on a vindictive mission.
PDP alleges selective agenda
The national leadership of the party had last week argued that the anti-graft war of the government was targeted at its members.
It, therefore, insisted that the authorities must do everything to convince Nigerians that the war against sleaze was not aimed at weakening the opposition political party.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Olisa Metuh, made the allegation in Abuja on Sunday, October 18, while reacting to the arrest and questioning of the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Akpabio, who is the Minority Leader of the Senate, was questioned over allegation of corruption, following petitions sent to the commission by an Abuja-based lawyer, Leo Ekpeyong, and some indigenes of the state.
Metuh, however, argued that the action was aimed at weakening the opposition and aimed at forcing members of the PDP to join the APC.
“This clearly explains why the so-called fight against corruption has been selective and against PDP members, despite counsel by stakeholders that it should be holistic and in accordance with the due process of the law.
“The best example of the curious nature of the war against corruption is the fact that former PDP governors and ministers are being hounded and arrested over apparently orchestrated petitions, while their APC counterparts, who have more damaging petitions, are being nominated for ministerial positions,” he argued.
Akpabio is not the only functionary of the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration that had been quizzed by the anti-corruption agency. Former Interior Minister, Abba Moro, was also interrogated by the Commission within the same period.
Before the invitation of the two, operatives of the agency had invaded the Abuja residence of former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, the same week officials of the United Kingdom National Crime Agency (NCA) questioned her over alleged money laundering matters.
It was against this backdrop that PDP supporters complain that while governors and ministers on the platform of the party are being hounded and arrested over apparently orchestrated petitions, their APC counterparts, who have petitions against them, are being given red carpet treatment.
Those who buy into this argument easily cite the instance of former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who, despite petitions against him, was nominated by Buhari for ministerial position. He was actually screened by the Senate last Thursday.
There is also the reference on former Governors Abubakar Audu and Timipre Sylva who have on-going corruption cases in court, but were rewarded with the APC tickets for the forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states, respectively.
Critics are of the view that the anti-graft agency, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has woken up from its slumber with the prosecution of opponents.
They claim that some individuals are being found guilty simply by association.
Buhari, they assert, appears to be feasting on some of the opposition elements that had cases before his coming. For instance, they argued that, so far, only perceived challengers of the administration are being tried.
Five former governors – Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State and Timpire Sylva of Bayelsa State – have been on trial for corruption in various courts.
Akpabia, former governor of Akwa Ibom, was invited recently by the EFCC.
Critics have argued that there is no known single APC top official or governor that is under investigation.
In defence of action
Buhari has continued to respond to the accusations that his government is leading a selective war against corruption. His Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina, has at various platforms defended government’s position.
Also, the president in one of his reactions through a statement from his media aide, Garba Shehu, had characterised the claims as “false, baseless and totally unjustifiable”.
He reassured Nigerians of his commitment to fighting corruption and punishing the guilty, notwithstanding their position and political affiliation.
The statement read in part: “We have noted with regret the allegation by members of the PDP Senate Caucus that the present administration is being selective and partisan in its prosecution of the war against corruption.
“We state without equivocation that the allegation is false, baseless and totally unjustifiable. For the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, we affirm that having made his zero tolerance for corruption clear to all and sundry, President Muhammadu Buhari does not micro-manage or interfere in the daily work of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies.
“The wild allegation of bias and partisanship in the fight against corruption shouldn’t have come therefore from respected and distinguished members of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That claim belongs to the past and not the present. Public officials and other leaders accused of corruption by relevant agencies should plead their innocence, not malice.
“President Buhari’s unwavering stance is that whosoever is charged with corruption should face the law irrespective of whether they are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any other political party.
The people’s verdict
Prof. Itse-Sagay, respected constitutional lawyer and chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, told TheNiche that all Nigerians have a responsibility to assist the Buhari government to fight corruption, stressing that “it is the greatest scourge confronting this country today”.
Also supporting the anti-graft war, Hon. Cletus Obun, APC Vice Chairman, Cross River Central, explained that the ongoing fight against looters of the nation’s treasury should not be seen as selective, but as a commitment to fulfilling part of the campaign promises of the president in recovering stolen money from past leaders to rebuild the nation.
Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has at different fora cajoled Buhari’s corruption campaign, saying it was more of noise-making, witch-hunt and diversionary.
As a result, he cautioned the president to move into action in his corruption crusade rather than “making much noise over it as he seems to be doing now”.
Fayose challenged Buhari if he is sincere in the crusade to start his anti-corruption war by looking inwards within his party, the APC.
He said all the uproar is only meant to divert public attention from the seeming failure of his administration to deliver on its electoral promises.
“If President Muhammadu Buhari knows exactly where the stolen funds are kept and who looted the funds, he does not need all these public announcements; rather he should make public names of the looters and bring back the purported stolen funds, location of which he has identified.
“It is when he is able to bring back the money that he should make announcements of recovered funds. It is like you are announcing that you know where armed robbers reside and that won’t change their location,” Fayose said mockingly.
Fayose noted further that “Buhari and his men should know that these planned efforts to brand PDP as a party of corrupt people and suppress the giant strides of the Jonathan administration won’t work because Nigerians know that APC is peopled by more corrupt politicians.
“The President must treat the issue of corruption without looking at political parties. No one sits with corruption to fight corruption because as it is today, Buhari is sitting among corrupt people and he must first extricate himself from the comity of corruption that is before his anti-corruption stance.”
Last line
The expectation is that all Nigerians would join the anti-graft agencies in this crusade of ridding Nigeria of corruption.
But what is not expected and would not be accepted, according to political watchers, is when investigations are done in a manner that engenders impunity.
For Nigerians, any act of overzealousness would only undermine the credibility of the anti-corruption campaign and vindicate critics who charge the administration of simply embarking on a witch-hunt and political vendetta against its enemies.
As a man whose unique selling point for the presidency was integrity, many observers believe it is inconceivable that he will condone corruption.
For a president who declared in his inaugural speech that “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”, he is expected not to be partial.
But Nigerians seem to be watching to see how Buhari will manage his relationship with his closest political associates and electoral financiers.
The question now is whether he will surrender the task of governance to political gladiators within and outside the APC as well as his Northern interest.
These are those who brought him to power, or will Buhari courageously take the driver’s seat in tackling corruption and discharging his duties to the nation.