Ring True
I have spent quality time reading Chief Wole Olanipekun’s convocation lecture delivered last week at Ekiti State University. In fact, I have had to read this bulky and compelling document all over again this week. The paper of this erudite lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria titled, “Breaking the Jinx, the Cyclical Nature of Nigeria’s Problems,” dealt extensively with President Muhammadu Buhari’s hackneyed war against corruption.
I am deeply relieved that more patriots are standing up against this jaundiced and lopsided war; a war that has turned into a charade. Most of the points made by Olanipekun align with what I have been clamouring for in the last two years. For me, any war against corruption must be total and fought within the ambits of the laws of our land. There should be no sacred cow as we have in the case of Babachir Lawal, the great grass cutter and his cohorts. It is also pertinent to put an end to media trials. Buhari’s war against corruption has largely been media-driven, with very little result in practical terms.
Talking about the persistent perilous media trial by this administration, charges against former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe were withdrawn this week, after he had been convicted in the media that he stole billions of Naira. An Abuja High Court struck out a six-count charge filed against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission over alleged N1.97 billion fraud with regard to the construction of the East-West Road. Justice Olukayode Adeniyi who struck out the case, also discharged and acquitted the defendants, after the charge was withdrawn by the prosecutors.
The charges were withdrawn on the day the court asked the anti-graft agency to produce witnesses to establish claims that Orubebe diverted funds meant for the compensation of owners of properties on the Eket Urban section of the East-West Road. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami in a letter to the Chairman of the ICPC, astonishingly confirmed that the money which Orubebe was accused of diverting had not been expended, but awaiting further contract decisions and directives from the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs.
The AGF in the letter dated 16, December 2016 and signed by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mr. U.E.Mohammed, said: “In view of the above, the basis for the prosecution of the accused persons for misappropriation does not exist and thus, further prosecution cannot be justified.” Is this not disgusting? Orubebe should sue for compensation. He was harassed and humiliated for over one year by the EFCC.
Also on Wednesday, an FCT High Court struck out the 18-count corruption charge the federal government preferred against Justice Adeniyi Ademola, Olabowale (his wife) and Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. This was after they had been demonised for months.
The court held that the federal government failed to prove any of the allegations against Ademola, who hitherto served as a judge at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court. Justice Jude Okeke, the trial judge held that the federal government failed to establish that Ademola received N38.5 million gratifications, including a BMW Saloon 320i car gift. Okeke held that the prosecution could not link the N30 million Mrs. Ademola received from Agi, to any particular case being handled by her husband.
He also held that government could not tender any evidence showing that the said N30 million was, at any time, transferred to any bank account belonging to Justice Ademola. “None of the witnesses identified or tendered evidence to show that N30 million was paid into any bank account of the 1st defendant either by the 2nd or the 3rd defendants.” The judge noted that the lead investigator, in his evidence-in-chief, admitted that he could not establish any link between the monetary gift and any case that was handled by Justice Ademola.
“A court of law reckons with hardcore evidence placed before it and not on speculations as to why the payments were made,” the judge said. Thus, he said the prosecution failed to discharge the burden of proof placed upon it by the law.
Also talking about not obeying the courts while fighting this war that has become notorious; the case of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki is most pathetic. This government has been holding Dasuki illegally for almost 18 months. All the courts he was arraigned before granted him bail, yet they refused to allow him go home. Even the ECOWAS court declared Dasuki’s continuing incarceration as illegal; yet, the federal government did not budge. This war against corruption must be rejigged. This is the only way forward for our great country.
Back to Olanipekun’s Epistle. Some of my take away which we must all deeply reflect on include: “We seem to be fixated on the naming and shaming of people rather than confronting, headlong and holistically, the toxicity of corruption in the nation. We have held people without charge, whilst others with similar allegations of corruption hanging on their necks continue to walk free and are even occupying sensitive positions in government.
“The end result of a failure to adhere to the rule of law is the enthronement of dictatorship. Dictatorship itself breeds anarchy, and when anarchy is enthroned, we enter a sphere described by sociologists as a state of anomie and a regime of anomy. No society wishes it in the first place, but gradually, it inches forward unnoticed when rule of law is discarded, and rule of man is enthroned. It happens when citizens applaud high-handedness, and when any crave for vengeance replaces due process. A fertile zone for it to germinate is also where the citizenry either keeps quiet, advertently or inadvertently, or even ignorantly or where they are afraid of expressing their views.”
On media trials, Olanipekun said: “We have to be very careful in the way and manner we pronounce and crucify people in this country, without trial, and without affording them the right to be heard. The right to fair hearing is inalienable, given to man by God, right from the time of creation. God gave Adam and Eve the right to fair hearing before He passed judgement on them. I want to plead that every tier of Government in this country, including agencies of government, including also the EFCC and the DSS, to give Nigerians the right to fair hearing in obedience to the clear provisions of the Constitution, as well as the right bequeathed to man by God.
“Annexed to the right to fair hearing, is also our duty, whether as government or people, to obey court orders under the doctrine of the Rule of Law. We cannot also hide under the pretext that we are fighting corruption or any particular vice, in refusing to obey any court order, whether in civil or criminal cases, and also including others where courts have directed that citizens should be released on bail. The Supreme Court succinctly summarized the imperative of obedience to the rule of law.”
Olanipekun argued that the Nigerian government, to a very large extent, had been reactive and not proactive in the fight against corruption: “In my view, Nigeria arrives at the scene of corruption after the deed had been done, after the horse had bolted from the stable. No efforts have been devoted to building strong institutions and systems which make it impossible for corruption to be perpetrated and perpetuated or which detect same and quickly nip it in the bud.
“What we pretend to be combating and over which we make so much noise and employ high propaganda is the genre of corruption relating to the depletion of our national till, without appreciating the fact that a lot of factors and combinations aid and abet this process.”
This morning, I sincerely hope that our dear President and his anti-graft soldiers will reflect on all these.
The Executive Must Learn to Respect Democracy at Work
For years, the Legislature has remained an appendage of the Executive at all levels of government in our dear nation. In virtually all the states, lawmakers are mere errand boys of governors. Speakers and other principal officers report to governors like their personal aides or get fired. These governors change the leadership of the Legislature at will. The Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Executive believes federal lawmakers should also bow and tremble before it; more so that the leadership is from the same ruling party. It is shocking that the average Nigerian also thinks the Legislature should continue to operate as a rubber stamp institution. This is why some people are reacting negatively to current efforts by federal legislators to assert themselves and operate as an independent arm of government. It is preposterous to think that these federal legislators must approve everything sent to them by the Executive without scrutiny. Some Nigerians think that the legislature must always accept everything thrown to them by the Executive. This is wrong. The Buhari-led Federal Executive must learn to respect democracy at work and put an end to propaganda aimed at rubbishing the Legislature.
It is anti-democracy for the Executive to treat with disdain resolutions passed by elected representatives of the people. The most recent of this contempt was the refusal of the Executive to replace the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu. Yes, the Executive has the right to nominate people for vacant positions, but the final nod belongs to the Legislature. After failing an integrity test, backed by an incriminating letter from the Department of State Security, the elected representatives of the people decided that Magu was not fit for the job. I can’t see the big deal in this. The Executive should simply ask Magu to step aside and put forward a new person.
There were also issues around the Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir Lawal and the Comptroller General of Customs, Hammed Ali, which should not have degenerated if the Executive respects democracy at work.
Again, the Buhari administration often create unnecessary scenes with the annual budgets. The Executive clearly knows that the power of appropriation belongs to the Legislature, while it only submits a proposal. The Legislature can add, subtract and amend the budget in whatever way it deems fit, in conformity with the laws of our land. This is the global standard. We must all learn to appreciate democracy.
The Jamila Shu’ara Soap Opera
For those who have not been following the story, Dr. Jamila Shu’ara is the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, who ordinarily ought to have retired from service in February 2016, after clocking the mandatory 60 years. Her tenure was controversially extended to February 2017. Surprisingly, for the second year running, President Buhari has again extended her tenure by one year, to 2018, with no plausible explanation. This is evidently an abuse of discretion. We should all be concerned about propriety and lawfulness in our nation. Dr. Shu’ara is heading towards 62 years and still in service. This is not in line with civil service rules. This action is also a threat to the civil service which has a practice of keeping to guidelines. The Buhari administration must take politics away from the civil service. There are so many qualified personnel in the civil service capable of taking over from Dr. Shu’ara. Our dear president should allow Dr. Shu’ara to go and enjoy her retirement by reversing this illegal and embarrassing extension.
