Will Tinubu’s Presidency Fight Corruption?

President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, last week in Port-Harcourt promised his government will make corruption unattractive, but it remains to be seen if the war against corruption will be pronounced when he finally takes over on May 29, 2023, Adedayo Akinwale reports.

Prior to the 2023 general election, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), now the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, decided to err on the side of caution by not making the fight against corruption his major campaign theme.

Even in his 80-page campaign document containing multi-sectoral policy options, tagged “Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a Better Nigeria, Tinubu promised to prioritise National Security, Economy, Agriculture, Power, Oil and Gas, Transportation and Education if elected as president.

He also promised to outline policy options for Healthcare, Digital Economy, Women Empowerment, Judicial Reform, Federalism/Decentralisation of Power and Foreign Policy.

In what appears to be a tactical approach, the fight against corruption was never mentioned as one of the priorities of his administration. Tinubu kept a deafening silence on his plan to tackle corruption in the country, which has more or less become a way of life.

THISDAY recalls that  during the 2015 general election, General Muhammadu Buhari, as he was then known, promised to fight corruption, defeat terrorism and fix the economy.

With less than three weeks to the end of his tenure, Buhari has failed in the tripod on which his campaign promises rest.

On the economy, the country is worse off pre- 2015. The economy is wobbling, under his administration, the nation experienced two economic recessions. His administration will also be giving a parting gift to Nigeria by leaving N77 trillion debt behind.

For instance, prior to 2015, Boko Haram insurgents held the North East part of the country hostage. So, it was the belief of many Nigerians that if a ‘no-nonsense’ Buhari assumed the leadership of the country, insecurity would be a thing of the past.

But at the moment, not only did Boko Haram terrorists continue to wreak havoc in North East, North Central, bandits kidnap for ransom while herdsmen have ensured that farmers do not access their farms, and unknown gunmen have become lords in the South-East.

Moreso, Buhari’s promise to fight corruption to a stand still has become a mirage. Although some efforts were made to reduce the menace of corruption in the country, almost eight years down the line, corruption remains intractable.

Buhari’s anti-corruption fight rests on a tripod: implementation of Treasury Single Account, Biometric Verification Number (BVN) and ‘Whistle Blowing’ policy, which have received commendations.

Sadly, the politicisation of the anti-corruption fight and the refusal to investigate accusations have cast doubt on the fight. Also the alleged double standards in Buhari’s treatment of those loyal to him are some examples; as well as party politics of shielding the prosecution of people loyal to those in power.

While Adams Oshiomole was APC National Chairman, he told  defectors from opposition parties to join the governing party and have their ‘sins’ forgiven.

It was no surprise that in 2017, a former lawmaker, Senator  Shehu Sani, accused Buhari of using double standards in fighting corruption.

Sani had made the accusation in response to a letter by the President dismissing a report by the committee indicting the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, for corruption.

“When it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly and the Judiciary and in the larger Nigerian sectors, the President uses insecticide, but when it comes to fighting corruption within the Presidency, they use deodorants,” Sani had said.

Little wonder, the Transparency International (TI) in its 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) reports published in January, 2023 revealed that Nigeria still sits comfortably in the red zone with a score 24 as it did in 2021.

Though, the corruption perception index (CPI) of Nigeria has marginally improved by four points, according to the latest report by Transparency Index.

In the 2022 index, the country scored 24 out of 100 points — same as 2021 but with a different ranking.

Nigeria ranked 154 out of 180 countries to become the worst TI corruption rating under President Buhari. In the 2022 index, Nigeria was ranked 150 out of 180 countries.

In 2015, Nigeria was ranked 136th; 136th in 2016; 148th in 2017; 144th in 2018; 146th in 2019, and 149th in 2020.

Succinctly put, instead of Buhari defeating insecurity, corruption and fixing the economy, the reverse is the case, as his administration has been decimated by the trio.

Having observed that the anti-corruption war under the Buhari-led APC administration has been a monumental failure, Tinubu was careful not to raise any hope that his administration will wage war against corruption.

Nevertheless, last Thursday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital,  Tinubu promised that his administration will put incentives and policies in place that will make corruption unattractive for judges and other Nigerians.

To the President-elect, with the right incentives that guarantee conducive working atmosphere and policies that make it easy for workers to acquire credit facilities for essential needs, the temptation for corruption would reduce.

According to him: “You don’t expect your judges to live in squalor, to operate in squalor and dispense justice in squalor. This is part of the changes that are necessary. We must fight corruption but we must definitely look at the other side of the coin.  If you don’t want your judges to be corrupt you got to pay attention to their welfare. You don’t want them to operate in hazardous conditions”.

The president-elect said lack of consumer credit which could make it easy for workers to acquire property such as houses and cars make them susceptible to corruption.

His words: “If you have consumer credit that will reduce the propensity for corruption. We don’t want our judges to play foul, to compromise justice. I promise we are going to review all of these in a policy think tank.”

But the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said Tinubu cannot fight corruption because he is allegedly a product of a corrupt electoral process.

According to PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the opposition, as well as all sensible Nigerians are “scandalised and embarrassed”, by the President-elect’s comment.

He said: “It is public knowledge that there has been numerous allegations and evidence of corruption and complicity by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the declaration of Senator Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election. Today Nigerians and indeed the world believe that that declaration was a product of corruption of the process, institutions and the law by the APC and its presidential candidate.

“It is therefore ludicrous that an individual who has been widely alleged to be an enabler and beneficiary of corruption can attempt to put himself forward to Nigerians as a champion of anti-corruption. Of course, corruption cannot fight corruption!”

The main opposition party’s spokesman further stated that if Tinubu is desirous of fighting corruption, the starting point should be for him to “publicly and personally” address Nigerians on the numerous allegations of corruption against him.

Be that as it may, whether Tinubu will fight or romance corruption is too early to tell. Nigerians have to wait till he assumes office.  And when he finally does, it remains to be seen if such fight will be extended to other sectors in the country.