Corruption: Jonathan and politics-free probe

Jonathan; Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to probe the administration of his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, for suspected corrupt practices has been described as a welcome development, but should be devoid of political vendetta, Fisayo Falodiwrites

One of the cardinal issues believed to have endeared President Muhammadu Buhari to the majority of Nigerians during the last general elections was his pledge to wage an effective war against corruption and probe suspected corrupt public officials.

Buhari articulated this aspect of his campaign based on the belief that money meant to execute people-oriented projects was being diverted to private pockets by public officials. He therefore stressed the need to kill corruption in the country for the nation to progress or else the menace would kill the country.

The President reiterated his hatred for corruption shortly after the general elections. He had told members of Adamawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress in Abuja who had come to congratulate him on his victory in the March 28 presidential election that he would go after those who looted the public funds and make them to refund the loot.

He specifically vowed to look into an allegation by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, that the $20bn that was supposed to have been remitted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Federation Account could not be accounted for. He therefore singled out the administration of his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, for probe. Buhari said instead of investigating the allegation raised by Sanusi, the former President turned deaf ears to it.

“This issue is not over yet. Once we assume office, we would order a fresh probe on the matter. We would not allow people to steal money meant for Nigerians to buy shares and stash away in foreign lands,” he had said.

The President, on another occasion, pilloried Jonathan’s administration for engaging in impunity, lack of accountability and financial recklessness in the management of public resources in a manner that was worse than the corrupt practices perpetrated during the Second Republic in the country.

Buhari had said that all financial and administrative instructions in every government parastatal and agency were thrown to the dogs. He then vowed to tackle the issue decisively and probe Jonathan’s administration for the financial sleaze and recover billions of the public funds stolen under his (Jonathan) watch.

The recent move against a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and the arrest of Jonathan’s Chief Security Officer, Mr. Gordon Obua, by the Department of State Services was said to have demonstrated Buhari’s seriousness for the planned probe. Though the reason for the arrest was not immediately established, it was gathered that the DSS officials might extract salient information on suspected ex-ministers from Obua.

To watchers of political activities in the country, the move to probe corrupt officials either retired or serving is a welcome development, but the investigation must be devoid of intimidation and political vendetta.

“Nigerians, majority of who are victims of corrupt practices, will be delighted if the probe is   genuinely carried out to retrieve the stolen resources, instead of a jamboree or a witch-hunt that will further drain the public fund,” a commentator, Mr. Dare Adeiya, said, adding, “The arrest and prosecution of perceived corrupt officials should not be selective.

“The probe should be extended beyond Jonathan’s government because Buhari himself specifically said in the US that stolen $150bn public fund had been kept in foreign banks in the past decade. So, to retrieve such money, if indeed the President is out to tackle the financial indiscipline in the country’s public life, he should dig beyond politics and make the process transparent.

“If the claim by Buhari that stolen $150bn public fund is being kept in foreign banks in the past decade, common sense demands that the probe should be extended beyond Jonathan’s administration. The probe should be extensive, thorough and carried out within the ambit of the law.

“Buhari should also honour his promise to probe supporters of the All Progressives Congress suspected to have engaged in embezzlement of public fund. Anti-corruption war should be all embracing and I don’t expect the President’s searchlight to discriminate against certain people. Whoever engages in financial and economic crimes must be made to pay for them. Anyone found to have robbed the nation of its resources should be made to face prosecution irrespective of party affiliation.”

He said though Buhari had not started inviting suspected ex-ministers for interrogation over financial sleaze, he asked the President to explore legal means while trying to retrieve the perceived loot.

“No one can justifiably fight impunity and financial recklessness with impunity,” the commentator said.

Adeiya, however, said that the President’s decision to probe suspected corrupt officials might have woken up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which was not known to have successfully investigated and prosecuted any high profile criminal case under Jonathan’s administration, from its slumber.

The anti-graft agency had, in the last four weeks, invited no fewer than five former governors – Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Chief Ikedi Ohakim (Imo), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff (Borno) and Chief Martin Elechi (Ebonyi) – for interrogation over issues bordering on stealing and financial recklessness.

But Lamido described his travails in the hands of the EFCC as a witch-hunt. According to him, he is being persecuted by Buhari because of his ambition to contest the presidential election in 2019.

Jonathan had said that Buhari should extend the probe beyond his administration, saying it would amount to a witch-hunt if only his administration was singled out for probe, but the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, dismissed Jonathan’s advice. He said Buhari would only limit the probe to the former President’s administration to avoid distraction. The probe, according to Adesina, will involve arresting former ministers and government officials who looted funds and stole Nigeria’s crude oil under Jonathan’s watch.

Adesina, who stressed the necessity of the probe in a recent interview with journalists, said, “It is a simple thing. Before he was inaugurated, the President said that it would be a distraction for him to start digging deep into past governments. He said so. I don’t see anything new. But it will be irresponsible of any government to leave things of the immediate past that are glaring and evident and not do anything about it.

“It is not a witch-hunt. You have evidence and they are glaring. A responsible government should do something about it. It is not about the former President. It is about how they acquitted themselves in the responsibility they were given. When you are given a public responsibility, you are responsible to the people.

“You must account. When you bury a corpse and the legs are sticking out, have you buried the corpse? No. Once there are trails of money, in dollars everywhere, a responsible government should investigate. It is not as if they are intimidating anybody.”

The Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, described Buhari’s move to probe Jonathan’s administration as the appropriate thing to do. He urged that the planned probe should not be taken as a political adventure, but necessary action to expose those suspected to have mismanaged the nation’s affairs and be punished for the crime.

Adeniran, however, expressed the belief that the probe would not achieve any meaningful result if it is extended beyond Jonathan’s government.

“So, the probe should start from the immediate past government because evidence and witnesses are still fresh and can be easily reached,” he said.

Adeniran said for the anti-graft war to achieve the desired result, there is the need to strengthen the EFCC and the judiciary for optimum performance.

He said, “Asking Buhari to begin the probe from 1960 or 1963 will not achieve anything because no administration can finish that in a term of office. So, the probe should start from the immediate past government and if there are issues that concern the previous administrations, then, that could be examined on their own merits.

“Basically, Buhari’s administration needs time to do other things apart from setting up probe panel to investigate corrupt people. Apart from that, anti-corruption agencies should be strengthened with funding, training and necessary equipment for them to carry out their duty.

“Judiciary should be reformed to expeditiously execute the anti-graft war. There should be a special court for diligent prosecution of corrupt people to avoid unnecessary justice delay and transfer of judges.”

But a lawyer, Mr. Rasheed Bamisile, said if Buhari must probe, then he should start from 1999, the time democracy returned to Nigeria.

He said probing Jonathan’s administration alone might bring some benefits to Nigeria, but extending the probe to the administrations preceding Jonathan’s would bring greater benefits.

Bamisile said, “Former presidents whose elections preceded Jonathan’s administration are not saints; I am not insinuating that they embezzled public fund, but their governments deserve to be investigated too to dismiss the apprehension that Jonathan was singled out for political vendetta.

“Again, what Nigerians are after is the retrieval of the money allegedly stolen, not the two-year jail term they may likely get in the court. Nigerians want the money for the development of the country.”