Coming at the backdrop of a flurry of meetings between the President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the discredited ex-governors, the recent announcement by the Presidential spokesman, Segun Adeniyi that the EFCC, the ICPC and the Code of Conduct Tribunal can only try suspects with the consent of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice have left sceptical Nigerians wondering about what Yar’Adua may be up to.

Last week, three prominent Governors including Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia  State and James Ibori of Delta  State were reported to have met Yar’Adua at Aso Rock. The presidency acknowledged that such a meeting took place.

Kalu is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC for fraudulently misappropriating billions of Naira of Abia State money while James Ibori is being investigated by the London Metropolitan Police for Money Laundering and corrupt enrichment – his UK assets have already been frozen by a UK court.

Nigerians had wondered at the propriety of such a high profile meeting between suspected criminals and the President. In the UK, such inappropriate meeting would have caused such an outcry that the concerned officials would be forced to resign.

Facts emerged that the three former governors tried to convince Yar’Adua to make the EFCC ineffective.  The Punch reported last week that the ex-governors had during their visit to the President on Wednesday, advised him to remove the EFCC’s power to prosecute suspects of economic and financial crimes. The former governors had been there to see the President about the need to save them from prosecution and pressurised the President to transfer the power of the EFCC to prosecute to the Attorney-General of the Federation.

Are we surprised then when a few days afterwards the President curtailed the powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to prosecute offenders?

If a witch cried in the night, and the baby died in the morning, one could easily see the connection!

The presidential spokesman Segun Adeniyi must be speaking tongue-in-cheek when he declared that "The decision to enforce the powers of the Attorney-General was solely motivated by President Yar’Adua respect for due process and the rule of law and not by any desire to shield anybody from criminal prosecution…That the Attorney General of the Federation exercises powers conferred on him pursuant to Section 43 of the EFCC Act 2004 to make rules or regulations with respect to the exercise of any of the duties, functions or powers of the EFCC" And that the President merely granted the Attorney-General’s request for better co-ordination of the law enforcement agencies to avoid multiple criminal prosecutions as being currently done by the EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau in respect of the same offences.

Nigerians would be right to suspect that the President’s directive "is a deliberate ploy to stop the planned prosecution of some sacred cows among corrupt public officers".How I pity our own Segun Adeniyi at his feeble attempt to rationalise a very unwise and unpopular decision - to say the least - which he would otherwise have deployed his pen to castigate.

The Supreme Court in Osahon versus the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) had already ruled that the police and other investigation agencies did not require the fiat of the Attorney-General before initiating criminal prosecution

This Presidency that claims to abide by the rule of law may therefore be acting in contravention of settled law and due process as this directive might be deemed illegal in a matter already settled by the Supreme Court.

By this directive the president is castrating the EFCC as the commission would be incapacitated in its efforts to fight corruption.  If you want to kill the commission, remove its powers, tell its officials to concentrate only on investigations while the Attorney General does the prosecution.

The Attorney General is just a politician appointed by the President, and he can or may be manipulated.  The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission appear not to be very effective over the years in bringing criminals to justice because they lack the power to prosecute.  The power to prosecute was very critical to any crime-fighting agency.  Where anti-corruption war was stymied, it was because the crime-fighting agencies lacked power to prosecute after their investigations.

 If Yar’Adua removes the power to prosecute from the EFCC, he should be aware of public opinion on the need to completely put Nigeria on a fresh path by dealing a heavy blow on corruption among public officers. Instead of castrating the EFCC, the Presidency would rather advise the Attorney-General to file nolle prosequi in respect of cases filed by EFCC against his favourite former governors – especially those that reportedly bankrolled his presidential campaign!

The story of poor Nigerians have been one of expectations raised and mercilessly dashed to pieces, of missed opportunities, disappointed hopes and exploitative posturing.

Robot  Villager

# 1 Coming at the backdrop of a flurry of meetings between the President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 07.08.2007 09:41

edoji  Villager

# 2 FG Make Volte Face, Restores EFCC Powers to Prosecute. Author: Admin Sahara The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Michael Andoakaar has done a media briefing making a volte face on the initial stance of the Federal Government regarding the powers of the EFCC to prosecute economic criminals, especially ex-governors. In his briefing to the media today at the State House, he stated that he was 'clarifying' media reports about yesterday’s position of the Federal Government which requires the EFCC to refer all of its criminal cases to the office of the Attorney General before they can carry out criminal prosecutions. The new position now is that the EFCC can prosecute without recourse to his office. The Attorney General working behind the scenes with ex-governors had written a letter to Yar’adua requesting that he is granted the powers to supervise all prosecutions by the EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau. Yar’adua approved the request to please former governors especially James Ibori who had put enormous pressure on him to rein in on the EFCC. However, what the Attorney General was not telling the media is that the volte face came as a result of the interventions from Chief of Staff and State Counsel who felt the Attorney General's memo to Umar Yar’adua was misleading as did not take into account a subsisting Supreme Court ruling on the issue which was highlighted by the West Africa Bar Association President, Femi Falana in his reaction to the announcement yesterday. After meeting with the President, Chief of Staff invited the Attorney General over to tell him his position could not stand, a further meeting was held which included EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, Justice Ayoade of ICPC and Wale Babalakin, the honorary Adviser on Legal Matters and the SGF, Baba Gana Kingibe, the meeting concluded that the AG position would compromise the fight against corruption and would injure the Yar’adua administration terribly as exemplified by public outcry over the decision. Nuhu Ribadu specifically stated that the case referred to AG office, that of Makanjuola, the Permanent Secretary to the ministry of Defence and Obasanjo cousin who embezzled huge amount of money in 2000 did not go anywhere till date. At the end, a compromise was arrived at that the Attorney General should brief the press to 'clarify' his position as a way of saving the face of the Federal Government since it was his cross anyway. Meanwhile, Mr. Femi Falana has asked the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to resign his position immediately for gross incompetence Posted by edoji| 07.08.2007 14:43

Sapele Man  Villager

# 3 I agree with Falana on this. You do not require any more satisfying evidence to prove a case of incompetence (and possible corruption) against the Attorney General and Justice Minister. Yar'Adua should act now. EFCC should investigate the events of that meeting with the Ex-governors that led to the stupid, mindless and corrupt decision. Posted by Sapele Man| 07.08.2007 15:52

Jiggy  JJC

# 4 Trial of Ex-Governors-New Plan Afoot to Defang the EFCC Last View on Tue 7th August, 2007 Last Modified on Mon 06th August, 2007 11:20:50 am Author: Admin Sahara New Plan Afoot to Defang the EFCC A number of former governors facing imminent prosecution for stealing billions of naira have come up with a plan to effectively emasculate the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Last week, some of the ex-governors held marathon meetings with Umar Musa Yar'Adua to put pressure on him to rein in the EFCC. Saharareporters learnt that the move to gut the EFCC was spearheaded by former Delta State governor, Mr. James Ibori, and Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki. Last week, the London Metropolitan Police received a nod from a British court to freeze Ibori's assets estimated at about £20 million. Upset that the EFCC had instigated the freezing of his ill-acquired assets, an irate Ibori pulled what he considers a joker during his meeting with Yar’Adua. Known to have ploughed N10 billion naira into Yar'Adua’s presidential campaign, Ibori warned that he reserved the option—if put under EFCC arrest—to open up about a few secrets. For one, he threatened to reveal how he was blackmailed by Obasanjo to fund the Yar'Adua campaign. According to our source, Ibori reminded Yar’Adua that Obasanjo had promised to spare him further investigation by the EFCC if he agreed to invest N10 billion in Yar’Adua’s presidential bid. He expressed dismay that Yar’Adua had allowed the EFCC to violate the terms of the deal. Apart from being the main financier of Yar’Adua’s campaign, Ibori had also provided aircraft for use by Yar'Adua and members of his campaign organization. Jets from Wings Aviation Airline, owned by Ibori, were used to ferry Yar’Adua and his operatives to PDP campaign rallies across Nigeria. Our source said Yar'Adua was aware of Obasanjo’s offer of protection to Ibori, but decided to demur after receiving disturbing security reports. One security report warned that a military coup was in the offing using as justification the pervasive corruption of ex-President Obasanjo and former state governors. After reviewing the report with his security advisors, Yar’Adua invited EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu and reportedly told him he was free to proceed with the prosecution of corrupt officials, especially ex-governors. Armed with the marching orders, the EFCC moved to begin the prosecution of the first batch of ex-governors. Last week, the Army and the Navy retired a number of top military personnel last week. Both service arms denied that the retirements had anything to do with a coup plot. Yar’Adua’s decision to allow the arrests of ex-governors was also influenced by another security report indicating that some former governors met recently with former Vice President Abubakar Atiku in Monaco, France. Atiku and some former governors were in Monaco to attend the wedding of Gilbert Chagoury, a Lebanese businessman. The Chagourys were close allies of former Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha. Ibori and former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, were among the guests at the multi-million dollar wedding extravaganza in Monaco. The security report suggested that the ex-governors had talks with Atiku on how to move against Yar’Adua. The former governors’ campaign to stifle EFCC may have come up with a strategic plan reportedly endorsed by Yar'Adua. Both Yar’Adua and the ex-governors recognize that Ribadu’s removal from the EFCC would prove highly controversial and hard to justify. Instead, they are working on a plan to limit the commission’s powers to “investigations only.” Under the plan, anyone found culpable of corruption would then be referred to the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice for prosecution. It would be up to the Attorney General to decide whether to proceed with prosecution—or back down. The former governors are said to be in cahoots with the current Attorney General, Michael Aondokaa, who is a known ally of Atiku. Last week, Aondokaa addressed a widely reported press conference where he promised to rein in the excesses of the EFCC. Last week, Ibori admitted to a Lagos newspaper that the London Metropolitan Police had obtained an order to freeze his assets. Seeking to play down the embarrassing setback, he described it as a "restraining order" that prohibits him from “interacting” with his assets in the UK, US and Canada. Barring a stop order from Yar’Adua, the EFCC is on the cusp of closing in on the former Delta State governor. One source told Saharareporters that Ibori stole the most from his state treasury of all the former governors. With this kind of development,it looks like Yar'adua's illegimate Government is heading for the rocks.Cos I bet you these ex-governors will make sure they open all the cans of worms so that not only they fall but including the so called "servant leader". Posted by Jiggy| 07.08.2007 18:06

edoji  Villager

# 5 "Revelations have, however, emerged that the Attorney-General who had written to President Yar’Adua requesting to assume his constitutional powers of criminal prosecution, was a counsel to many of the ex-governors who have cases with the EFCC, thereby raising issues of conflict of interest and a possible motive for trying to whittle down the powers of the anti-graft bodies. It was gathered that Aondoankaa was at various times lawyer to former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Benue State governor, Chief George Akume, and former Kogi State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, among others, during their trials at both the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the Federal High Court in Abuja. He had last week promised to check the “excesses” of the EFCC." ... From Thisday Posted by edoji| 08.08.2007 02:24

RAYNOSA  Villager

# 6 Right from the day Alams got that 2days jail term i knew,we were being taken for a ride.This clearly shows that the present government have no sincerity of purpose,plan and directions. You see excatly why i said the campaign for the declaration of assets is just a waste of time.The primary aim of these people is to enrich themselves and protect their interest.With the way the President is going i have my reservations on his asset declaration,this is just a smoke screen.These people are just playing mind games with us because if he himself does not have something to hide why protect these people. It is so painfull that a country of about 180million people,just people less than 200 determine how we live come to think of it is it not time we come out en-mass to protest against these social injustice. TO PRESIDENT MUSA YAR ADUA OF NIGERIA Please you can protect these corrupt people like endangered spices.But before you live office provide us with the following 1.CONSTANT POWER SUPPLY AND WATER 2.GOOD ROADS 3.AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE IF NOT FREE 4.QUALITY AND FREE EDUCATION UP TO SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL I dont think we are asking for to much.At least some of this request would used by us all including your self. Last one why not just scrap EFCC & ICPC at least their is always a law protecting whatever you do.CHIEF OF ARMFORCES OF NIGERIA. Thank you sir Posted by RAYNOSA| 08.08.2007 07:16

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 7 What we really need to answer is the title of this article."What Is Yar`Adua Up To?" I believe the answer is nothing.Yar`Adua has got nothing to offer.At best he is new wine in old bottles.What we need is a total overhaul of the entire system.We need new wine and new bottles. Posted by Son of the Delta| 08.08.2007 07:33

RAYNOSA  Villager

# 8 SON OF DELTA, For the very first time i agree with you.But the issue is how do we go about it.For Nigeria to move forward we need to wipe these people from the system in Democratic terms we do not have credible opposition atiku and and his ac gang are just another criminal gang. Posted by RAYNOSA| 08.08.2007 07:49

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 9 =RAYNOSA;198233> SON OF DELTA, For the very first time i agree with you.But the issue is how do we go about it.For Nigeria to move forward we need to wipe these people from the system in Democratic terms we do not have credible opposition atiku and and his ac gang are just another criminal gang. RAYNOSA the answer is very simple true democratic elections.When I said this in April some people were angry that I am trying to destabilize Nigeria.Their arguement was that as long as we have a government that is enough.When Yar`Adua won the (s)election what did the women of his household do?They travelled to Otta to thank the Otta farmer Obasanjo for installing their son,husband,brother,in law as president.In essence Yar`Adua is accountable to the P.D.P. cabal that is being headed by Obasanjo.In other countries people will thank the electorate for giving them the opportunity to serve.You see the point.We do not have representative! Another thing is putting the interest of the public above the interest of the person. Oshimole for instance had a good chance to change Nigeria for good but he failed to do so.Today he is paying very dearly.The P.D.P. has rigged him out of office.We should not do what is wrong under the pretext of stability or national unity because we cannot attain that if things are being done in a wrong manner. Decentralization of power.free and fair elections please that is all we need! Posted by Son of the Delta| 08.08.2007 08:04

RAYNOSA  Villager

# 10 Dear Son of Delta, How do we achive this in practical NIGERIA,You know say who dey drive moto with mouth no dey get accident.I mean practical solution,i hate to see this people toss us around like yo-yo. Do imagine the scenario during/after the governors met with the president.The president asking what the reaction of the people would be ibori saying dont mind those Mugus(Nigerians). Imagine the shameless Ag asking who ordered the British court to freeze iboris assets in uk.So that is why it took them so long to appoint ministers. My what is the real solution. Posted by RAYNOSA| 08.08.2007 10:08