21 May 2008 |
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| The Politics And Intrigues Of EFCC Appointments Ibn Mohammed Zakari When the EFCC was set up, it was done not because the government in power at the material time was seriously concerned about really fighting corruption and restoring back to the country, its past dignity and lost glory. Instead, it was a group of industrialized western countries that put immense pressure on the Nigerian government to promptly establish, the EFCC to fight financial and economic crimes as a way of curbing corruption in the black most populous country in the whole world. At the time, Nigeria was more or less a pariah country, as her nationals were subjected to dehumanizing and harrowing experiences in various airports around the globe and discriminated against in several countries as they are seen as fraudsters who exploit the innocence of others to hoodwink them. Advance fee fraud, otherwise known as 419 was the order of the day. In all parts of the world, stories abound of how Nigerians swindled people with reckless abandon. There were several warnings from various governments in the international media for their nationals to be wary of doing business with Nigerians as they may get their fingers burst in the process. Not only this, in the country then, corruption seemed to be the official policy of the state, as official corruption in very high places in government went on unhindered. The level of official graft was unprecedented in the history of the country; it was carried out as if the destiny of the country depended on it. So, the EFCC was set up to fight corruption and bring some modicum of sanity in to the country. But, the point must be made that, even when the EFCC was set up, corruption continued in the country. Albeit, no other government in Nigeria, paid lip service to the issue of corruption, like the Obasanjo administration did in its eight years of misrule. Moreover, events of the past few weeks have shown that the Obasanjo’s government promoted and institutionalized corruption in Nigeria in a very systematic manner. It helped in no small measure to politize the modus operandi of EFCC, as it became an atrocious tool in the hands of Obasanjo to even up with perceived political enemies. Therefore, while EFCC used obnoxious and draconian methods to deal mercilessly with those that are not in the good books of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, it looked the other way when those close to Obasanjo commits glaring financial and economic crimes against the state, the case of Bode George in NPA and Andy Uba in money laundering scandal with president jet, just to mention a microscopic few are still very fresh in our memory. Apart from the double-standard adopted by EFCC in the discharge of its mandate, which is not only a violent violation of the constitution, but is diametrically opposed to the letter and spirit of the war against corruption. Appointments in the organization were lopsided based on nepotism and favouritism, which placed mediocrity over and above merit, as soon as Mallam Nuhu Ribadu was appointed; he took over the appointment of personnel into the agency. And, most of those employed were from a particular section of the country and a particular state of the federation. Even when Ribadu was in charge, he and his deputy as well as several heads of department were from Adamawa State. Hence, EFCC as a national institution was not allowed to function properly as a self-accounting agency rather a small clique, a tiny cabal of individuals ran the agency the way they liked. Then Ribadu was EFCC and EFCC was Ribadu. Hence, when Ribadu sneezes, EFCC catches cold. And, the fear of Ribadu was the beginning of wisdom in EFCC then. It is as a result of this that, it has been trenchantly argued that, “the circumstance of our history have conspired to produce an elite which cannot function because it has no sense of identity or integrity and no confidence, does not know where it is coming from or where it is going…..it is clear even from the behaviour of our leaders that most of them have no respect for themselves and do not take themselves seriously. That is why they have converted us into a mimic people. Lacking confidence and self-respect, they cannot develop any sense of efficacy. So even with the best of intentions they are forever confused and perfunctory. More worrying still, our leaders suffer from self-contempt”. So, there is no over flogging the fact that EFCC as an anti-graft agency was a cesspool of corruption. Hence, the urgent need for it to be properly cleansed of the rancid mess. All the sponsored attacks and false write-ups against the newly appointed chairperson of EFCC, Mrs. Faridah Waziri is meant to frustrate all efforts to expose all the ills in the corrupt and compromised system in the EFCC, and clear all the mess and rot in the agency. The fact of the matter is that, if we can get it right with EFCC with a woman in charge and turn it, into another success story like NAFDAC, Nigeria will be the better for it. It was very clear from all indications that Nuhu Ribadu was very close to Obasanjo and Nasir el-Rufai, and from what we have seen in the last few weeks based on the probe instituted by the National Assembly into the power sector and FCT administration, these officials are corruption personified. And, there is no way they can be both corrupt and Ribadu will be clean. The popular adage says, “show me your friend and I will tell you the kind of person you are”. If the National Assembly will be courageous enough to probe the activities of EFCC under Ribadu, then Nigerians will know if indeed it was corruption that he was fighting or something else entirely. And, really Nigerians need to know, what actually went on in the agency under Ribadu and how money was spent. The account ought to be properly audited and the amount of foreign funding must be determined, this is the only way to move the agency forward. It would be recalled that some so-called human rights lawyers were retained as commission agents and were paid big money. So, they could not see anything wrong with the anti-democratic and dehumanizing activities of Ribadu, their sense of reasoning have been beclouded by too much ‘naira rain’. They had sold their birthright for a mess of porridge. And, this is the more reason why the new chairperson should be given all the needed support to re-organize EFCC and lay a solid foundation for a new beginning for a better future. Ibn Mohammed Zakari, 10 Bauchi Road, Garki-Area Two, Abuja
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