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When Ibrahim Babaginda overthrew the Buhari/Idiagbon austere regime back in 1985, whatever positive national foundation that was being forcefully laid down was immediately washed away. Alas, we would never know now what would have become of Nigeria if that regime had stayed around longer than it did. To this day, there are still some people that vilify the Buhari/Idiagbon administration because of high-handedness and personal imperfection. Yet we know that Angels are not going to come down from heaven to straighten out our country. In fact, as corrupt as Nigeria is, it would be the last place an Angel would want to tread. As it turned out, Babaginda had personal ulterior motives for sacking that regime. In any event, he came-in and promptly reverted the country to business as usual while smiling to the bank.
The sacking of Ribadu by Yar’Adua bears a haunting resemblance to the regime change alluded to above. Yar’Adua and his Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa, had spent a better part of their young administration scheming for ways to neuter the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices & other related offences Commission (ICPC. This body has been granted the power to investigate petitions against persons hitherto granted constitutional immunity, i.e. the President, the Vice President, Governors and their Deputies.), and the Code of Conduct Bureau. These are government agencies setup to help fight corruption and other crimes especially in high places. An in-coming administration immediately set about brusquely whittling down their powers. This in itself is sufficient to immediately alert the populace and cause them to hoist their guard. And when you look at how the said government came into being you begin to realise that this is all about personal ulterior motives. Perhaps this should have been predictable. Naturally, the fight was taken to the most effective of the trio, the EFCC. The current Attorney General in his immediate past life was busy generating legal technicalities to frustrate the same EFCC in its battle against the previous governor of his home State, Benue. He was so good at his craft; he was brought-in at the Federal level to do the same job for the rest of them. In about six months, no stone has been left unturned to achieve the obvious pre-planned objective.
The EFCC was established in 2003, because the international community wanted the Nigerian Government to specifically address 419 and other financial malpractices, especially money laundering consequent to worsening global terrorist activities. The international arrowhead for its setup was the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which named Nigeria as one of 23 countries non-cooperative in the international community’s efforts to fight money laundering. The Commission was empowered to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic and financial crimes. In addition, the EFCC was designated the key agency of government responsible for fighting terrorism. Then President Obasanjo agreed to setup the agency only because the international community wanted him to do so. For him, western countries opinion of him is more important than what Nigerian think of him. Typically, when it came time to fund the agency, he demurred. As it is, the agency is still almost wholly funded by external sources and its accounts is audited by them. The Act establishing the agency specifies a four year tenure for its head; and removal is effected only by the President through incompetence, resignation or tenure elapse. Ribadu’s tenure was renewed by OBJ in April 2007. In these days of “the rule of law” can he be removed now by the Inspector General of Police to go on a course?
I wasn’t aware that heads of government organisations or very senior Police Officers are supposed to undertake some nebulous compulsory course on policy. If that is the case, we would be expecting all such people – NAFDAC, ICPC, INEC, etc – to be heading in the same direction shortly. Boy, did we read Yar’Adua wrong!
Some commentators have lambasted Ribadu for the selective nature of his agency’s fight against corrupt persons. Fair enough. But my take is that we have to start from somewhere. Despite their limitations, the EFCC and its leader showed us what is possible if the government and Nigerians are serious about fighting corruption. Obasanjo during his reign overruled the EFCC many times as he did other governmental organs and officials. What I cannot abide is when people talk superiorly as if Nigeria is one egalitarian society where any junior official can just walk in and perform wonders without being encumbered by societal ills and our own brand of political chicanery. The EFCC is not even five years old. What has the ICPC done in almost eight years? (Ironically, the ICPC was specifically setup to combat corruption back in June 2000). We tend to forget that Ribadu is not the President of the country. Aondoakaa’s office has not prosecuted anyone in almost six months. Instead, he goes to court, the Code of Conduct Bureau, and write letters all in a painful and wicked attempt to set free thieving ex-governors on technicalities.
The sacking of Ribadu is not the end of the world. It is how it was done. It is the single minded devotion to the task by the Yar’Adua’s government. It is the timing. It is the reason given. Some might say that Ribadu needn’t necessarily be the head of EFCC for that agency to continue to do well or even excel; and I would agree. For all we know, his replacement might be better at the job than Ribadu ever was. Of course, this is highly doubtful as Ribadu was not removed because he was incompetent but because he was seen as a threat by the current government. In fact, if his replacement turns out to be half as good, Mike Okiro would similarly send that person on another “compulsory” course somewhere.
In Nigeria, we keep starting over. We keep re-inventing the wheel. A new regime comes-in and sweeps out everything the previous one did or had setup – usually for personal or group economic gains. So far in Nigeria, no government institution has embedded any functional and effective system – be it personnel or operations. Perhaps NAFDAC might prove to be the exception if Akunyili is given sufficient support and she stays there long enough. Who knows, perhaps Ribadu would have being able to evolve an organisation that would have effectively survived him operationally. The latest news however is that EFCC’s personnel is currently being gutted post Ribadu; so it wouldn’t have mattered if Ribadu had groomed ten worthy successors. It is clear that Yar’Adua’s people will bring in one of their own to do their bidding. It wouldn’t surprise me if this time next year, we are discussing the merger of the EFCC with another body or its complete abrogation. During the last Presidential campaigns, the PDP harped-on about continuity of economic and social reforms. I guess nobody told Yar’Adua. And we want to be one of the leading world economies in twelve years time. What a laugh!
It is clear now the real reason Okiro was chosen as Inspector General of Police instead of the more senior Ogbona Onovo. We are back in the grip of our feudal overlords. OBJ, not for the first time has mis-read the cowries. Yar’Adua is well and truly hijacked by the opposite camp. I can only hope, they don’t take their size fifteens to the financial sector and wreck the place. In fact, it is only a matter of time now before other “OBJ people” like Soludo get shown the exit.
Also now clear is that Yar’Adua is far weaker than we thought. If not, then he is filled with dastardly designs. Either way, we are in for it. We were told this man was a superb manager in Katsina State. It is not looking like it at the moment. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the affairs of that State over the last eight year to be properly scrutinised. After all, this was the man who declared campaign funds and vehicles as part of his personal assets.
The only summation I can now make is that the EFCC was never intended to fight corruption in the real sense. The Nigerian establishment elite knew this; the rest of us just didn’t cotton on to the reality early enough. Obasanjo and his vindictive self saw the agency as a blackmailing tool and so applied it as and when necessary. However, Ribadu took his remit seriously enough and did what he could given the environmental limitations. Post OBJ, the rest of the establishment has no qualms to dispose with the services of the EFCC and return to life as they know it. Unfortunately – or rather, inconveniently - for them, because of the little marker Ribadu has put down, they have to go about this dirty little job somewhat carefully. Another reason “the rule of law” was invented you see.
That popping sound you’re hearing is not the sound of corks coming off champagne bottles in celebration of the New Year; it is coming off champagne bottles from various State Government and ex-governors’ houses celebrating something else.
demdem@hotmail.co.uk
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Posted by Robot| 30.12.2007 13:17