How would you assess the one-year administration of  President Yar’Adua?

Essentially I would like to think that one year is too short a period to give an objective assessment of the administration of Yar’Adua. I would also like to differ from those who wish to reduce the assessment of a President to a comparison to the immediate past administration.  The flaw in this approach is that if the predecessor was as bad as the Obasanjo administration, the successor is made to look like an Angel over minor achievements. On the other hand if past president was good the new man is unfairly criticised over differences in speed and approach. So we should have a universal standard that is not tied to an individual’s temperament. There should be some objective criteria or indices upon which our presidents could be assessed irrespective of who they succeeded.

Unfortunately our politicians themselves lack ideology. There are no compelling philosophies that motivate them for power. They see political power first as a means of livelihood before service to the nation. In a scenario like this the public is left with no yardstick to measure them than to compare them so some dictator in the grave. Look at the issues that have taken the centre stage in run-up to the American Presidential election and you will see the emptiness of our own politics.

In the case of Yar’Adua, he succeeded a system that has been grossly bastardised through neglect of due process, rule of law, national planning and financial recklessness. These issues need to be addressed before we could begin to see tangible progress in terms of infrastructure for instance. It is not rushing to award a contract say for a highway or power plant that would eventually not be constructed that defines the speed of development. There should be a system of checks and monitoring in place to ensure that the contract is not only executed but also to desired standards. I think while trying to restore this order in the system, things may appear slow but in the long-run the polity would be better for it.

I recall that the immediate past administration spent 8-years complaining of how the military destroyed the economy beyond repair and so they left the economy worse than they met it. Corruption, unemployment, infrastructure decay, insecurity and power failure all grew to the peak during the last eight years and Yar’Adua is now being expected to tackle all these in one-year. It’s simply unfair and unrealistic. In fact Yar’Adua has been boggled down with correcting the ills of the immediate past regime. What I can say is that Nigerians need to be a little more patient with Yar’Adua. Lets take him by his word that next year will begin to show the fruits of his careful planning in the past one year. After his third year, we may be justified to classify him as a failure or otherwise.

But what concrete achievement can you point out of this administration so far?

Like I said, the government is more in the planning stage. We expect to see more action in the next one year. But I want to point out that one major achievement of this government is the reorientation of our national psyche in tune with the rule of law. We need this more then any other virtue if we are going to see meaningful development. There should be public confidence in public institutions. One should for instance know what to expect when he puts in his application for registration or incorporation of his company at the CAC or for a plot of land in Abuja with the FCDA. He should not be left to the whims or mood of the FCT minister like was the fate of many who applied during the last administration. Many could not get a plot because the then FCT minister had the absolute personal discretion to decide who deserved a plot and unfortunately only his family members, Obasanjo and his supporters passed his criteria. The Judiciary is enjoying unrivalled independence. When one approaches the courts, he is sure that he will get justice without interference from the authorities. The Legislature is also functioning independently without disruptive interference from the executive. These are not physical achievements you may see on ground but they signify a solid foundation for administrative efficiency. So Yar’adua has started this re-orientation. It’s a gradual thing but it will take roots with time.

Do you believe this Administration is serious with the fight against corruption?

The answer is absolutely yes. Corruption essentially arises when due process and the law are sidelined. The overall concept of rule of law is anti-corruption. But unfortunately Nigerians have reduced the corruption war to an EFCC thing. In the past the war was personalised and made political with so much hype and propaganda but very little tangible achievement. The current administration believes that corruption must be fought within the ambit of the law. Anything outside the law is lawless and corrupt. Two serving Ministers were asked to resign and are being prosecuted, Ibori is under trial, Turaki is under trial, Jolly Nyame is under trial,  and all the cases inherited from Obasanjo are ongoing. None has been dropped. Just those things are being done within the law this time around. I think this administration has also recognised that the war is much bigger than financial crime. The fundamental causes of corruption need to be addressed. Those complaining that the corruption war is dead tend to forget that the EFCC which has been associated with the war (despite the fact that we also have the ICPC) is not the creation of the constitution. Its existence is vested in an Act, which can be repealed, but the president has not initiated that process which he could if he wants the EFCC dead. So I don’t know the basis for these insinuations that the president is not eager to fight corruption.

There have been some protests on the recent appointment of Waziri as EFCC Chairperson. What is your take on this?

One thing I have noted is that these professional complainers are hinging their grudge on the procedure. And this is a good thing because no one has queried the qualification or integrity of the new appointee. This particular complaint started from the desk of Senator Sola Akinyede who rushed to the press and the Presidency with a ‘protest’ letter purportedly on behalf of himself even though the letter was on his committee’s letterhead, complaining of the illegality in Waziri’s Appointment. Later the Senate disowned this letter but failed to caution or even sanction the errant Akinyede for breach of procedure. However we need to be sure if the President indeed violated the provision of the EFCC Act on the appointment of the Chairman. Sometimes people read the law upside down to cause mischief.

What does the EFCC Act say? Subsection 3 of Section 2 of Part I of the Act says ‘The Chairman and members of the Commission other than ex-officio members shall be appointed by the President and appointment shall be subject to the confirmation of the Senate’. The key words here are ‘appointment’ and ‘confirmation’. The word  ‘appointment’ is defined in the dictionary as the act of giving someone a job. To appoint therefore means to give a job to a person. Confirmation in this context means to give formal approval to something (an appointment for instance) or to establish officially. So putting these two words together we can interpret this provision of the Act as empowering the president to give the job of the Chairman of the Commission to someone subject to formal approval by the Senate which is just what Yar’Adua did.  It is clear therefore that the act of appointment must precede confirmation. If the president cannot ‘appoint’ then what will the Senate ‘confirm’? So all the president did was within his powers as allowed by the law. It is worth nothing that what the Act contemplated here is not ‘nomination’ as in the case of Ministers. Waziri is not a ‘nominee’ she is an ‘appointee’

But you see some Senators like Akinyede are bent on accumulating some political capital from this incident and to think that nobody pointed out their error to them is quite disturbing. It puts a big question on how much of the law our lawmakers know. Now the same Akinyede with a prejudiced mind is saddled with the job of screening Waziri. What guarantee do we have that she will get a fair deal from a biased Chairman of the Committee screening her? Someone needed to have told Mark to replace Akinyede immediately or exempt him from the screening because he is biased and has thus compromised his capacity to do a good job on the screening exercise.

But Gani has written to the Senate to stop her confirmation…

(Cuts in) I know, I know, its just part of the gang up against the new EFCC boss. I predicted this accurately some weeks ago and its coming true so soon. But frankly Gani’s letter has made the work of the screening committee much easier. Gani could not find anything against Waziri and had to settle for a pedestrian accusation of a remote connection to Senator Akume; that she  ‘’collected Senator Akume's international passport No: A0086687, which was earlier, seized by the EFCC to prevent Senator Akume from travelling out of the country’’ And so what? So before the court of Gani, Akume is a convicted criminal! But he is yet to be convicted by a Nigerian Court of Law. Where was Gani when Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello was dinning and winning with Nuhu Ribadu amidst complaints of her shady deals, which Nuhu never investigated?  Gain cannot fool Nigerians because we know his interests in EFCC and its former Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who has once described himself as Fawehinmi’s “boy”.

So you expect the Senate to clear her despite Gani’s protest.

In fact Gani’s letter has cleared the woman already. That Gani could not find stains on the appointee is a good omen. She’s so clean and eminently qualified for the job that nobody with a fair mind will decline to confirm her. We all need to put these petty sentiments behind and support Waziri to fight corruption. She will do her bit and still leave the scene for another person. But to say there is no vacancy at EFCC and that Ribadu must come back to EFCC is just sheer rubbish.

Finally what do you make of the Presidents frequent trips abroad for medical check up?

Even before he became President, mischief-makers labelled him unfit on health grounds. The claimed Yar’Adua would die before the election. Now the man has clocked a year in the saddle but they are still unable to come to terms with the reality that only God can take a man’s life. In any case, Yar’Adua server as Governor for 8-years without any hitch on health grounds so I don’t see how his Presidency will fail on health grounds. However, the constitution recognises in section 144 that a president is a human being and could fall sick or even die, so there are provisions on what to do if (and I pray he doesn’t) the president becomes permanently disabled to work or runs mad or even dies. Until any of these things happen, those wishing the president should leave on health grounds may need to wait for a long while. 

Robot  # 1 | 03.06.2008 15:36

How would you assess the one-year administration of President Yar’Adua? ...Read the full article.

employlawone  # 2 | 03.06.2008 15:48

=Robot;4295049917>How would you assess the one-year administration of President Yar’Adua? ...Read the full article. Some attempt at a defence of Yar'Adua beleguard adminsistration, the strongest of which remains 'time'. However, time is not passive for it depends on actors to utilise them for common good. Lets hope that the next three years of Yar' Adua will not be more of the same. A limited degree of logic is manifest in his argument that Gani's letter clears Farida Waziri. He fails to answer the key question on whether a vacancy currently exists. Admittedly subsequent facts unraveling from President Obasanjo’s administration, now reveals that Mallam Ribadu in his 4 years stint did not scratch the scale of corruption that went on from 1999 to 2007. Yes, in fact many of us would accept that Mallam Ribadu does have questions to answer, not in the classroom or lecture theatre, but before the Nigerian people. Furthermore, even if it is alleged that his regime of the EFCC paid scant attention to the rights of the serial crooks, embezzlers and 419ers, he like all Nigerian citizens deserves the application of the due or the ‘Rule of Law’.