The ding-dong between Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition parties, spearheaded by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), got to a head recently with the publication by the Federal Government of what it called the list of alleged looters of the country’s commonwealth. The government apparently got frustrated by the heckling from Nigerians and the opposition parties who claimed that, in spite of its pre-election boasts, it had not secured the judicial convictions of the alleged looters after almost three years in the saddle. The APC’s lot apparently worsened recently when Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was mocked by Nigerians after claiming that billions of naira were looted by the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
The first looters’ list released by the government through the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was a shocking assemblage of six names which led to attacks on the government from Nigerians. They contended that if the Federal Government could assemble only six names of alleged looters after three years in the saddle, there was a huge problem somewhere. Apparently reflecting on this criticism, the government again released an expanded list, with a promise to reveal more persons who had at one time or the other toyed with Nigerians’ national till. But the lists only provoked more questions. The first bone of contention was its patently partisan composition. None of the persons on the lists was a card-carrying member of the governing APC. The second issue that the government’s action provoked was its timing. Last year, a court had mandated the Federal Government to publish the names of those who looted the Nigerian treasury. In spite of this judicial leeway given to it, however, the government had demurred. The question now on many people’s lips is why the government found it apposite to release the list at this time when the 2019 elections are fast approaching. Could it be that the ruling party hoped to gain electoral advantage from the release of the names?
But perhaps the most strident opposition to the government’s action arose from the judicial implication of publishing the names of alleged looters, many of whose cases are still pending in the courts. The hub of the Nigerian judicial system is the presumption that every suspect is innocent until the reverse is pronounced by a court of competent jurisdiction. This being the case, how could a government which is the accuser in the cases now be the judge over them, dishing out pronouncements of guilt on the accused? More fundamentally, the question is asked if the government has not run foul of the law in taking the place of judges in cases that are yet to be dispensed with in the courts.
Of a truth, the alleged lootings excavated by the Muhammadu Buhari government shortly after taking office were not only scary but sickening. Individuals entrusted with the commonwealth were alleged to have tried to turn themselves into pall-bearers of the Nigerian economy. Naturally, charges were slammed on key members of the PDP government which exited power in 2015. However, three years down the line, Nigerians have ample reasons to believe that the APC has not fared better than the PDP with respect to the alleged corruption. Almost three years down the lane, the government has not shown that it is indeed fighting corruption. It has concentrated its efforts on those who, in its opinion, are corrupt people. This, as has been said by the people over and over again, is not a sustainable way of fighting corruption. The government has failed to build institutions that can combat corruption and, worse still, has failed to make public examples of government officials and members of the ruling party who are alleged to be corrupt. Also, it has not come clean on its method for assets recovery. There are therefore serious integrity and trust issues regarding the funds recovered from the alleged looters.
For almost two years, the government daily assailed the people with stories of the huge sums it recovered, either from homes of accused persons, including from septic tanks, or from forfeited accounts. Till now, however, it has not given the citizenry concrete information on how it is deploying the allegedly recovered loot. The properties said to have been recovered are unknown to Nigerians. Till today, no one can say in specific terms what happened to the loot recovered from the late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha. An open and transparent government would have commenced a process of redirecting the looted assets and properties to catering for Nigerians in areas like health, education and the like. An integrity trust fund, which would assess the recovered loot and channel it for the benefits of Nigerians, would have been most apposite.
We find the publication of looters’ lists preemptive and sub judice. Given the ongoing cases, the government’s action amounts to contempt of court. Had the lists contained the names of those who owned up to stealing funds and were returning same to the government according to mutually agreed terms, it would have been easier to rationalise. The mere fact that the lists contained no member of the APC, especially those who were kingpins of the 16 years of PDP rule but who are now in the APC, makes the lists a travesty.
