The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Itse Sagay, has lent his weighty voice to long muted allegations that some senior members of the Federal Government are subverting the anti-graft war. Without mincing words, he pointedly accused the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, of having a “well-known proclivity” for aborting the trials of major political and government figures. Amid a bitter feud between the AGF and the suspended anti-corruption czar, Ibrahim Magu, this is the latest public demonstration of the disarray in the regime of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). The President should investigate this allegation and reinvigorate the waning campaign against sleaze.
Fighting a war demands resolute will, doggedness and an effective strategy. The United Nations Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a signatory mandates member countries to emplace “effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies” as a requirement for developing potent anti-graft strategies. The UNDP said strategies become effective when coordination and synergy are optimised among all relevant stakeholders and agencies. But the key elements for success are signally lacking in Nigeria and Buhari’s efforts have hardly made a dent in the national looting machine. The country dropped two places from a year earlier to 146 out of 180 countries on the Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2019, reflecting the abundance of motion and little movement in the regime’s avowed war.
Two major flaws; bitter rivalry among key officials as well as an apparent lack of enthusiasm is explicit in Sagay’s statement. His outburst was triggered by the introduction of a bill to amend the Economic Financial Crimes Commission Act at the National Assembly, that he described as “an ongoing very sinister and dangerous attempt to demolish the anti-corruption infrastructure.” He deplored the AGF’s alleged deliberate undermining of the trials of highly placed persons, wielding his enormous constitutional powers of overseeing the anti-graft agencies to take over, initiate or discontinue any prosecution by any agency.
This spat should serve as another wake-up call to Buhari’s soporific Presidency. He has to investigate all allegations against Malami as he has against Magu, reenergise the anti-graft agencies and ensure its proper coordination. Sagay’s charge of Malami’s lukewarm disposition, subversive interference in prosecutions, withholding of files and filing of nolle prosequi “without any rational explanations” should not be swept under the carpet. As the country’s chief law officer, the AGF is essential to any possibility of significant success.
Like Magu, the erstwhile Chairman, Special Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Okoi Obono-Obla, had sparred with Malami, accusing him of frustrating his efforts to interdict corrupt VIPs and recover stolen assets. He was sacked, accused of sundry improprieties and the panel was disbanded.
Nigeria is a place where there are different standards of justice for the poor and the elite. Citizen Aliyu Buba was jailed three years by a Gombe magistrate for stealing a goat valued at N10,000, while 103 high profile cases are reportedly with the AGF, according to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project. Politics, ethnicity and cronyism interfere with everything in Nigeria. In a notorious instance, the AGF took over the prosecution of Danjuma Goje from the EFCC in a N25 billion case, and promptly withdrew the 21 charges against the former governor of Gombe State. This was after Goje had met with Buhari and withdrawn from the contest for Senate president in favour of the President’s choice. Malami’s explanation that the case against Goje was weak has been widely pooh-poohed. Among cases undergoing endless trials are those of former governors, with some cases filed since 2007/08. Who is deceiving who?
Malami has vigorously defended his interventions on the grounds of ensuring proper prosecution, accountability and adherence to procedures to the rules; Buhari is therefore duty-bound to scrutinise the AGF’s actions as he has done to the SIP and the EFCC. Malami must provide convincing answers to why after taking over the prosecution of soldiers who intercepted and killed three police officers transporting a suspected kidnapper, he has yet to charge them to court. Buhari needs to untangle efforts to pursue the repatriation of Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former petroleum resources minister, over which Malami and Magu have made allegations of obstruction against each other. A N5.7 billion case against three former Katsina State officials was terminated after the state government took it over from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. Civil society groups have faulted the arrangement by which the impending trial of Abdullahi Dikko, a former Comptroller-General of Customs, was aborted after he agreed to refund N1.5 billion, to the EFCC’s chagrin.
In one case, the AGF’s office defended its decision to engage a suspect and his company undergoing trial to auction seized ocean-going vessels on behalf of the government.
Truly, successive AGFs since 1999 have not convinced Nigerians of their full commitment to fighting corruption. Today’s mess is a reflection of the Buhari persona: detached, uncaring and unresponsive to public yearnings, he failed to head-hunt officials with transparently burning passion against graft. The World Economic Forum attributes Singapore’s rating as the least corrupt Asian nation to the clear vision, strong will and meritocratic stance of its leadership beginning with Lee Kuan Yew.
Clean government begins with open government. Experts say all government departments, agencies and public sector bodies should be open to public scrutiny through various easy-to-use means such as freedom of information legislation or open data, with clear channels and procedures for explaining policies and statistics in straightforward ways. The effective implementation of the Freedom of Information Act is one of the central and well-established elements for curbing corruption.
We need an anti-graft agency that is not beholden to anybody, including the President. The onus is on Buhari to shake up the anti-graft agencies, appoint persons with unassailable integrity to head them and allow the agencies to function without let or hindrance. Whistle-blowers should be protected and allegations of bribery or corrupt payments for services or lax regulation should be rigorously investigated. The new EFCC bill should strengthen the agency and make it independent. Transparency is a vital weapon in the anticorruption fight, so Buhari should walk the talk himself. Until he scouts for and gets a vigorous anti-corruption AGF who will not work at cross-purposes with the anti-graft agencies, his call to Nigerians to join him in crushing corruption remains a hollow, hypocritical soundbite.
