President Muhammadu Buhari
There is no gainsaying the fact that Abdulrasheed Maina's return to the civil service has cast a dark cloud on the anti-corruption fight of President Buhari. Nigerians went to the polls in 2015 hoping to elect a President who would change the cause of governance and rescue the nation from the doldrums.
Prior to the election, the Jonathan government was described as
“clueless” and not knowing what to do in the face of social unrest and
declining economic fortunes. The present ruling party which was in
opposition then promised heaven on earth and to change things in ways
and means that would be pleasant to all right-thinking and patriotic
Nigerians. The election held and the opposition became the ruling party
and thus formed the government whilst the party in government became the
opposition.
Two years down the line, can we in all honesty say that the
promises have been delivered or the government is on its way to deliver
the promises? First, it is imperative to state that successful and
impactful governance is about a shared vision and mission between the
government and the people and a dedication to the same goals and
objectives especially by the key actors and drivers of the process. It
took the President Muhammadu Buhari six months to constitute his cabinet
and when they were eventually in place, it was not the expected stellar
team of extraordinarily gifted men and women many expected him to
select or he made Nigerians to believe. Instead, it was just a recycling
of politicians who had held one position or the other in previous
governments that did not particularly advance the cause of good
governance. The new faces were neither identified with any particular
trajectory of solutions to the myriad of challenges facing the nation
nor performed with high standards in any previous official or private
sector position.
The second issue is that a house divided against itself cannot
stand. Even with the poor quality of the presidential team, the house
from the very beginning was divided against itself. Intrigues and
commitment to interests that are neither the national nor could advance
the cause of positive change dominated and still do the implementation
of policies and programmes of the government. The operatives of the
Department of State Services do not walk on the same path with the
leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Ideally,
these are sister agencies that should support and reinforce the other
for the greater benefit of Nigeria. It got so bad that a presidential
nominee for the EFCC was twice rejected by the Senate on the basis of
the report of the DSS. And the President who appointed both men failed,
refused and neglected to act. Gullible Nigerians were reprimanding the
Senate that screened the nominee for failing to clear him and the
popular cliché was that corruption was fighting back! But every
discerning mind knew that a division of the Presidency was fighting
another division in the Presidency. Later, a public spat between the
Attorney General of the Federation and the EFCC emerged. Again, these
are sister offices that need to collaborate deeply for the prosecution
of the battle against corruption, especially in the courts. As I write,
no one is sure if the wounds and scars from the public skirmish have
properly healed.
The third issue is that the President’s unique selling point and
campaign appeal was the picture of an incorruptible leader who was
needed to heal a nation bleeding from corruption. The President promised
to be fair to all in his swearing-in speech. Although he slightly
modified it later with the 97 per cent and five per cent gaffe, the
expectation was that he would fight the anti-corruption battle with all
his strength and might. But today, the story has changed and is still
changing. All one needs to escape proper investigation and prosecution
from corruption and abuse of office, Nigerians believe, is to be close
to the President. Several allegations have either been swept or are in
the process of being swept under the carpet. The list of such cases is
becoming longer by the day.
Starting from the Abdulrasheed Maina return where key actors in
government – from the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the
Minister of Interior were involved. The issues raised by this return are
so fundamental and question the very essence of the anti-corruption
fight. Who leads the struggle if the AGF is issuing opinions that are
not in tandem with legality and constitutionalism; opinions that cannot
by any stretch of the imagination be defined to be in the public
interest? How can the Minister of Interior pretend he knows next to
nothing about a fugitive from the law who resumed work under his nose,
not as mere junior civil servant but as a director? The Inspector
General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has been accused of conduct unbecoming
of the holder of the highest police office in the land and is facing
the Senate investigations. Yet, he sits pretty well and the Attorney
General charges his accusers of “crimes” related to the accusation.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation in the
“grass-cutting” scandal has been left in the lurch by the President; no
action since the scandal was revealed in the Senate more than one year
ago and over three months after Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s committee
submitted its report. The millions of dollars discovered in broad
daylight in Ikoyi, Lagos still remains a mystery in the era of change.
The money purportedly found in a sack in Kaduna airport is another
mystery yet to be solved.
The facts are clear and the President refuses to act. The Chief of
Army Staff was accused of owning property beyond his legitimate income
and nothing concrete has come out of it. No investigations. He was
purportedly cleared. A top aide to the President has been linked to
numerous scandals and no one including the key anti-corruption agencies
appears interested. Lately, we have watched with rapt attention as the
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, unveiled the
breach of procurement rules, awarding contracts without due process,
unmitigated parochialism, committing the country to huge petroleum
infrastructure debts without due process, all in the name of running the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Yet, nothing will happen or is
about to happen to the culprits. They are untouchables and the defence
from the Presidency is not only absurd but antithetical to common sense.
Clearly, this is not the way to fight corruption. It should be
clear to Nigerians that the President and his party have no iota of clue
about how to redeem Nigeria. Alternatively, if they know, they are not
prepared to do something about it. It is a different thing to mount the
podium and ask Nigerians to trust a party with political power and a
different ball game to exercise that power through governance in the
interest of all. It looks more like a refusal to act considering the
deodorant and insecticide theory of Senator Shehu Sani of Kaduna State.
Mr. President, this cannot continue in this era of change. Unless
you have offered your best and this is all you have to offer, do
something positive to redeem your image.
Written by Eze Onyekpere for the Punch Newspaper
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