December 30, 2008
Nigeria’s anti-corruption war is making no progress as many interest groups conspire to slow it down
In its eight years of existence, the Independent Corrupt Practices and (other offences) Commission, ICPC, has cut for itself the image of a toothless bulldog. It has been very inactive and has very little to show as evidence of its success in the war against corruption.
While the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, its comrade in arms against corruption pursued corrupt public officials to their offices and houses, and exposed details of their lootings, ICPC almost watched like a spectator.
But last week, there were indications that ICPC ought to have found a cure for its own lethargy. Newswatch gathered in Abuja that the commission is now ready to launch its first major outing in a few weeks and the culprits will be 23 former state governors indicted for corruption.
Sources told Newswatch that the ICPC has established prima facie cases of corruption against the former governors. Even then, ICPC said it will not head for the courts until it is satisfied that it has iron cast evidence against the indicted governors. Folu Olamiti, resident media consultant to the commission, who spoke to Newswatch said the commission has set up a committee to take a final look at the files of the ex-governors “to plug all the loopholes in the charges and ensure that we have a strong evidence against those we are taking to court.”
That may well be so. But this does not mean that the nation is about to win the anti-corruption war. Sources told Newswatch that the war is at greater risk of being lost now than ever.
Femi Babafemi, head, media at the EFCC, would not say that the battle was being lost but admitted that the EFCC was facing enormous challenges from the indicted former governors. He said the ex-governors have a lot of money in their hands and are using it to buy their way out of trouble or frustrate their trials in the courts. “We have done our investigations and many of the governors have been found culpable. But they use the resources they have stashed away to fight their way out,” he said.
He cited the example of Ezebunwo Nyeson Wike, chief of Staff to the Rivers State governor, who was recently charged to court for money laundering allegations. Wike appeared in court with three senior advocates of Nigeria representing him. “Many of the governors are rich, very rich. They have looted the treasury of their respective states and they are now using such money to hire the best lawyers to defend themselves. We cannot be the complainant and at the same time be the judge. It is left for the judiciary to do their job but we hope that our judges would be stricter in granting the prayers of the ex-governors,” he said.
Wike is not the only example. Many of the ex-governors are throwing everything into the battle to get out of trouble or delay their trial while they continue to enjoy their property and money.
None of the former governors with case in court has less than two senior advocates and a team of junior lawyers representing him. And in the courts, it is not entirely a legal battle between the lawyers. Money also does part of the job, according to a source.
Saminu Turaki, former governor of Jigawa State, only last week Tuesday approached the federal high court in Abuja seeking to quash a 32-count charge of illegally diverting over N30 billion public fund meant for Jigawa State. He made the request vide a motion brought pursuant to Section 6(6) (b) of the constitution.
The former governor turned senator argued that the subject matter of the charge as disclosed did not constitute an offence under section 14 of the money laundering (Prohibition) Act. According to Turaki, it is only the auditor-general of Jigawa State and the house of assembly that can investigate the finances of Jigawa State government and only the state government can prefer charges or make complaints, if need be, against him.
Besides, the former governor said the charge before the court filed by the EFCC was an abuse of court process as there exists a subsisting court order of the federal high court, Kano stopping any further action on the corruption charges filed against him until the determination of the substantive suit before it.
He has hired the services of two senior advocates of Nigeria, SAN, and a set of younger lawyers to secure freedom for him.
Another ex-governor who is using the services of lawyers many of whom are senior advocates and is willing to commit huge amounts of money to beat the EFCC dragnet is Peter Odili of Rivers State. Few days to his being picked up by the agency to answer corruption allegations against him, he obtained an injunction from a federal high court in Port Harcourt restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining or prosecuting him.
The injunction was granted by Justice Ibrahim Buba. The judge also restrained EFCC from publishing or disseminating its investigation report on the finances of the Rivers State under Odili.
The judgment was sequel to an application filed by Odili seeking orders to the effect that he should not be arrested, detained or prosecuted by the Commission, based on an investigation of his eight-year tenure. Uptill now, the EFCC is still battling at an Abuja appeal court to vacate the injunction.
James Ibori, former governor of Delta State is another former state governor still on trial for corruption but who has found a loophole in the law and he is presently a free man.
Ibori was arraigned at a federal high court, Kaduna, in December last year on a 170-count charge of money laundering and stealing amounting to about N9.4 billion.
Though Ibori and another former governor Ayo Fayose spent the last Christmas and New Year in prison custody, the former, since he was granted bail, has done all within his power to frustrate his trial.
The ex-governor recently filed an application in court following the refusal of the federal high court in Kaduna to transfer his ongoing trial for alleged money laundering from the lower court. But the EFCC, last week, urged the court of appeal in Kaduna to dismiss the appeal brought by Ibori.
Justice Mohammed Shuaibu of the federal high court had in March, held that Ibori failed in his application to prove why he (the trial judge) should excuse himself from the case and transfer it to the chief judge of the federal high court for re-assignment.
Ibori’s lawyers had argued that the case was not assigned to the Kaduna Division of the federal high court by the chief justice.
But in the appeal filed by his lead lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, before the appellate court, the ex-governor faulted the entire ruling of the lower court on his application for transfer of the case. But even as all these were going on, Ibori is virtually a free man. He had secured his travel documents and has been in and out of the country many times since he got a bail.
Chimaroke Nnamani, former Enugu State governor who is now a senator, was last year arraigned in court for over 105 charges of corruption and abuse of office. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges when it was read to him by Justice Peter Olayiwola of federal high court, Ikoyi, Lagos. Chris Uche and Ricky Tarfa, two senior advocates have secured bail for Nnamani while series of objections have been filed in various courts to frustrate the trial.
Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba State was arraigned in Abuja at a federal high court on a 41-count charge of stealing, illegal diversion of public funds, misappropriation of public funds, inflation of contract sums, criminal breach of trust and bribery to the tune of N1.6 billion. He is also on bail but is willing to return all illegal wealth traced to him.
Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau State has been in and out of several courts in the country all in a bid to extricate himself from the corruption and money laundering allegations levelled against him. And so is Micheal Botmang, Dariye’s former deputy who took over from him when he was impeached on November 13, 2006. He was arraigned on corruption charges. He was taken to court on July 18, last year, by the EFCC, on a 31-count charge of fraud and other acts contrary to the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2004. The total sum allegedly misappropriated by Botmang during his one year tenure as governor was put at N1.3 billion.
The court was told by Yarkasuwa Saleh that Botmang is suffering from diabetes, chronic kidney disease and hypertension. The former governor pleaded not guilty and was granted bail on health grounds.
Boni Haruna, former governor of Adamawa State was arraigned at a federal high court sitting in Abuja for unlawfully diverting N93,935,000 from the state treasury during his eight-year tenure as the state chief executive. He has been released on bail. Rickey Tarfa, another senior advocate secured bail for Haruna.
Rashidi Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State, has also been arraigned for allegedly laundering N4.7billion belonging to the state. Two of his aides, Adewale Atanda, former chairman of the State Housing Corporation, and Waheed Akanbi, ex-commissioner for finance and budget, and a company, Heritage Apartments Limited, were arraigned alongside Ladoja. Another set of senior advocates ensured that Ladoja and his colleagues did not spend more days than necessary in prison.
Dipreye Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State, who fled Britain to escape the London police but was later arrested in Nigeria, was found guilty of corrupt enrichment but he entered a plea bargain deal with the EFCC and was released after forfeiting most of his properties to the federal government. Many senior advocates handled his case before it was resolved. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who was his deputy while in power, also intervened on behalf of his former boss.
Inside the courts, the corruption cases against the ex-governors are not making progress. Most of the cases are still at the preliminary stages with none yet to go on trial fully. Their lawyers look for ways to stall the cases. Outside the courts, especially in government circles, there is no excitement about the anti-corruption war either.
The Yar’Adua administration’s position on the war is now uncertain. While the administration still preaches its commitment to prosecuting the war, some of its actions do not point in that direction. Some of the ex-governors standing trial in courts for corruption are regular visitors to the presidential villa. One of them is Ibori. Sources said Ibori does not only visit the villa regularly, he was also at the president’s bed side in Saudi Arabia during his recent hospitalisation there.
Edwin Clark, a former Information minister under the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo and now a prominent Ijaw leader, was so exasperated by this development that he recently openly accused Yar’Adua of hob-nobbing with the ex-governor.
Newswatch was told that the decline in the level of commitment to the war on corruption by the Yar’Adua administration is an acknowledgement of the immense influence of the ex-governors. Initially, Yar’Adua had adopted an attitude that pointed to the fact that the ex-governors were on their own as far as their corruption cases were concerned. But he later realised that it would be politically suicidal to do so because the ex-governors are still influential in their states and that it would be politically inexpedient to hurt their feelings.
The leadership of the governors forum also played a role in the midwifing the new and robust attitude of the presidency towards the ex-governors. The forum which was said to have canvassed support for the appointment of Farida Waziri, the EFCC chairman, worked very hard to get the Yar’Adua administration to handle the former governors with greater sympathy.
Since then, most of the anti-corruption cases involving ex-governors and other office holders have followed a familiar pattern: they get arrested, charged to court 24 hours later and then their bails follow soon after. Thereafter, they are left off the hook. Their travel documents are also released to them and they can go anywhere around the world to enjoy themselves.
In eight years of the anti-corruption war, no ex-governor has been convicted except Alamieyeseigha. He was so treated because he was on the wrong side of the nation’s political divide then. He had pitched camp with Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president who was then embroiled in a face-off with Olusegun Obasanjo, his boss. Since the coming of Waziri, EFCC has played more the role of providing “soft landing” for the former governors than actually get them jailed.
There is also widespread belief that Waziri has her own agenda which is different from what Nigerians expect of the commission. She is alleged to be loyal to some former political leaders who helped to facilitate her appointment. She has persistently denied this charge. But her utterances have not helped her case much. She has contradicted herself several times on the cases of the ex-governors. At a point, she said the case files of the ex-governors had been tampered with. At another, she said they were missing only for her to recant soon after. This has given rise to fears that the ex-governors standing trial in the courts might eventually escape justice.
Babafemi is however not amused by what is now happening to the anti-corruption war, especially the antics of defense counsels to most of the former governors. He told Newswatch that the commission was not happy with the way the courts were handling corruption cases against most of the ex-governors. “Since Farida Waziri was appointed to head the EFCC, we have secured over 30 convictions, many of which are against 419 kingpins and other Nigerians involved in corruption cases. But when it comes to the ex-governors, it is always very difficult. If there is a plot at all to free the ex-governors, Nigerians should not look in the direction of the commission but at the judiciary,” Babafemi said.
He said the EFCC cannot be the accuser as well as the judge in the trial of the ex-governors. A distraught Babafemi said many of the lawyers start by applying for bail for their clients as soon as they were charged to court while at the same time filing unnecessary applications to get the travel documents of the ex-governors released for them to seek medical treatment abroad. “Most of the governors battle to prolong their cases in court till eternity and they have the money to achieve this. That is why we have been calling for the establishment of a special court for economic crimes to solely try cases involving money laundering and sundry allegations,” Babafemi said.
The EFCC has also approached the National Assembly to put in place a law that would ensure that any Nigerian alleged to have used stolen funds to acquire properties illegally should forfeit such properties to the government. Though the amendment was sought as far back as 2006, sources at the National Assembly told Newswatch that the bill is unlikely to sail through.
Babafemi, however, said the commission would continue in its task of ensuring a corrupt free nation. “The former chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, took eight former governors to court. Since we came in, we have charged another three, Haruna, Ladoja and Botmang to court while we are set to prosecute another 10 former governors. We have also secured the services of senior advocates to strengthen our legal team while we are planning to investigate and prosecute Nigerians living above their income. All these are measures put in place by the commission to give teeth to the war against graft,” Babafemi said.
During her appearing before the senate last week. Waziri canvassed for the removal of the immunity clause enjoyed by the president, vice-president and state governors and their deputies while in office, pointing out that its removal would go a long way in reducing corruption. “I don’t think we need the immunity clause, it makes people to be careless and reckless. I tell you, a first term governor just bought a one billion Naira house in Abuja” and declined to name the governor.
She pleaded with the lawmakers to speedily pass an amendment to the EFCC Act that would allow for the creation of special courts to try corruption cases in the country. “I believe that the passage of a bill on special courts together with assets forfeiture, we will eradicate corruption in Nigeria,” she boasted.
Bamidele Aturu, Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, said the implications of corruption cases being stalled in the courts are grave for the country. “It means that people can exploit the courts to stall trial. It is unfortunate.” According to him, the judiciary should ensure that cases are disposed of quickly and with dispatch to ensure confidence of the public in the court. “We should amend our rules of procedure to give priority to corruption cases. Unless this is done people will think it is normal and alright to steal public funds. The Supreme Court should show leadership by working out guidelines on cases before it to give lower courts needed directions. The stalled cases are not good for the image of the judiciary,” Aturu said.
He also suggested that prosecutors and defence lawyers should share the blame for the poor handling of the corruption war because they file frivolous applications to waste time and frustrate the court process.
Festus Okoye, former national publicity secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, told Newswatch that the delay presently being experienced in the case involving the ex-governors is a “product of the technical nature of the charges, the volume of documents required for their prosecution, the number of witnesses that must be called and the convenience of the court. Furthermore, highly skilled senior advocates are involved and the accused persons are highly resourced and endowed.”
He said the accused persons will exploit and challenge all technical issues, take them to the highest court in the land, test the patience and resilience of the court and the prosecution in a bid to avoid been convicted. “The implication of the delays is that persons that do not understand the workings of the judiciary will heap the blame for the delays on the judiciary rather than on the systemic and procedural issues that are in place to safeguard the fundamental rights of persons involved in the criminal justice system,” he said.
Okoye also said the delays will also give the impression that once an accused person secures bail, he can stretch the judicial process to its limit and drag the case ad infinitum. “The implication is general cynicism and lack of confidence in the judiciary as the bastion for the fight against economic and financial crimes,” he added.
He also supported the call for the establishment of separate courts to try corruption cases. “Nigeria needs a separate and specialised courts in the six geo-political zones dedicated exclusively to the trial of persons suspected of having committed economic and financial crimes, while the agencies created to tackle economic and financial crimes must also endeavour to conclude their investigations before rushing to arrest and prosecute,” Okoye said.
Uche Okwukwu, a lawyer and political activist based in Port-Harcourt, is also not happy with the undue delay of prosecution of corruption. He said such cases bordering on corruption should be given speedy trial. “If somebody is being prosecuted, one thing to bear in mind is that the accused person is presumed innocent until he is found guilty. Therefore, the burden is on the prosecution to diligently prosecute the case and convince the court that the accused person committed the alleged offence. Corruption is an economic offence and has moral and political aspects. Beyond that, corruption heightens crisis, widens the gap between the poor and the rich, escalates poverty, diminishes growth and development in society, in fact, it turns the society upside down because it sets wrong standards,” he stressed.
Okwukwu, however, blamed the judicial administrative system in the country which creates a lot of loopholes to get speedy dispensation of justice. The lawyer said apart from economic and financial crimes, other serious crimes, such as felony, should also enjoy accelerated hearing. Unfortunately, he noted that it is very difficult to prosecute criminal offences in the country because they are prosecuted in conventional courts like the federal high courts. “The courts are over-congested. In some instances, the accused person may not be in court, the judge may not be in court, lawyers on one side or both sides may not be in court, and because the cases are criminal in nature and in character, the prosecution of the matter cannot go on. This causes delay” he said.
Fred Agbaje, a Lagos-based lawyer, said he had hoped that the coming on board of Waziri would strengthen the anti-corruption war but that a statement credited to her recently that files on some of the ex-governors were missing had sent wrong signals to many Nigerians. “We had envisaged a situation that, well, this is a woman coming in with a high profile background, a retired assistant inspector-general of police, AIG. With that type of background, we thought she was coming with immense contribution. But unfortunately, it is like the man they removed was better off. I was one of those who said we should give the woman a chance when there were cries about her appointment. Almost six months or more than that, after her appointment, it is all noise all over the place with nothing to show for it. It is sad,” Agbaje said.
A senior advocate who spoke on condition of anonymity wanted to know what Nigerians expected senior advocates to do, refuse to take cases from ex-governors? He then provided the answer to the question himself, “Let’s not forget that the ex-governors are human beings who have rights to choose who will represent them in court, and no lawyer will turn their requests for legal representation down.” He said lawyers, whether SAN or not, must offer their services to those who need them.
Written by Kazeem Akintunde
Reported by Maureen Chigbo, Demola Abimboye, Sam Adzegeh, Godfrey Azubike and Tosin Omoniyi
In its eight years of existence, the Independent Corrupt Practices and (other offences) Commission, ICPC, has cut for itself the image of a toothless bulldog. It has been very inactive and has very little to show as evidence of its success in the war against corruption.
While the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, its comrade in arms against corruption pursued corrupt public officials to their offices and houses, and exposed details of their lootings, ICPC almost watched like a spectator.
But last week, there were indications that ICPC ought to have found a cure for its own lethargy. Newswatch gathered in Abuja that the commission is now ready to launch its first major outing in a few weeks and the culprits will be 23 former state governors indicted for corruption.
Sources told Newswatch that the ICPC has established prima facie cases of corruption against the former governors. Even then, ICPC said it will not head for the courts until it is satisfied that it has iron cast evidence against the indicted governors. Folu Olamiti, resident media consultant to the commission, who spoke to Newswatch said the commission has set up a committee to take a final look at the files of the ex-governors “to plug all the loopholes in the charges and ensure that we have a strong evidence against those we are taking to court.”
That may well be so. But this does not mean that the nation is about to win the anti-corruption war. Sources told Newswatch that the war is at greater risk of being lost now than ever.
Femi Babafemi, head, media at the EFCC, would not say that the battle was being lost but admitted that the EFCC was facing enormous challenges from the indicted former governors. He said the ex-governors have a lot of money in their hands and are using it to buy their way out of trouble or frustrate their trials in the courts. “We have done our investigations and many of the governors have been found culpable. But they use the resources they have stashed away to fight their way out,” he said.
He cited the example of Ezebunwo Nyeson Wike, chief of Staff to the Rivers State governor, who was recently charged to court for money laundering allegations. Wike appeared in court with three senior advocates of Nigeria representing him. “Many of the governors are rich, very rich. They have looted the treasury of their respective states and they are now using such money to hire the best lawyers to defend themselves. We cannot be the complainant and at the same time be the judge. It is left for the judiciary to do their job but we hope that our judges would be stricter in granting the prayers of the ex-governors,” he said.
Wike is not the only example. Many of the ex-governors are throwing everything into the battle to get out of trouble or delay their trial while they continue to enjoy their property and money.
None of the former governors with case in court has less than two senior advocates and a team of junior lawyers representing him. And in the courts, it is not entirely a legal battle between the lawyers. Money also does part of the job, according to a source.
Saminu Turaki, former governor of Jigawa State, only last week Tuesday approached the federal high court in Abuja seeking to quash a 32-count charge of illegally diverting over N30 billion public fund meant for Jigawa State. He made the request vide a motion brought pursuant to Section 6(6) (b) of the constitution.
The former governor turned senator argued that the subject matter of the charge as disclosed did not constitute an offence under section 14 of the money laundering (Prohibition) Act. According to Turaki, it is only the auditor-general of Jigawa State and the house of assembly that can investigate the finances of Jigawa State government and only the state government can prefer charges or make complaints, if need be, against him.
Besides, the former governor said the charge before the court filed by the EFCC was an abuse of court process as there exists a subsisting court order of the federal high court, Kano stopping any further action on the corruption charges filed against him until the determination of the substantive suit before it.
He has hired the services of two senior advocates of Nigeria, SAN, and a set of younger lawyers to secure freedom for him.
Another ex-governor who is using the services of lawyers many of whom are senior advocates and is willing to commit huge amounts of money to beat the EFCC dragnet is Peter Odili of Rivers State. Few days to his being picked up by the agency to answer corruption allegations against him, he obtained an injunction from a federal high court in Port Harcourt restraining the EFCC from arresting, detaining or prosecuting him.
The injunction was granted by Justice Ibrahim Buba. The judge also restrained EFCC from publishing or disseminating its investigation report on the finances of the Rivers State under Odili.
The judgment was sequel to an application filed by Odili seeking orders to the effect that he should not be arrested, detained or prosecuted by the Commission, based on an investigation of his eight-year tenure. Uptill now, the EFCC is still battling at an Abuja appeal court to vacate the injunction.
James Ibori, former governor of Delta State is another former state governor still on trial for corruption but who has found a loophole in the law and he is presently a free man.
Ibori was arraigned at a federal high court, Kaduna, in December last year on a 170-count charge of money laundering and stealing amounting to about N9.4 billion.
Though Ibori and another former governor Ayo Fayose spent the last Christmas and New Year in prison custody, the former, since he was granted bail, has done all within his power to frustrate his trial.
The ex-governor recently filed an application in court following the refusal of the federal high court in Kaduna to transfer his ongoing trial for alleged money laundering from the lower court. But the EFCC, last week, urged the court of appeal in Kaduna to dismiss the appeal brought by Ibori.
Justice Mohammed Shuaibu of the federal high court had in March, held that Ibori failed in his application to prove why he (the trial judge) should excuse himself from the case and transfer it to the chief judge of the federal high court for re-assignment.
Ibori’s lawyers had argued that the case was not assigned to the Kaduna Division of the federal high court by the chief justice.
But in the appeal filed by his lead lawyer, Joseph Daudu, SAN, before the appellate court, the ex-governor faulted the entire ruling of the lower court on his application for transfer of the case. But even as all these were going on, Ibori is virtually a free man. He had secured his travel documents and has been in and out of the country many times since he got a bail.
Chimaroke Nnamani, former Enugu State governor who is now a senator, was last year arraigned in court for over 105 charges of corruption and abuse of office. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges when it was read to him by Justice Peter Olayiwola of federal high court, Ikoyi, Lagos. Chris Uche and Ricky Tarfa, two senior advocates have secured bail for Nnamani while series of objections have been filed in various courts to frustrate the trial.
Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba State was arraigned in Abuja at a federal high court on a 41-count charge of stealing, illegal diversion of public funds, misappropriation of public funds, inflation of contract sums, criminal breach of trust and bribery to the tune of N1.6 billion. He is also on bail but is willing to return all illegal wealth traced to him.
Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau State has been in and out of several courts in the country all in a bid to extricate himself from the corruption and money laundering allegations levelled against him. And so is Micheal Botmang, Dariye’s former deputy who took over from him when he was impeached on November 13, 2006. He was arraigned on corruption charges. He was taken to court on July 18, last year, by the EFCC, on a 31-count charge of fraud and other acts contrary to the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2004. The total sum allegedly misappropriated by Botmang during his one year tenure as governor was put at N1.3 billion.
The court was told by Yarkasuwa Saleh that Botmang is suffering from diabetes, chronic kidney disease and hypertension. The former governor pleaded not guilty and was granted bail on health grounds.
Boni Haruna, former governor of Adamawa State was arraigned at a federal high court sitting in Abuja for unlawfully diverting N93,935,000 from the state treasury during his eight-year tenure as the state chief executive. He has been released on bail. Rickey Tarfa, another senior advocate secured bail for Haruna.
Rashidi Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State, has also been arraigned for allegedly laundering N4.7billion belonging to the state. Two of his aides, Adewale Atanda, former chairman of the State Housing Corporation, and Waheed Akanbi, ex-commissioner for finance and budget, and a company, Heritage Apartments Limited, were arraigned alongside Ladoja. Another set of senior advocates ensured that Ladoja and his colleagues did not spend more days than necessary in prison.
Dipreye Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State, who fled Britain to escape the London police but was later arrested in Nigeria, was found guilty of corrupt enrichment but he entered a plea bargain deal with the EFCC and was released after forfeiting most of his properties to the federal government. Many senior advocates handled his case before it was resolved. Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who was his deputy while in power, also intervened on behalf of his former boss.
Inside the courts, the corruption cases against the ex-governors are not making progress. Most of the cases are still at the preliminary stages with none yet to go on trial fully. Their lawyers look for ways to stall the cases. Outside the courts, especially in government circles, there is no excitement about the anti-corruption war either.
The Yar’Adua administration’s position on the war is now uncertain. While the administration still preaches its commitment to prosecuting the war, some of its actions do not point in that direction. Some of the ex-governors standing trial in courts for corruption are regular visitors to the presidential villa. One of them is Ibori. Sources said Ibori does not only visit the villa regularly, he was also at the president’s bed side in Saudi Arabia during his recent hospitalisation there.
Edwin Clark, a former Information minister under the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo and now a prominent Ijaw leader, was so exasperated by this development that he recently openly accused Yar’Adua of hob-nobbing with the ex-governor.
Newswatch was told that the decline in the level of commitment to the war on corruption by the Yar’Adua administration is an acknowledgement of the immense influence of the ex-governors. Initially, Yar’Adua had adopted an attitude that pointed to the fact that the ex-governors were on their own as far as their corruption cases were concerned. But he later realised that it would be politically suicidal to do so because the ex-governors are still influential in their states and that it would be politically inexpedient to hurt their feelings.
The leadership of the governors forum also played a role in the midwifing the new and robust attitude of the presidency towards the ex-governors. The forum which was said to have canvassed support for the appointment of Farida Waziri, the EFCC chairman, worked very hard to get the Yar’Adua administration to handle the former governors with greater sympathy.
Since then, most of the anti-corruption cases involving ex-governors and other office holders have followed a familiar pattern: they get arrested, charged to court 24 hours later and then their bails follow soon after. Thereafter, they are left off the hook. Their travel documents are also released to them and they can go anywhere around the world to enjoy themselves.
In eight years of the anti-corruption war, no ex-governor has been convicted except Alamieyeseigha. He was so treated because he was on the wrong side of the nation’s political divide then. He had pitched camp with Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president who was then embroiled in a face-off with Olusegun Obasanjo, his boss. Since the coming of Waziri, EFCC has played more the role of providing “soft landing” for the former governors than actually get them jailed.
There is also widespread belief that Waziri has her own agenda which is different from what Nigerians expect of the commission. She is alleged to be loyal to some former political leaders who helped to facilitate her appointment. She has persistently denied this charge. But her utterances have not helped her case much. She has contradicted herself several times on the cases of the ex-governors. At a point, she said the case files of the ex-governors had been tampered with. At another, she said they were missing only for her to recant soon after. This has given rise to fears that the ex-governors standing trial in the courts might eventually escape justice.
Babafemi is however not amused by what is now happening to the anti-corruption war, especially the antics of defense counsels to most of the former governors. He told Newswatch that the commission was not happy with the way the courts were handling corruption cases against most of the ex-governors. “Since Farida Waziri was appointed to head the EFCC, we have secured over 30 convictions, many of which are against 419 kingpins and other Nigerians involved in corruption cases. But when it comes to the ex-governors, it is always very difficult. If there is a plot at all to free the ex-governors, Nigerians should not look in the direction of the commission but at the judiciary,” Babafemi said.
He said the EFCC cannot be the accuser as well as the judge in the trial of the ex-governors. A distraught Babafemi said many of the lawyers start by applying for bail for their clients as soon as they were charged to court while at the same time filing unnecessary applications to get the travel documents of the ex-governors released for them to seek medical treatment abroad. “Most of the governors battle to prolong their cases in court till eternity and they have the money to achieve this. That is why we have been calling for the establishment of a special court for economic crimes to solely try cases involving money laundering and sundry allegations,” Babafemi said.
The EFCC has also approached the National Assembly to put in place a law that would ensure that any Nigerian alleged to have used stolen funds to acquire properties illegally should forfeit such properties to the government. Though the amendment was sought as far back as 2006, sources at the National Assembly told Newswatch that the bill is unlikely to sail through.
Babafemi, however, said the commission would continue in its task of ensuring a corrupt free nation. “The former chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, took eight former governors to court. Since we came in, we have charged another three, Haruna, Ladoja and Botmang to court while we are set to prosecute another 10 former governors. We have also secured the services of senior advocates to strengthen our legal team while we are planning to investigate and prosecute Nigerians living above their income. All these are measures put in place by the commission to give teeth to the war against graft,” Babafemi said.
During her appearing before the senate last week. Waziri canvassed for the removal of the immunity clause enjoyed by the president, vice-president and state governors and their deputies while in office, pointing out that its removal would go a long way in reducing corruption. “I don’t think we need the immunity clause, it makes people to be careless and reckless. I tell you, a first term governor just bought a one billion Naira house in Abuja” and declined to name the governor.
She pleaded with the lawmakers to speedily pass an amendment to the EFCC Act that would allow for the creation of special courts to try corruption cases in the country. “I believe that the passage of a bill on special courts together with assets forfeiture, we will eradicate corruption in Nigeria,” she boasted.
Bamidele Aturu, Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, said the implications of corruption cases being stalled in the courts are grave for the country. “It means that people can exploit the courts to stall trial. It is unfortunate.” According to him, the judiciary should ensure that cases are disposed of quickly and with dispatch to ensure confidence of the public in the court. “We should amend our rules of procedure to give priority to corruption cases. Unless this is done people will think it is normal and alright to steal public funds. The Supreme Court should show leadership by working out guidelines on cases before it to give lower courts needed directions. The stalled cases are not good for the image of the judiciary,” Aturu said.
He also suggested that prosecutors and defence lawyers should share the blame for the poor handling of the corruption war because they file frivolous applications to waste time and frustrate the court process.
Festus Okoye, former national publicity secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, told Newswatch that the delay presently being experienced in the case involving the ex-governors is a “product of the technical nature of the charges, the volume of documents required for their prosecution, the number of witnesses that must be called and the convenience of the court. Furthermore, highly skilled senior advocates are involved and the accused persons are highly resourced and endowed.”
He said the accused persons will exploit and challenge all technical issues, take them to the highest court in the land, test the patience and resilience of the court and the prosecution in a bid to avoid been convicted. “The implication of the delays is that persons that do not understand the workings of the judiciary will heap the blame for the delays on the judiciary rather than on the systemic and procedural issues that are in place to safeguard the fundamental rights of persons involved in the criminal justice system,” he said.
Okoye also said the delays will also give the impression that once an accused person secures bail, he can stretch the judicial process to its limit and drag the case ad infinitum. “The implication is general cynicism and lack of confidence in the judiciary as the bastion for the fight against economic and financial crimes,” he added.
He also supported the call for the establishment of separate courts to try corruption cases. “Nigeria needs a separate and specialised courts in the six geo-political zones dedicated exclusively to the trial of persons suspected of having committed economic and financial crimes, while the agencies created to tackle economic and financial crimes must also endeavour to conclude their investigations before rushing to arrest and prosecute,” Okoye said.
Uche Okwukwu, a lawyer and political activist based in Port-Harcourt, is also not happy with the undue delay of prosecution of corruption. He said such cases bordering on corruption should be given speedy trial. “If somebody is being prosecuted, one thing to bear in mind is that the accused person is presumed innocent until he is found guilty. Therefore, the burden is on the prosecution to diligently prosecute the case and convince the court that the accused person committed the alleged offence. Corruption is an economic offence and has moral and political aspects. Beyond that, corruption heightens crisis, widens the gap between the poor and the rich, escalates poverty, diminishes growth and development in society, in fact, it turns the society upside down because it sets wrong standards,” he stressed.
Okwukwu, however, blamed the judicial administrative system in the country which creates a lot of loopholes to get speedy dispensation of justice. The lawyer said apart from economic and financial crimes, other serious crimes, such as felony, should also enjoy accelerated hearing. Unfortunately, he noted that it is very difficult to prosecute criminal offences in the country because they are prosecuted in conventional courts like the federal high courts. “The courts are over-congested. In some instances, the accused person may not be in court, the judge may not be in court, lawyers on one side or both sides may not be in court, and because the cases are criminal in nature and in character, the prosecution of the matter cannot go on. This causes delay” he said.
Fred Agbaje, a Lagos-based lawyer, said he had hoped that the coming on board of Waziri would strengthen the anti-corruption war but that a statement credited to her recently that files on some of the ex-governors were missing had sent wrong signals to many Nigerians. “We had envisaged a situation that, well, this is a woman coming in with a high profile background, a retired assistant inspector-general of police, AIG. With that type of background, we thought she was coming with immense contribution. But unfortunately, it is like the man they removed was better off. I was one of those who said we should give the woman a chance when there were cries about her appointment. Almost six months or more than that, after her appointment, it is all noise all over the place with nothing to show for it. It is sad,” Agbaje said.
A senior advocate who spoke on condition of anonymity wanted to know what Nigerians expected senior advocates to do, refuse to take cases from ex-governors? He then provided the answer to the question himself, “Let’s not forget that the ex-governors are human beings who have rights to choose who will represent them in court, and no lawyer will turn their requests for legal representation down.” He said lawyers, whether SAN or not, must offer their services to those who need them.
Written by Kazeem Akintunde
Reported by Maureen Chigbo, Demola Abimboye, Sam Adzegeh, Godfrey Azubike and Tosin Omoniyi
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