February 10, 2010
Immediately after assuming office as the acting president yesterday, Goodluck Jonathan made a national broadcast to the nation. He promised many things, one of which is the prosecution of the war on corruption with renewed vigour. The relevant portion of his broadcast is reproduced below for the benefit of those who did not listen to his speech: “One of the cardinal commitments of this administration is our commitment to Good Governance, Accountability and Transparency. We shall continue to pursue these policy objectives with all the seriousness they deserve. In particular, the war against corruption will be prosecuted more robustly. We will therefore strengthen the capacity of the anti-corruption agencies and give them a free hand to prosecute the anti corruption war.”
The question facing the acting president now is whether he can fight a more robust war against corruption when the money-laundering case against his wife, Patience Jonathan, has been in the cooler since he was sworn in as vice president in May 2007. How the acting president handles the issue of his wife’s charges will be an indication of where he is going to take us as a nation. I do not care how the matter is resolved, but a resolution is necessary if the acting president does not want to be held hostage over the matter and if he wants Nigerians to take him seriously. Nigerians want to know what happened to the matter. She was charged with money-laundering offences, the matter is before the courts, we are not aware of a dismissal (aka James Ibori style), where then is the matter? The more robust war against corruption the acting president has promised must include openness. After all, the stolen money belongs to Nigerians and they have a right to know what is being done to the accused looters. The acting president cannot promise a renewed fight against corruption while he is literally sleeping with one. It is in his best interest and that if the nation to have this matter dealt with expeditiously.
The original article dealing with the then charges facing the then vice-president’s wife is reproduced below for ease.
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EFCC v. PATIENCE JONATHAN (vice president’s Wife): Farida Waziri & EFCC please provide an update
In August 206, the EFCC seized the sum of N104 million from one Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu, an associate of Patience Jonathan. On August 22, 2006, Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court, gave EFCC the legal backing to retain the N104 million seized from an associate of Patience Goodluck, the wife of then governor of Bayelsa state, Goodluck Jonathan, who is now the vice president of Nigeria.
The order was to stay in place “pending the conclusion of the investigation of the activities of the said persons in connection with their involvement in the acts of money laundering and other economic and financial crimes related offences.” The EFCC’s position was that Patience Jonathan stole the money from the public coffers of Bayelsa and was trying to launder it through her friend, Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu.
Like a crack addict willing to do anything for a high, Patience Jonathan was not going to give up her addiction to treasury looting simply because Nuhu Ribadu’s EFCC was on her trail. Determined to prove that only mere mortals shivered at the sight of EFCC, she continued with her looting of Bayelsa’s treasury with the full cooperation and assistance of her husband, Goodluck Jonathan, who was the then governor of Bayelsa state. The duo was so successful that on September 11, 2006, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) again seized another $13.5 million dollars (US) from Mrs. Patience Jonathan. Criminal charges were brought against her and Nigerians were awaiting her prosecutionto the full extent of the law. Shortly thereafter and in the face of these serious allegations, the insensitive Olusegun Obasanjo and his PDP that had become a den of thieves, nominated Goodluck Jonathan to be the running mate of Yar'Adua.
Fast forward to post 2007 elections. Goodluck Jonathan is now the vice president of Nigeria, Farida Waziri the head of EFCC and whenever president Yar Adua manages to wake up from his near-permanent slumber he rants about his “zero tolerance” for corruption, despite having an indicted man as his personal secretary and dinning and whining with James Ibori. Farida Waziri would want anyone listening to believe that the presidency does not interfere with EFCC’s decision making process and Yar Adua proclaimed this much immediately after the conviction of Bode George.
After trying to deceive the public by blaming the judiciary alone for the near snail speed prosecution of public officials facing corruption charges and then advocating for psychiatric assessment for public officials who dared to steal more money than she realized from defending criminals and scheming a percentage off the money she is recovering for the banks. Farida Waziri is in the news again. This time around, she is advocating for the death penalty for treasury looters. It will be easier to understand Farida’s cries if she had prosecuted and jailed the corrupt public officials under existing laws and was now seeking the death penalty to discourage reoccurrence. But we all know this is not the case.
Notwithstanding the hypocrisy involved in Farida’s “notice-me” advocacies, I am in complete agreement with her that public officials found guilty of corruption should be tied to the stake and publicly executed. My only concern is she is aware of the fact that she would be among the first to be tied to the stake and executed under the full glare of Nigerians should corruption be made a capital offence? Sorry for the diversion and back to the issue of patience Jonathan.
The case against patience Jonathan has gone cold since Jonathan Goodluck became the vice president of Nigeria. The case has gone cold despite relentless denials of political interference by the EFCC and the presidency, although the president has publicly acknowledged directing investigations into certain allegations when such suits his political purpose. It has gone cold despite Yar Adua’s broken-record equivalent repetitiveness of zero tolerance for corruption, a repetitiveness that leaves Nigerians with two options: the president is either “419”ing Nigerians with his proclamations or lacking the intellectual capacity to comprehend what constitutes corruption.
In the past, Farida Waziri has been quick to blame Sahara Reporters and its ardent followers for drowning out her so called anti-corruption message, despite her trepidations and failure to grant a single no holds barred interview to members of the “non-friendly” press since assuming office. This is her chance. Nigerians want to know what happened to the case of EFCC vs. Patience Jonathan. You can lie to a blind person that there is no oil in the food but you cannot lie that there is no salt.
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The question facing the acting president now is whether he can fight a more robust war against corruption when the money-laundering case against his wife, Patience Jonathan, has been in the cooler since he was sworn in as vice president in May 2007. How the acting president handles the issue of his wife’s charges will be an indication of where he is going to take us as a nation. I do not care how the matter is resolved, but a resolution is necessary if the acting president does not want to be held hostage over the matter and if he wants Nigerians to take him seriously. Nigerians want to know what happened to the matter. She was charged with money-laundering offences, the matter is before the courts, we are not aware of a dismissal (aka James Ibori style), where then is the matter? The more robust war against corruption the acting president has promised must include openness. After all, the stolen money belongs to Nigerians and they have a right to know what is being done to the accused looters. The acting president cannot promise a renewed fight against corruption while he is literally sleeping with one. It is in his best interest and that if the nation to have this matter dealt with expeditiously.
The original article dealing with the then charges facing the then vice-president’s wife is reproduced below for ease.
articleadslinks
EFCC v. PATIENCE JONATHAN (vice president’s Wife): Farida Waziri & EFCC please provide an update
In August 206, the EFCC seized the sum of N104 million from one Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu, an associate of Patience Jonathan. On August 22, 2006, Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court, gave EFCC the legal backing to retain the N104 million seized from an associate of Patience Goodluck, the wife of then governor of Bayelsa state, Goodluck Jonathan, who is now the vice president of Nigeria.
The order was to stay in place “pending the conclusion of the investigation of the activities of the said persons in connection with their involvement in the acts of money laundering and other economic and financial crimes related offences.” The EFCC’s position was that Patience Jonathan stole the money from the public coffers of Bayelsa and was trying to launder it through her friend, Mrs. Nancy Ebere Nwosu.
Like a crack addict willing to do anything for a high, Patience Jonathan was not going to give up her addiction to treasury looting simply because Nuhu Ribadu’s EFCC was on her trail. Determined to prove that only mere mortals shivered at the sight of EFCC, she continued with her looting of Bayelsa’s treasury with the full cooperation and assistance of her husband, Goodluck Jonathan, who was the then governor of Bayelsa state. The duo was so successful that on September 11, 2006, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) again seized another $13.5 million dollars (US) from Mrs. Patience Jonathan. Criminal charges were brought against her and Nigerians were awaiting her prosecutionto the full extent of the law. Shortly thereafter and in the face of these serious allegations, the insensitive Olusegun Obasanjo and his PDP that had become a den of thieves, nominated Goodluck Jonathan to be the running mate of Yar'Adua.
Fast forward to post 2007 elections. Goodluck Jonathan is now the vice president of Nigeria, Farida Waziri the head of EFCC and whenever president Yar Adua manages to wake up from his near-permanent slumber he rants about his “zero tolerance” for corruption, despite having an indicted man as his personal secretary and dinning and whining with James Ibori. Farida Waziri would want anyone listening to believe that the presidency does not interfere with EFCC’s decision making process and Yar Adua proclaimed this much immediately after the conviction of Bode George.
After trying to deceive the public by blaming the judiciary alone for the near snail speed prosecution of public officials facing corruption charges and then advocating for psychiatric assessment for public officials who dared to steal more money than she realized from defending criminals and scheming a percentage off the money she is recovering for the banks. Farida Waziri is in the news again. This time around, she is advocating for the death penalty for treasury looters. It will be easier to understand Farida’s cries if she had prosecuted and jailed the corrupt public officials under existing laws and was now seeking the death penalty to discourage reoccurrence. But we all know this is not the case.
Notwithstanding the hypocrisy involved in Farida’s “notice-me” advocacies, I am in complete agreement with her that public officials found guilty of corruption should be tied to the stake and publicly executed. My only concern is she is aware of the fact that she would be among the first to be tied to the stake and executed under the full glare of Nigerians should corruption be made a capital offence? Sorry for the diversion and back to the issue of patience Jonathan.
The case against patience Jonathan has gone cold since Jonathan Goodluck became the vice president of Nigeria. The case has gone cold despite relentless denials of political interference by the EFCC and the presidency, although the president has publicly acknowledged directing investigations into certain allegations when such suits his political purpose. It has gone cold despite Yar Adua’s broken-record equivalent repetitiveness of zero tolerance for corruption, a repetitiveness that leaves Nigerians with two options: the president is either “419”ing Nigerians with his proclamations or lacking the intellectual capacity to comprehend what constitutes corruption.
In the past, Farida Waziri has been quick to blame Sahara Reporters and its ardent followers for drowning out her so called anti-corruption message, despite her trepidations and failure to grant a single no holds barred interview to members of the “non-friendly” press since assuming office. This is her chance. Nigerians want to know what happened to the case of EFCC vs. Patience Jonathan. You can lie to a blind person that there is no oil in the food but you cannot lie that there is no salt.
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