The
term industry is normally used in respect of manufacturing or at least
to refer to a specific branch of business (e.g. the entertainment
industry, the oil and gas industry). So, how come I am now using it for
corruption, something negative? This is because the level of corruption
in the country is flourishing rather than reducing.
Various
anti-corruption programmes of doubtful impact enable what I refer to as
an anti-corruption industry to coexist along the `corruption it
ostensibly ought to combat. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of
dollars have been spent on many so-called reform projects. Instead of
the trend of the problem to reduce, it continues to increase. For more
than 16 years now, the fight against corruption in the country has been
reduced to mere sloganeering. The “reforms” at best end of swelling the
pockets of the “reformers”. For the sake of the country, this cannot
continue.
Today, the biggest barrier to the
“war” against corruption in Nigeria is, ironically, the anti-corruption
industry. It is a smokescreen under which several forms of sophisticated
corruption are being promoted. I do not want to talk about the
multiplicity of agencies and duplication of roles of these agencies.
Though it is part of the confusion that sustains the industry, I believe
that some suggestions are on the table to reduce their numbers and
streamline their functions. Whether that will deplete the industry in
any way remains debatable.
Beyond that, I think some drastic
actions are necessary to rev up the anti-graft war. For instance, an
organisation like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should be
scrapped completely. It is simply a glorified police station with more
than 1,000 policemen currently in their employment (669 in 2008). It is a
known fact that in most police stations in Nigeria, a complainant can
easily become the accused, depending on who pays more money. Justice is
available to the highest bidder. How will anyone expect a different
culture from the policemen at the EFCC where more than 90 per cent of
the members of staff of the operations department are drawn from the
police and from one part of the country? Is it because of the mere fact
that they earn salaries from two different organisations or what? Have
you asked about all the alleged cover-ups you hear about in
prosecutions? How many of those who have been arrested for one form of
corrupt act or another have been diligently prosecuted? Have you asked
about the changing list of suspects of the fuel subsidy scam? What about
those arrested in connection with the police pension scam? Do you know
the cause of the delays and the reasons why the charges are hurriedly
filed and later withdrawn for most of the suspects prosecuted by the
EFCC? You imagine that these are not professionals but that may be a
style to fleece suspects and make money. Have you bothered about the
contents of the various plea bargain deals packaged by the EFCC? Who
negotiated them and what standards did they follow? You can see that
they have started blowing hot air with arrests of high profile suspects
who will never be diligently prosecuted in the long run. Have you
bothered to ask why the EFCC waited till after the exit of former
Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, before
re-opening investigations on Malabu oil deal?
It may be
necessary to repel the EFCC Act 2004 completely because some of the core
functions could soon be taken over by autonomous agencies. For
instance, with the passage of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Centre
Bill into an Act by the National Assembly, it means that the Nigerian
Financial Intelligence Unit which used to be under the EFCC will soon
become autonomous. Such a development will empower the agency to share
intelligence promptly with other financial intelligence centres and all
other relevant law enforcement agencies and could help trace movement of
dirty monies useful to crack down on kidnapping and even terrorism. In
the past, it had been alleged that bureaucratic bottlenecks had hampered
information sharing and led to selective attention to intelligence
reports received.
The second legislation is the Proceeds of
Crime Bill which was recently passed by the Seventh National Assembly.
It removes the asset recovery responsibilities from the EFCC. The POCA
Act is focused on recovery of illegally acquired property through
confiscation, forfeiture and civil recovery and provides powers to
seize, freeze and restrain criminals from dealing with their properties.
With these developments, the EFCC will be left with only investigative
and prosecutorial powers which can easily be transferred to another
agency or could actually be left with a special unit of the police.
Has
somebody asked the EFCC to account for all the properties confiscated
in the past from high profile criminals they investigated? Were the
properties handed over to government or were they sold? If they were
sold, who bought them and how transparent was the process of selling
them? What about the monies recovered from them? Were they paid back to
government treasury or were they unilaterally converted to the EFCC
funds? I challenge the EFCC to provide a comprehensive list of these
properties and what they did with them as part of their winding down
notes. The officials of the organisation especially in the operations
unit and their present and former prosecutors should be compelled to
declare their assets.
Just recently, an ongoing litigation
trying to unravel the government agency in custody of information about
the Abacha loot between the Office of the Attorney General of the
Federation and the National Security Adviser was reported in the media.
There were claims and counter-claims about who should do what. Really?
Now if such information is not available, does it not validate the
strong speculation that all the loot recovered from the late Gen Sani
Abacha and other looters may have been re-looted again? How can any
discerning mind exonerate the EFCC from the whole embarrassing saga?
I
do not wish to suggest that the anti-corruption industry that I refer
to is only based at the EFCC. No. It is in every ministry and every
parastatal. It has branches in almost every anti-corruption agency
including the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau,
the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and even the
Bureau for Public Procurement. The issuance of Certificate of “No
Objection” for contract awards is a well-known “old” racket that can be
obtained even by unregistered companies associated with influential
individuals. With the National Council on Public Procurement yet to be
inaugurated, the past Federal Executive Council was literally turned to a
contract bazaar of sorts. Will that continue under this new regime?
I
am aware that the fight against corruption is one of the cardinal
points on the agenda of the new government. President Muhammadu Buhari
said so during his inaugural speech. Therefore, if he has to achieve
results early, he must start looking for ways to crack the
anti-corruption industry firmly rooted in anti-corruption agencies, the
judiciary, all agencies of government, among the political class, the
police and even the media and the civil society organisations. I can say
this for free that it will not be easy because they are quite
sophisticated. However, until he dismantles their networks, they will
find a way to frustrate his efforts to their own benefit. The courage in
confronting this industry will be the biggest test of his political
will to fight the scourge. It is either he destroys that virulent
industry or its activities will submerge his positive efforts and ruin
his government.
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