Uche Igwe
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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