Date Published: 12/21/09
DECEMBER 17, 2009: A BLACK THURSDAY FOR NIGERIA By Temple Chima Ubochi
All bad precedents began as justifiable measures. (Gaius Julius Caesar)
A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. (Bertrand de Jouvenel)
The world looks as if it has been left in the custody of trolls. (Father Robert F. Capon)
The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means. (Georges Bernanos)
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. (Frederic Bastiat)
Understandably, on Thursday December 17, 2009, pessimism seems to have taken over in the country - with the negatives seemingly growing in their grotesqueness – The wicked people parading themselves as rulers are having it good while Nigeria and Nigerians are suffering. Ibori walks free, President Yar’Adua is in bondage (ill-health), Soludo regains ticket, and an Ibadan court reaffirms Omisore as senator all in one day. Meanwhile, the house is burning and Nigerian Politicians are busy chasing rats; Nigeria suffers Gas Export Setback as Shell shuts Soku facility again. The Federal Government reportedly lost over $180 million LNG revenue monthly following the earlier 11-month closure. (Elombah.com)
For now, let’s concentrate on this: An Asaba Federal High Court, on this black Thursday, cleared former Delta State Governor James Ibori of the 170-count money laundering charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).This verdict didn’t come to this writer as a surprise, he saw it coming. He (this writer) wrote these in his article of November 6, 2009 ( nigeriaworld.com ).
“But, still, this writer cannot understand why some judges are easily compromised. On October 30, 2009, the Delta State Elders and Leaders Stakeholders Forum (also) called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, either to halt the verdict in the trial of James Ibori in Asaba next Friday (November 6, 2009), or transfer Judge Mercel Awokulehin from it. It pointed out that Justice Awokulehin's integrity and honour is in doubt. Also on October 19, 2009, the Campaign against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), in a petition to the Nigerian Judicial Council, described Awokulehin's misconduct as "unprecedented in the history of the legal profession in Nigeria." It is alleged that the judge would set Ibori free”.
This writer also wrote these in his article of December 26, 2008 ( nigeriaworld.com ):
“Ibori and friends are the power brokers in Nigeria; they are ruling by proxy, they decide on what to do and pass that on to Yar’Adua to append his signature. Yar’Adua surrendered the instrument of power to Ibori and friends, because, he is still indebted to Ibori for footing his campaign bills. Yar’Adua should know that the money Ibori gave to his campaign, belonged to the people of Delta State and not to Ibori. He stole the state dry.
Ibori, Michael Aondoakaa (the AGF), Governor Saraki and their surrogates are the ones calling the shots and Yar’Adua is only there carrying out their plans to conclusion. One day we will wake up to hear that Ibori has been awarded the highest national honour in Nigeria for his "service" to the fatherland. One day all the cases against Ibori will be dismissed because of lack of evidence or through the cloaks of legal niceties. Yes, when EFCC, through the AGF, refuses to present evidence against Ibori in a court, the court will have no choice than to strike out the case. It has started happening. The Kaduna division of the Court of Appeal recently ordered the halt of the trial of James Ibori at the Federal High Court, there; ordering that the case be sent back to the chief judge of the Federal High Court, to be properly assigned to a court nearest to Delta State, where the alleged offences were committed, for fresh trial. This is happening after more than a year of judicial foot-dragging on the part of the AGF and EFCC headed by Ms. Waziri.
This is an effort by Ibori to walk into a court in Delta State and walk out as a free man. They want his case to move to Delta State where he is the "Prince of the Delta" as nobody can convict him in his fiefdom. The AGF has helped him to secure two legal victories in London. The Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom ruled in favour of Ibori on the evidence gathered through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during the tenure of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, by the Metropolitan Police against Ibori.
Now that Ribadu is no more on their way, they will be free to let Ibori and friends off the legal hooks. They have already started. The former Edo State Governor, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, was last week convicted on a one-count charge of corruption by the Federal High Court, Enugu. Igbinedion will, however, not go to jail as he was merely fined N3.6m. This fine (N3.6m) is not up to one-tenth of what he looted from Edo State’s coffer. This man will not go to jail for all the crimes (financial and otherwise) he committed against the state. Just go to Edo State and see for your self how this man underdeveloped the state. All they can give to him for the atrocities is only a slap on the wrist with a paltry fine of N3.6 million. This will set a dangerous precedent as all politicians and government officials will no longer see going to jail as a deterrent to looting of the people's wealth because they can circumvent going to jail with a plea bargain while refunding only a token sum out of what they embezzled or looted. So now let the looting spree begins proper! To the loot oh politicians! Ribadu has been dismissed, this case will go to court, but, let me tell anybody that wants to listen: The travail of Ribadu will discourage the fight against corruption by other committed officers in the Police and other Nigerians that hitherto are committed to the war against corruption”.
The entire governmental infrastructure in Nigeria, that is, the judiciary, legislature, executive, is dysfunctional and have collapsed. If James Onanefe Ibori is innocent of corrupt practices, who else is corrupt in Nigeria? Even the alleged bribe of 15 million dollars to Ribadu, which the present EFCC confirmed is kept at the Central Bank, couldn’t sway the judge to convict Ibori. Even on one out of the whole 170-count charges, the judge couldn’t find Ibori guilty. The judgment is an affront on our intelligence and contemptuous for Nigerians.
Mr. Justice Marcel Awokulehin held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against Ibori. The judge even went further to ask:
*Whether the accused has been linked to any crime.
*Whether Delta State has complained about any missing money.
This judge must have accepted money or gratuity in exchange for this verdict. He concluded his judgment by saying: “ An accused must be sufficiently linked to a crime, but this was not done in this case....." meaning that there was no sufficient evidence to convict. Who would believe that?
The EFCC, through its spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, swiftly indicated its plan to appeal, saying: "This kind of judgment if not challenged is capable of deepening the menace of corruption on our country rather than contributing in any way to the course of justice which is the basis of sustaining our democratic governance."
The commission also protested against the denial of the Certified True Copy of the judgment of the Federal High Court, Asaba, Delta State. In its words:
"Our lawyers have the instruction of the EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri soon after the ruling was delivered on Thursday December 17, to obtain a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment. It will interest the public that our lawyers applied for the CTC before leaving the court room to enable us file an appeal today, Friday December 18. Surprisingly, our lawyer was denied a copy of the same judgment that the judge claimed in the open court was ready several weeks ago. In spite of this obvious challenge, our lawyers have been instructed to file a notice of appeal on Monday December 21 based on the records taken in the court. We also wish to state that the proceedings in Asaba originated from Kaduna where the charges were first filed in December 2007. The same charges were only referred to Asaba for trial. "Unfortunately, the accused refused to take a plea and instead raised objections to the charges. It is important to note that the matter was not tried, no evidence was led or taken by the court. The ruling was based merely on charges and proof of evidence. The accused has only been discharged and not acquitted. As such, we are convinced that the case is not over yet as we are determined to take it to a logical conclusion, not withstanding the obstacles being brought our way."
All these words/protests from EFCC are “medicine after death”, they gave Ibori soft landing and the next court would also acquit him as long as Aondoakaa and Waziri remain in their respective posts. We learnt that if the EFCC makes good on its threat to go for appeal, the outcome would be the same, because, the Appeal Court in Benin is under the woman who transferred the trial from Kaduna to Asaba in the first place. The EFCC was even instrumental to this outcome; it aided Ibori in raping justice: The documents left by Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the former EFCC boss, were destroyed by the current officials of the EFCC;James Ibori and his clique influenced the emergence of Lady “GaGa” Waziri as EFCC Chairwoman. The woman, we learnt, has been a long time friend of Mrs Ibori. So everything was pre-planned. EFCC cannot deceive us with their bogus after-judgment reaction that it would appeal the judgment. The appeal court would also free this Robin Hood (Prince of thieves) 0f Nigeria, because, he has bought up Nigeria and its legal system, starting from the president, the attorney-general and minister of justice, the EFCC, the Police hierarchy, the Delta State elders and citizens. This writer agrees with someone who said: “in-depth study of the not guilty verdict passed on Ibori is not faulty but a shambled show of the shoddy job the EFCC made out of a very good case. And imagine the amount of money wasted in this charade. With your loot, you can buy the Nigeria Judiciary, including the Attorney General as proved by Elder Ibori today (December 17, 2009) at the Asaba high court.
If in doubt about this: Did anybody see or hear any outrage to this court ruling, were there protests, where are the elders and citizens of Delta State whose money was embezzled here, where are the other Nigerians, where is Chief Edwin Clark and his council of Delta State Elders? We learnt that scores of Ibori’s loyalists, who were in court, celebrated immediately after the ruling. Also, a thanksgiving service was held on that Thursday at the Catholic Chaplaincy in the deputy governor’s office, Asaba, which was well attended by top government functionaries and the political class.
Also, Ibori's victory was described by his fellow kinsmen as 'a vindication of an innocent man', as thousands of youths, market women and school children celebrated late into the night in Oghara, his home town. Some people there said the judgement was a 'clear proof that Ibori was unjustly oppressed' by certain people. According to the Oghara Traditional Prime Minister, Ibori's victory would play a major role in determining the Money laundering charges against him by the London Crown court. Others praised Justice Marcel Awokulehin for his courage, saying that he had brought honour to the Nigerian judiciary system. It was learnt that immediately the news of Ibori's victory filtered into the community, thousands of youths, market women and school children trooped into the streets in Otefe, Ijomi, Ovade, Ogharefe, Oghareki villages and other neighbouring towns of Mosogar, Amukpe and Sapele, in jubilation, singing praises to God, just as motorcycle riders and motorists patrolled the town celebrating.
That’s Nigeria for you. The people who are pauperised are jubilating for the non-conviction of Ibori. These people are brainwashed by their leaders who have no interest about their welfare. Those people jubilating, would go home and to bed on empty stomach. Still their deceptive leaders have made them to believe that Ibori’s prosecution is a case of between “we and them”. Does anybody see the reason why Nigeria might not get better on its own? People are brainwashed to view everything through ethnic/parochial prism, even when they are short-changed.
This writer concurs with people who said that fate does not care one way or the other. It is indifferent to our welfare, and to our suffering, and to our quest for justice. It does not care if Nigerians are going hungry, or if they are oppressed, or if they are denied justice, or if they are importing fuel, queuing up to buy it, or if they are dying everyday from preventable road accidents. Do we want justice? Then we have to fight for it. No corrupt system ever reforms itself from within. The Nigerian judiciary is part of the rot, and it is a completely incompetent tool for reforming Nigeria. For every commendable court pronouncement, there are 1000 other judgments sold to the mafia. That's why a man like Ibori can pick his own judge. Can you imagine that? Can you freaking imagine that? If Nigerians want justice, we have to draw the line somewhere, and better soon. If the police won't arrest criminals and if the courts won't jail them, then the good people of Nigeria must find a way of getting justice, may be, by going after the individuals who are squandering the future of our children and creating a society where 7-year olds have to hawk maggi-cubes on dangerous streets. We have to take our own future into our hands. Anything short of that is wasting of time.
This calls for mourning: How can people like Ibori be discharged and acquitted for corruption when everybody knows that the man's name is synonymous with corruption? But it’s not a surprised to me, because, the Minister of justice (Aondoakaa) is on Ibori’s pay list, and the man (Ibori) was the biggest spender during the campaign of our president, and they say who pays the piper dictates the tune. But Ibori and the Judge should know that one day we will all appear before the throne of judgment that cannot be manipulated by anybody.
Ibori is free despite robbing Delta State blind. How many mothers in that state have died during child birth, because, of lack of necessary care and no medicine in the hospitals; how many Delta State’s youths are unemployed and roaming about because of no job; how many Deltans have died from poverty, ignorance and diseases; how many children, men and women in the Delta State are going to bed on empty stomach; how many indigenes of that state are making futile attempts to leave for Europe or North America, how many of them have ended up in North Africa in their bid to cross over to Europe, how many of Delta State’s indigenes have died in that bid for greener pastures elsewhere; how many Delta State’s girls are prostituting all over Europe? Still, upon all Ibori stole, he walks free while peddling enormous influence in the corridors of power today. Delta State, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told us once, is richer than many African nations, and still, the state has nothing to show for all the money it has received and is still receiving from the federation accounts and from oil royalties. Ibori emptied everything for himself and his family during the 8 years he “ruled” the state and now, the court says, he’s not guilty of corruption.
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) in its Press Release, after the ruling, said these:
”The judgment of His Lordship Justice Awokulehin today, 17 December 2009, in the case of stealing and money laundering against James Onanefe Ibori, a former Governor of Delta State did not come as a surprise. The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders saw it coming and we made all efforts to let the poor people of Nigeria, and indeed the pauperized people of Delta State whose money Ibori and his cohorts shamelessly plundered, get justice.
The signs of the incipient miscarriage of justice were unmistakable:
*Moving the case against Ibori from Kaduna Federal High court to Asaba;
*Glorification of fraud by establishing a special friendly court in favour of the accused felon in Asaba;
*Diplomatic abracadabra to pervert the course of justice in England in the case of money laundering against Ibori’s accomplices;
*Acceptance of unholy gift of buildings from Ibori’s accomplices to house the Asaba Division of the Federal High Court and its judge in Asaba;
*The brazen contemptuous bravado of Ibori’s agents in claiming judicial victory, even before the case against their principal was determined;
*The list of the judicial bad omen is unending.
We in CACOL nevertheless have an unflinching faith in the judiciary. We shall not go to sleep until the case gets to the pinnacle of our judicial system where we hope men and women of honour and virtue will look at the case again and give the hopeless man on the street of Asaba a hope to live for.
Meanwhile we are studying the contents of the ruling and shall make comprehensive response to it soon”.
This case is setting a dangerous precedent. It’s telling those in power that they can steal as they like/want and nothing would happen. Only what they have to do is just to have an attorney-general and minister of justice as a friend and then justice would be perverted in their favour.
Just take Abia State as an example. The governor took a loan of $200 million without letting anybody know about it. Who’s in doubt where the money would end up (in the foreign bank accounts of the governor and his god father, Orji Uzor Kalu) and then, generations of the state’s citizens would be having a huge debt hanging on their necks, when they gained nothing from the said loan. ThisDay Newspapers of December 16, 2009, wrote: “The House of Representatives constituted a nine-member committee to look into the constitutionality of the $200 million loan obtained by the Abia State government and advise it on the next line of action. Mr. Agoda had, in a motion, questioned the legality of the loan without the approval of the federal legislature in line with the Debt Management Act. He lamented that foreign loans obtained in the manner that Abia state government did, are not usually properly accounted for in the long run, a situation he said might pull the country back to the era of huge debt burdens from foreign loans”.
To sign off on this topic: This writer wants to say that everything about this Ibori’s case ruling was by design and that that’s how the powers that be want it. It’s now clear that none of those ex-governors would ever see the inside of a jail, so EFCC is just wasting our resources the more in prosecuting those cases against the ex-governors, when none of them would be convicted for looting their states’ treasury. This government has made mincemeat of the war against corruption started in earnest by the preceding government. In 2007, before Yar’Adua took over, we were somewhere in the war against corruption and if that war, at that level, was sustained by this government, we would have made giant stride against corruption by now and all those corrupt ex-governors would have been in jail or in hiding by now. As Yar’Adua lies on his sick bed, he should think about everything he has done wrong for Nigeria and pray for forgiveness. Nemesis might have a hand in his plight. This writer is not insinuating anything, so nobody should get him wrong, but, nemesis has a way of doing its thing; Ibori cannot steal his state money and used it to sponsor Yar’Adua’s election and everything would be fine with those who benefitted from the stealing; Yar’Adua cannot be killing Nigeria and Nigerians through his actions and inactions and still expects himself to live. Everything might be happening for a reason, but, this writer wants him (Yar’Adua) to get well and is asking the “gods” of Nigeria to forgive him, if he (Yar’Adua) has offended them in any way. May be his sickness would open his eyes to see his mistakes and he might come back as a better man for Nigeria.
ON YAR’ADUA’S HEALTH
It’s unfortunate that somebody who calls himself the attorney-general and minister of justice would want to misinform Nigerians and misinterpret the law. How come that Aondoakaa said that the president can rule from anywhere? So somebody can be elected the president and he would be ruling from Germany or America. Aondoakaa and thieves like him, would want the president to still remain outside the country for a long time, as his absence would afford them the ample opportunity to steal Nigeria dry the more. Yar’Adua would come back, if he makes it, to an empty treasury. The hungry dogs he appointed ministers and government officials would use his absence to manipulate things to their favour. This writer wonders how Aondoakaa was appointed the AGF and Minister of Justice in this whole wide world?
Someone wrote jokingly: “I think Nigerians should see the good side of this situation. We have proved to the world that a country does not really need a President to exist. Nigeria may not be the greatest but we have shown to the world that Presidents are not needed. Is there any country out there which can try what we have tried? Please give credit where it is due”.
Wishing you all nice celebrations and a wonderful 2010 in advance!
THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!
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