Date Published: 03/29/10
TIME TO DECLARE MRS. FARIDA WAZIRI WANTED! By Bayelsa Patriotic Front
Okey Ndibe graphically captured the rottenness of Nigeria “He said, “under this presidency, what used to be called the Nigerian Police Force has degenerated to a farce, a veritable tool in the execution of illegalities…..Nigeria may not be the most corrupt nation on earth, but it seriously lays claim to the patent for primitive transfers of public funds into private pockets. Far from abating, that practice has metastasized under Obasanjo’s presidency. He has handed out the nation’s oil blocs to his friends, empowering some truly disgraceful men and women in the process. There is a real war, an urgent war, to be fought against corruption, but this President lacks the ethical credentials and moral wherewithal to declare, much less lead it. In his hands, the effort against graft has become more theatre than a focused campaign. He has turned the war into an instrument for savaging his corrupt personal foes (while coddling his often more corrupt friends), a petty tool for bringing his critics and political opponents brutally to heel, the lesson?
It is difficult identify where the rain began to beat the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). From the Niger Dock scandal under Ozobia-led management to the controversy surrounding the removal of Auditor-General of the Federation, virtually all government agencies ranging from federal ministries to the National, State and even at the local government levels, have recorded one case of corruption or another. The housing scam Ikoyigate in 2005 committed by the State and its agents is another dimension to the collective mentality of corruption.
President Obasanjo did a lot to compromise the integrity of the EFCC. First, the Commission was answerable to him hence he administered selective treatment to reported cases of corruption. Before the PDP primaries in December 2006, the EFCC released an “interim report” on the state of finances in Rivers State. The report indicted the ex-Governor of the State and alleged that N100 Billion Naira was mismanaged, misapplied or embezzled. With such a damning report wonders aloud why Ex-Governor Peter Odili is still walking about a free man. Other known enemies of the people like Governor James Ibori are being beatified by the Law Courts. What has Farida Waziri done about the Ibori LOOTS?
The Bayelsa Patriotic Front - a foremost pressure group in Bayelsa State, has observed with dismay the unnecessary negative publicity accorded the purported financial scandal in Bayelsa State, in which the Commissioner of Finance & Budget and other principal officers of the Ministry are alleged to have committed offences ranging from money laundering, conversion of monies and property. These allegations are not just a wretched falsity but a well-orchestrated plan to destabilize the State.
When we read the report published in some national dailies and a an earlier report by Ukpakareports.Com and other online media, that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared Bayelsa State Commissioner for Finance, Dr Charles-Opuala wanted over a case of money laundering and diversion of public funds, we sought explanation from the officials of the Ministry. The official position was made known to us spokesman of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Finance and Budget Mr. Ayebanoa Dikuro. He disclosed that when EFCC officials Secretary to the Government of Bayelsa State, who in turn called the Ministry of Finance and Budget. The EFCC officials were informed that the Commissioner Dr. Opuala-Charles Silva travelled out of Yenagoa to attend an official function. It was then agreed that the Accountant General, the Director of Treasury and Director of MOFAB should be invited for questioning on the condition that they would be promptly released. But the EFCC officials not only breached the agreement, they also fabricated lies.
The spokesman dispelled the rumours as false the insinuations that the Commissioner of Finance & Budget escaped arrest and warned EFCC to be objective in its reports. It should be placed on record that for the past two years, the Commissioner, Dr. Opuala-Charles has been invited several times to the EFCC Headquarters for clarifying the financial transactions of the State. ‘The Finance Commissioner is no stranger to EFCC !, the spokesman said!. This position has been corroborated by the Acting Commissioner of Information Hon. Nat Egba that the Finance Commissioner has never evaded EFCC invitation
The Bayelsa Patriotic Front, therefore felt embarrassed that EFCC is peddling rumours that the Commissioner flagrantly refused to honour three letters of invitation sent to him by the Commission. The insinuations that Dr. Opuala refused to honour EFCC invitation is an orchestrated attempt to malign his person and bring the Ministry to disrepute. Our investigations revealed that there is high level conspiracy to bring down the administration of Chief Timipre Sylva by any means necessary and the harassment of key officials of government by the EFCC is one of such ploys.Dr. Opuala-Charles Silva has never been associated with fraud in all his banking career and it was for that reason his appointment as Commissioner of Finance was hailed by his kinsmen as well-deserved.
The allegations levelled against the Ministry are that Dr. Opuala conspired to commit a crime of conversion of properties amounting to N2.billion; converted the sum of N380 Million through the account of Habibi Sani Maigidia with Finbank; Converted the sum of N50 Million through the Account of Ensor Benner Ltd and other similar allegations. The approach adopted by the EFCC is like convicting an accused person before taking his statement. This is a flagrant negation of the doctrine of fair hearing.
Our investigation revealed that the money in question was the product of a transaction between Bayelsa State and a bank and neither the customer nor the client has complained about the transaction. If this is the case, then it is a civil case, not a criminal offence and wondered why the principal staff of the Ministry should be arraigned in court and promptly detained.
We are confident that given the appropriate time, Dr. Opuala-Charles will defend himself against these trumped up allegations. As Finance Commissioner, he maintains robust visibility and cannot run into hiding. Since EFCC is already having custody of the Accountant General, Director of Treasury and Director of MOFAB, EFCC would be demanding for to much if the Agency seeks to detain the Commissioner. It is only the Commissioner that is left in the State to carry out the financial transactions of the State such as payment of salaries among other functions of the Ministry, and we know that no responsible Agency would want to paralyze the operations of a Government Ministry because of its investigations. At the appropriate time Dr. Opuala-Charles shall clarify any ambiguities in the said transaction.
As far as the Bayelsa Patriotic Front is concerned all the trumped-up charges of EFCC against the Honourable Commissioner remain in the realm of allegations until they are proved otherwise in the Law Court. Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice. If justice is served without commonly shared and widely entrenched moral values and obligations, neither the law, nor democratic government, will function properly . Our passion for social justice and social responsibility should not contrast oddly with the need for equality before the law and fair hearing.
May we recall that when the EFCC was established to fight official corruption, the Agency was characterized by focus, tenacity of purpose and doggedness. But for sometime now, the inability of the Agency has deliberately refused to prosecute some very corrupt past Governors known and reported to have embezzled more than N100 billion. Such people are walking free and even attend public functions. EFCC has deliberately failed to prosecute several cases of horrendous rape of the economy. The case of Bayelsa State is a mere transaction between the Bayelsa State Government and a bank, in which the issue of diversion of funds or conversion of property do not arise.
The Nigerian public is aware that the fight against corruption is more of an issue of public morality which transcends personal interest, but the Farida Waziri led EFCC seems to have lost focus. The question we are compelled to ask is: why is the Commission used as an instrument to settle political scores? In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”
While we wait for the release of those under EFCC’s custody, we believe that the anti-graft agency would not engage in a smear campaign against the Commissioner of finance and the Ministry for that matter. In the court of public opinion, Bayelsa State deserves some respect in the light of its frontline and pioneering role in the Amnesty Programme. Presently, Bayelsa State is embarking on a Stimulus Programme and top Government functionaries need all the concentration to implement the Sylva Stimulus Package (SSP) effectively to affect the lives of the people. In the present circumstances, it is our fervent prayer that justice be served without any political colouration.
Whereas Senator Wagbara, Professor Fabian Osuji and others were promptly removed once corruption charges were leveled against them, most Nigerians are not happy that Obasanjo’s first son was fingered as a dangerously rich oil mogul yet EFCC was not keen to establish any case against him. The National Assembly succeeded in resolving Ettehgate but EFCC under Ribadu turned deaf ears to the Iyabogate on the N3.5bilion contract scam. Prof Adenike Grange was summarily sacked but Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has her umbilical cord in Otta Farm hence she subsumed among the group of the untouchables.
There are many unresolved issues the anti-graft agency has to tackle. The Senate Committee had asserted in a report in 2007 that the President and his Vice were complicit in the PTDF funds issue and as a result asked the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to step into the matter. Obasanjo was indicted over the N250 million fees purportedly paid for some PTDF projects. As the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) started the probe of allegations of corruption in the PTDF, the Campaign for Accountable Governance through Elections (CAGE) has asked the Committee to uphold transparency, accountability and fairness in undertaking this important constitutional task. The Senate Committee was established following reports that out of about $700 million realized during the 2002/2003 bidding rounds only about $145million is known to have been transferred to the PTDF account. All these are unresolved issues and those involved have, by their actions sentenced hundreds of people to death by denying them basic amenities such as health, education and road infrastructure.
For EFCC’s inability to try high profile cases such as those indicted in the the $16 billion power probe, the over N100 billion embezzled by the Odili administration, the Ibori loots, the bribery scandal at WILBROS, the PENTASCOPE scandal and may other similar cases, We believe that EFCC has been transformed into an arm of PDP and the Agency seems to be playing politics with the masses. VERY SOON CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN NIGERIA WOULD DECLARE MRS FARIDA WAZIRI AND FEMI BABA FEMI WANTED FOR REFUSAL TO TRY PUBLIC OFFICERS ALREADY INDICTED.
Miebi MacDonald Esq.
For: Bayelsa Patriotic Front
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