EFCC's 23 corrupt Governors: still corrupt or forgiven?
To most Nigerians it is no longer news and strange that almost all the 36
Governors as at May 1, 2007 are corrupt. Former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu
having conducted thorough investigations into their affairs had then said
that the Governors were found to have corruptly abused power, personalized
their state treasuries thereby enriched themselves and were therefore
liable to face prosecution. However, Ribadu was constrained in moving on
to prosecute them because the 1999 Nigerian constitution gave them
immunity against being dragged to any law court for civil or criminal
breaches. He however promised to arrest them on May 29, 2007 as soon as
they handed over to their successors. Some of the unlucky Governors were
arrested and arraigned before various Federal High Courts across the
country. Their cases are now being handled by those courts. Unfortunately,
that was not to be for some of the governors indicted by the EFCC for
reasons best known to Ribadu.
Despite the open pledge of the current EFCC Chairman, Farida Waziri to
leave no stone unturned in her fight against corruption without fear or
favour and despite the facts available at her disposal that the Governors
were indicted and that the EFCC was only ready for the constitutional
immunity conferred on them to lapse so that they can be arrested and
arraigned before the courts, Mrs Waziri has from all indications reneged
on that pledge. One can however recall that only recently the EFCC Chair
had during a vist to the National Assembly told the Speaker of the House
of Representatives that her fight against corruption knows no bounds.
In other words, she will not spare any Nigerian no matter how highly or
lowly placed in the society once he is found to be corrupt. That sounds
great for the Nigerians whose resources are continuously being
personalized by those entrusted with it. So far Nigerians have not seeing
any confirmation of what Mrs Waziri¢s pledge with the attempt by her
predecessor to move the anti corruption axe against the indicted former
Governors becoming a reality. Probably she is still studying the files and
may soon swing into action. Its encouraging that EFCC is not a toothless
bulldog. The necessary legal provisions have been put in place for it and
ICPC to be very effective. They must rise up to the challenge to deal with
corruption and corrupt leaders in all our spheres of life.
All eyes are now on Mrs Waziri to make it or mar it. We all are confident
that she is out to make a difference in the fight against corruption which
has been a thorn in the flesh of our national life and consequently had
become a cog in the progress and development of the country and her
nationals.
But going by the lead story of some national dailies last week, EFCC¢s
anti corruption agency, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC has
from all indications woken up from its slumber and is now trying hard to
steal the show from it. ICPC came to town with a list of 23 former
Governors that were found to have corruptly enriched themselves with state
resources. ICPC had said that its conviction that the 23 Governors are
corrupt arose from the findings of a committee it set up to look into the
files of the ex states chief executives.
It is however suprising that only 4 of the indicted Governors that made up
the ICPC list were now being tried by the various courts. These are Saminu
Turaki of Jigawa, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu, Joshua Dariye of Plateau and
Orji Kalu of Abia state. It is regrettable that prominent corrupt former
Governors like James Ibori, Abdullahi Adamu, Adamu Aliero, Donald Duke,
Ahmed Makarfi, Adamu Muazu, Ahmed Sani, Bola Tinubu Victor Attah, Lucky
Igbenidion and George Akume are still walking the streets of Abuja as free
citizens despite the looting of their state treasuries during their
tenure.
I sincerely agree with the proposal sent to the Senate by the EFCC
Chairman that there is need to have a legal provision that will give the
body the right to confiscate properties of public officials and
politicians that were found to have used public funds in enriching
themselves even before their final conviction. I am sure most Nigerians
will subscribe to this intention. It will certainly go along way in
getting some, if not all of the stolen funds back to the state.
Mrs Waziri must make a difference. She has being referred to as a no
nonsense police officer before her retirement as an Assistant Inspector
General of Police some years ago. She must be seeing to be toeing the
lines of Ribadu. She should be an unbiased, impartial and incorruptible
anti corruption czar. She must remain steadfast, committed and forthright
in the discharge of her duties.
Justice Ayoola and Mrs Waziri of the ICPC and EFCC respectively need to be
reminded that one of President Yar¢adua¢s 7 point agenda agenda is the
rule of law. One of the principles of rule of law is for all citizens to
be treated equally. This includes bringing to book all those corrupt
Governors who had looted their state treasuries to face the full weight of
the law. Nigerians will expect nothing less.
By HAJIYA HAFSAT M. ZANNA
(musahafsat@yahoo.com)
87, GAMBORU NGALA STREET
MAIDUGURI