Coming at a time when the Federal Government has deliberately adopted a discriminatory approach to ‘fight’ corruption in the country, this disquisition seems compelling in the Nigerian public space. Reminiscent of the years of the Obasanjo civilian administration in which ‘selective poaching’ of perceived political enemies was the order of the day, the so-called war against corruption under the present administration may have, by reason of the said discriminatory approach, turned into an outright witch-hunt. This is discernible from the body language of the Buhari Administration, as it treats some allegedly corrupt politicians in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as sacred cows, and makes no disguise of its determination to get even with those in the main opposition party, the PDP, on the altar of anti-corruption.
One must quickly recall, and of course, this is common knowledge, that one of the cardinal promises of change on which President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) rode into office on May 29 this year is his avowal to completely eradicate corruption from Nigeria’s public life. The President had promised Nigerians that when elected into office, his “fight” against graft would be total and there would be no sacred cows. He had reminded the nation that if Nigeria didn’t eradicate corruption, corruption would eradicate Nigeria. With this in mind, one had thought that the President would give corruption the holistic fight it rightly deserved and would not separate ‘the sheep from the goats’ among the league of politicians with indictable offences for corruption in public office, based on their political affiliations. But that appears to be the case on the ground now even as Mr. President makes Nigerians believe that the APC faithful are untouchable, as far as the ‘fight’ against corruption is concerned under his government.
The clear message the Buhari Administration is passing across to Nigerians and indeed, the entire world is quite simple. Any individual who joins the APC no matter how corrupt he or she might have been perceived to be while in public office, or however weighty the corruption allegations on their neck, he or she transforms into a saint. One can describe it as political born again– if a Nigerian politicians joins the APC, he becomes a political born again; all his past sins of corruption in public office notwithstanding, he is forgiven by the APC-led administration.
Therefore, joining the APC is the beginning of political wisdom for individuals who have issues with corruption while in public office. How then is PMB different from Obasanjo in the aspect of fighting corruption? Just as OBJ used the EFCC and the ICPC to persecute governors that opposed his unconstitutional third term project and utilized the presidency to protect those that supported him, PMB is protecting his party men within and unleashing the DSS and the EFCC on those in the opposition.
For the avoidance of doubt, it has been widely reported in the media that some key public figures in the Buhari Administration have questions relating to corruption with regard to their stewardship as governors in their respective states. The petitions against them are before the EFCC. Notable among them are Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of Transport and Aviation; Babatunde Fashola, immediate past governor of Lagos State and Minister of Works, Power and Housing, as well as the APC governorship candidate in Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva. Having left office, these former governors no longer enjoy immunity under the Constitution. An anti-corruption campaign that is fair and balanced should not overlook these celebrated cases. Why, for instance, should the EFCC institute a corruption case against Senator Godswill Akpabio and not against Amaechi or Fashola?
One read somewhere in the (print media) that Amaechi was one of the greatest financiers of the 2015 APC presidential election campaign. By its own admission, the APC has said that it was Amaechi’s financial contribution that ensured its electoral victories in states such as Plateau, Sokoto and Benue. Curiously, Nigeria’s new anti-corruption sheriff at the State House is not interested in investigating the source of the billions allegedly spent by the former governor of Rivers State to oil his campaign. On the other hand, Fashola is alleged to have spent hundreds of millions of naira to develop a mere website. But Mr. President is ostensibly not bothered at all by these, even as he had rewarded these his party men accordingly with ministerial positions in the federal executive council. One is therefore persuaded that Amaechi and others of his ilk have bought their immunity from prosecution for heavily funding PMB’s campaign with salted public funds, and that is not corruption in PMB’s anti-corruption lexicon.
It is now self-evident that the pharisaical attitude put up so far by the Buhari Administration to fight corruption leaves much doubt as to the government’s sincerity to weed out corruption in the country. Furthermore, there is no shred of evidence to suggest that this “fight”, as it were, is holistic and not a persecution of opposition elements.
PMB should be well-advised to begin his anti-graft campaign on a clean slate. This he can do by not backdating the effective date of the “fight” beyond the date he assumed office. If the effective date is backdated beyond May 29, 2015 and immunity is granted to some selected past or present public office holders with open cases of corrupt self-enrichment, then the very essence of the “fight” will have been defeated.
What is on offer right now is nothing short of political persecution. The glaring one-sidedness of the war against corruption has eroded it of credibility, because it appears more like robbing Peter to pay Paul. A new dispensation of anti-corruption that is to be taken seriously must necessarily have no sacred cows. It should also not be operated on double standards to satisfy the political expediency of the ruling party. This is the onus before PMB to confer the stamp of credibility on his anti-graft war.
Mr. Baribotey is a political analyst.