ANALYSIS- Nigeria: A nation of executive saints, legislative and judicial rogues

By Timothy Enietan-Matthews…

The current controversial trial of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has pushed forward one reality; no one in Nigeria, no matter how highly placed, is insulated from the hurricane war on corruption of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, except such a person belongs to the side of the executive arm of government that is loyal and and sympathetic to the president and his cause!

The above may sound a bit off the mark to some, especially those who have not been following the trend in government’s anti-corruption campaign, but a cursory look at the efforts of the Buhari administration since May 29, 2015, it indicates that the current administration has an unwritten rule that confers sainthood on the executive arm of government but demonizes the legislative and judicial arms of government, especially those members of the two arms that have remained recalcitrant and not pliable.

The Buhari administration came on board with a vow to confront corruption headlong, alongside insecurity and the economy, a vow that wooed millions of Nigerians to root for the President and ensure his victory at the polls.

The execution of these vows have become a subject of serious debate among Nigerians despite constant chest-beatings and award of pass mark by government to itself.

The government of President Muhammadu Buhari will no doubt go down in history as the bravest, going after notable fishes in the country, especially in the judiciary and the legislature but equally the most complicit in turning the blind eye to allegations of corrupt practices under its own nose.

Before the CJN was charged to the Code of Conduct Tribunal over non declaration of assets and the order for the freezing of his accounts, the Buhari administration, through the Department of State Services, DSS, had, in a commando style, raided the homes of Supreme Court Justices and some High Court judges in the dead of the night, arresting and hounding them into custody in the name of corrupt practices.

And as it has become the usual practice of the administration, the justices were pronounced guilty even before investigations could be concluded, with their names rubbished in the media, no thanks to those Nigerians who think the current administration is too saintly that it can do no wrong.

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The impact of the brazen assault on the judiciary could only be imagined, as the ordinary man on the street was made to see our judicial officers, among them, very senior ones, as nothing but privileged rogues at the temple of justice.

It is also on record that the bravado with which the DSS invaded the homes of these judges and hauled them into detention lost steam soon after as it became clear that the security agency did not do its homework properly and therefore could not carry out their prosecution with diligence.

The arrest of the judges, for those who follow trends and are analytical enough, came as no surprise. Since the inception of the Buhari administration, bashing the judiciary has been a most effective way of passing the buck on the obvious failures of government in its anti-corruption crusade.

From the president to leaders and members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, the judiciary remained the major stumbling block, and must, by all means, be cowed and conquered!

The travails of the Justice Walter Onnoghen is only a further demonstration of the rogue status the Buhari administration has attached to the judiciary.

If the head of the nation’s judiciary can be accused of corruption and hounded, with accounts frozen and calls for his resignation renting the air, then what becomes of the institution itself, especially after more than a dozen seniors judges had been so accused before and hummuliated.

In effect, the Nigerian judiciary is ‘peopled’ and ‘cancerously’ infested by rogues!

The legislative arm of government, more than any other arm has had it very rough under the current dispensation.

The average lawmaker at the centre is seen by Nigerians as a thief, indolent and merely collecting taxpayers money without doing anything.

This is so because overtime, the narrative has been against the lawmakers, especially immediately a leadership contrary to the wishes of the ruling party emerged at both chambers of the National Assembly.

From budget padding allegations to the sustained campaign for the scrapping the Senate and the criminal charges brought against the leadership of the Senate over alleged forging of the senate rules, the onslaught kept coming.

Following closely in the heels of these, a number of the lawmakers have been guests of the Economic and Political Crimes Commission, EFCC. From the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu to Godswill Akpabio, who eventually decamped to the ruling party, APC, from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and several others, the legislative arm of government became the most vilified for alleged corruption.

Just as the head of the judiciary is currently on the spot for non-declaration of his assets, the Senate President, who is also the Chairman of the National Assembly, fought a dirty battle from the Code of Conduct Tribunal up to the Supreme Court to safe himself and his political career over a similar charge of non and false declaration of assets.

The legislative arm of government, in the estimation of many Nigerians is a more deadly den of rogues, that should be scrapped!

When these two arms are closely campared with the Executive arm of government, especially the disposition of EFCC to allegations of corrupt practices, the executive comes off a gathering of saints.

The executive arm has been made to look as if ‘peopled’ by saints who cannot do wrong, even after sustained allegations have been brought against them.

From ministers to heads of parastatals, the military and cronies, the executive has largely become insulated to arrests, detention and prosecution.

The president’s campaign organization head and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has become a reference point in the refusal of the EFCC to look into the direction of those closest to the president.

Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State, was indicted by a panel of inquiry set up by the Rivers State Government for mismanaging billions of naira during his eight years tenure as the governor of the state.

Despite petitions to the EFCC, the anti-graft agency has not taken any action almost four years after.

Instead, President Buhari has repeatedly asked anyone with evidence of corruption against Amaechi to come forward, not minding the barage of petitions before the EFCC and his indictment by the Rivers State panel of inquiry.

The case of forgery of NYSC discharge certificate by the former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, remains fresh in the memory of Nigerians. Despite deafening outcry by Nigerians, the president kept Mrs Adeosun on the job until she turned in her resignation after confessing to the crime.

She left the country almost immediately, without any arrest or prosecution for the crime she committed.

Meanwhile, Senator Ademola Adeleke, the PDP candidate in the 2018 Osun State governorship election, is on trial for a similar alleged crime.

Following closely are reports of forgery of WAEC certificate by the President’s aide on Prosecution, Obono Obla.

Despite a confirmation from WAEC that the certificate the presidential aide is parading is fake, Obono Obla has remained recalcitrant, with the presidency keeping mute on the matter.

In similar version, the Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, has been confirmed to have evaded the mandatory National Youths Service Corps one year service to the fatherland, with no consequence or even a mention by the Federal Government or the presidency, while he continues to hold sway at the ministry, even after his party, APC, denied him an opportunity to contest for the primary election for the governorship ticket in Oyo State.

The sainthood of the executive arm of government is even more pronounced with the case of the immediate past Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. David Babachir Lawal!

Babachir, famously referred to as Mr. Grasscutter, was sacked by the president from his position as SGF on account of allegations that he awarded contracts in excess of N200 million for cutting ‘evasive’ grass at Internally Displaced Persons camps.

Despite his sack after a inquiry panel headed by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Lawal has remained a free man insulated from arrest and prosecution more than a year after.

During a town hall meeting this week, where President Buhari was asked about the case of the former SGF, President Buhari parried the question and was unable to give a rational answer.

Though Osinbajo came to the president’s rescue, his intervention further lend credence to the presidency’s unwillingness to prosecute one of its own.

A more repugnant show of the incorruptability of the executive is best exemplified with the case of the Executive Secretary (ES) of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Professor Usman Yusuf.

Also read: Nigerian govt asks court to remove CJN Onnoghen to give way for his prosecution

First suspended by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, on account of financial impropriety, Prof. Yusuf was reinstated by President Buhari, admonishing him to learn to work with harmony with his boss, the minister.

However, in a more daring fashion, the board of the federal agency came out to again announce the suspension of the ES, adding that it has the approval of the minister, Professor Adewole for the action.

But in a brazing display of executive power, the embattled Executive Secretary forced his way to his office with the aid of mobile policemen, who literally broke the gate of the headquarters of the agency in Abuja.

Despite the outcry that greeted this, the Federal Government merely asked Prof Yusuf to proceed on compulsory leave to enable an inquiry into the issues at stake. Till date, nothing more has been heard.

To cap it all, the famous videos that exposed the Governor of Kano State, Abdulahi Umar Ganduje allegedly taking bribes in dollars have remained unconvincing enough to make President Buhari distance himself from Ganduje, who has remained his strong ally.

The President, answering questions on what he thinks about the Kano State governor at this week’s town hall meeting, said he expects to get more information in the bribery issue when he goes to Kano to campaign!

Such answer and reaction from President Buhari certainly casts a cloud of doubt on his administration’s war on corruption, taints the frenzy onslaught in the judicial and the legislative arms of government and ridicule the perceived sainthood of the executive!

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