Too little, too late!

Last week, the President summoned the courage to suspend the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, over the fraudulent administration of the funds of the Presidential Initiative in the North East (PINE). Also suspended was the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ambassador Ayo Oke, over the agency’s connection with the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.The President, according to a statement today by his spokesman Femi Adesina, has ordered a full scale investigation into the discovery of the funds, over which the NIA has made claim. According to the statement,

“The investigation is also to enquire into the circumstances in which the NIA came into possession of the funds, how and by whose or which authority the funds were made available to the NIA, and to establish whether or not there has been a breach of the law or security procedure in obtaining custody and use of the funds.” Consequently, a three-man committee comprising the Arttorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the National Security Adviser, headed by the Vice President, is to conduct the investigation and report to the President within 14 days.

It appears finally the President has been forced to act in the face of overwhelming evidence or pressure from both the Senate and the public. Incidentally, it is the same president that wrote the letter to the Senate absolving the SGF of any blame in the PINE contract fraud.

But let us not be deceived. This is a mere token step taken. The administration continues to protect many within its fold accused of corruption. We recall how the government quickly and without investigation absolve grave and weighty corruption allegations on the following close associates of the President: General Tukur Burutai, Chief of Army Staff, General Abdulrahman Dambazau, Minister of Interior and former Chief of Army Staff, Abba Kyari, and Chief of Staff to the President, Interestingly also, the Presidential panel set up to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015, and whose reports were being used to prosecute past military chiefs was hurriedly disbanded the moment it began moves to investigate the tenure of the Present National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno as Chief of Defence Intelligence between July 2009 and September 2011. The curious reason given by the government for its dissolution was that it has outlived its usefulness.

Interestingly, the same National Security Adviser is in the present panel to probe the SGF and NIA.

We do not harbor much hope that the administration will act decisively against the suspended officials or the many close associates of the President directed accused of corruption.

It appears that, like an analyst recently quipped, “Buhari’s so-called anti-corruption fight is the most invidiously selective, the least transparent, the most brazenly unjust, and the silliest joke in Nigeria’s entire history.” How can the President use the EFCC to smear his opponents in the media, but tell falsifiable lies to defend, deflect, minimise, and excuse the corruption of his close aides and political associates?

Like we have always maintained, it may be easier to create agencies to fight corruption. It may be easier to launch a media campaign against perceived corrupt officials or even make scapegoat of some, but until the government gets serious and shows absolute commitment to the fight against corruption regardless who is involved, it usually declared wars on corruption are bound to fail. As it stands, it will be difficult for the government to convince Nigerians that it is seriously out to fight corruption when most of the people around the President have been accused with strong evidences of corruption, but hurriedly cleared by the President. We hope, like some analysts now believe that the President is both morally and temperamentally unfit to fight corruption.