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The fight against corruption, so far, so good
BAYO TAIWO
UNTIL the
advent of President Olusegun Obasanjo as the head of the democratic government
in Nigeria in May 1999, no past government had taken any meaningful step in the
fight against corruption.
Corruption has eaten so deep into our
system in Nigeria that almost everybody accepts it as a way of life. The
situation before now was so bad that those who refused to toe the line of
corruption were the ones labeled in the society as stupid, ignorant and out of
tune with the modern trend in town.
All this, however, started coming to an
end on June 13, 2000, when President Obasanjo signed the Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Act number 5 of 2000 into law and this singular act gave
birth to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
For the Anti Corruption Commission to
perform its statutorily defined functions, members of the Anti Corruption
Commission led by Hon. Justice Mustapha Akanbi (MFR) were sworn in on 29th
September 2000. Since September 2000 so much has happened in the fight against
corruption which calls for celebration.
Before listing the efforts and the
achievements of the Anti Corruption Commission in the fight against corruption
since its inception, it must be emphasized that for well over two years out of
its short existence, the activities of the commission were crippled several
times because some of the accused persons who were charged to court for some
corrupt practices challenged the powers of the National Assembly to enact the
Anti Corruption Act.
The Supreme Court on June 7, 2002 settled
the legal logjam when it held that the Corrupt Practices And Other Related
Offences Act number 5 of 2000 as passed by the National Assembly was valid.
After surviving the above mentioned scare,
the Anti Corruption Commission went into full swing in the performance of its
statutory duties.
The victory of the Anti Corruption
Commission in court was short lived as it son ran into troubled waters when upon
receipt of petitions against a former Senate President and a former Speaker of
the House of Representatives, it commenced investigative activities. Both of the
above mentioned former high ranking political office holders rushed to court and
obtained ex-parte injunctions restraining the commission from looking into the
allegations leveled against them.
The above mentioned public office holders
did not just stop there, declaration that the Anti Corruption Act was null and
void was equally sought from the court. Naturally, this affected the smooth
running of the functions of the Anti Corruption Commission because if the head
of a legislative house that passed an Act turns round to say that the act was
not validly passed, everybody facing trial under the said piece of legislation
will slow down the tempo of his or her trial so as to see where the whole
episode will end.
The greatest set back the Anti Corruption
Commission suffered since its birth was that a law abolishing the commission was
rushed and passed by the National Assembly when investigation commenced against
the Senate President towards the end of the year 2002.
As expected, the purported piece of
legislation brought the commission to its knees. All the pending court cases
could not be heard as all the accused persons anxiously waited for the outcome
of unfolding drama. All investigations into all other petitions came to a halt.
Miraculously, the commission survived this
setback when the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja held that the purported Act
abolishing the commission passed by the National Assembly was null and void.
Despite the Supreme Court’s verdict
mentioned above which gave judicial recognition to the commission, the powers of
the National Assembly to enact the said law was challenged again by another
accused person facing corruption charges in court. This time around, one of the
same set of accused persons who lost the earlier bid to declare the law null and
void applied to the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier judgement and set aside
the law. On the 27th day of January, 2004 the Supreme Court reaffirmed its
earlier judgment and maintained its earlier stand that the Anti Corruption Act
had come to stay.
No government establishment has ever gone
through such difficult times within two years of its existence.
All the setbacks highlighted above rather
than discourage the fight against corruption reinvigorated it as the Anti
Corruption Commission came out of it stronger and more determined.
All this further confirms that the road
towards the eradication of corruption drastically in Nigeria will be rough and
difficult. Thank God that the troubles of the Anti Corruption Commission are now
over.
Before the establishment of the Anti
Corruption Commission by President Obasanjo, public office holders in Nigeria
have never had any cause to answer to corruption charges during and after
leaving office despite the overwhelming presence of corruption all over. No
wonder the country was classified among the most corrupt countries in the world.
Between September 2000 when the Anti
Corruption Commission was established till date, things are beginning to change
for the good. The commission has investigated the President, Senate President,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, senators, over a dozen governors,
ministers both serving and past, Chief Judges, High Court Judges, commissioners
of some states, top ranking civil servants, local government chairmen, speakers
of state assemblies, chief medical directors, police officers, and other top
ranking members of the society.
Within its short years of existence, the
Anti Corruption Commission has also taken over 70 Nigerians to various court for
corruption charges.
Seventy people currently facing trial may
sound too few to some people in view of the high degree of corruption in the
country but the point is that between 1914, when Nigeria came into being till
the time Anti Corruption Commission came into being, there are less than 35
reported cases of corruption in all the law reports in Nigeria. The last case of
corruption reported in Nigeria is the case of PAKAPAKAYE ORUWARI VS STATE
reported in 1985 13 NWLR part 13 at page 486.
In effect between 1986 till date no case
of corruption was tried in any court in Nigeria! Could this mean that from 1986
till date, particularly during the military regime, there was no corruption in
Nigeria. Only those who are not truthful will so hold.
I may also mention here that it takes
between six months to about two years or more to successfully investigate a
single file relating to corruption because of its complexity.
Apart from investigating and prosecuting
corruption matters in courts, the Anti Corruption Commission also educates and
enlighten the public, examines the practice and procedures of public
establishments with a view to reviewing them, to assist government
establishments operate a corrupt free procedure, to enlist the support of the
public in the fight against corruption, etc.
Since the beginning of the fight against
corruption by the Anti Corruption Commission, the beginning of the end towards
the drastic reduction of corruption in our day-to-day activities in Nigeria has
begun in full gear.
Public office holders in Nigeria and the
general populace now know that if they are caught engaging in any act of
corruption, they will be investigated and possibly prosecuted. Nobody wants to
face anti corruption wahala.
Corruption has caused everybody living in
Nigeria untold hardship by way of poverty, deprivation of basic amenities of
life, etc. For the fight against corruption to succeed and for all and sundry to
feel the impact of an almost corrupt-free Nigeria, the war should not be left to
the Anti Corruption Commission alone. Everybody has a role to play in the fight
as the commission alone cannot succeed in the fight to eradicate corruption in
all its ramification.
The general populace must know that if
nobody reports any corrupt act to the Anti Corruption Commission, the commission
cannot look into same. Section 6(a) of the Corrupt Practices And Other Related
Offences Act number 5 of 2000 clearly states that the commission can only
commence investigation against any person or body upon receipt of a petition.
When Mallam Nasir el Rufai, the Honourable
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, announced that Senator Ibrahim Mantu
and Senator Jonathan Zwingina demanded bribe of about N54 million from him so as
to facilitate his clearance as a minister last year, the Anti Corruption
Commission could not look into the allegation as nobody up till today has lodged
any complaint to the commission to that effect.
Sometime towards the beginning of this
year, a body known as derivation front accused the Justices of the Supreme Court
of Nigeria of collecting N5 billion bribe from the Governor of Delta State James
Ibori so as to give judgment in a matter before it in favour of the Governor.
The said organization took out paid adverts in various newspapers to tell the
whole world about this allegation. Up till now the Anti Corruption Commission
has not received any petition to that effect.
During the reign of Senator Anyim Pius
Anyim and Alhaji Umar Ghali Na Abba as the Senate President and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives respectively, a lot of allegations bordering on
giving and receiving bribe were leveled against some legislators and the
executive but up till date nobody has reported the allegations to the Anti
Corruption Commission.
I remember watching bails of Naira notes
described as bribe purportedly recovered from some members of the House of
Representatives being displayed near the mace for the whole world to see but up
till date, the Anti Corruption Commission is yet to receive any petition to that
effect. How then can the commission accomplish its task if all such serious
cases of corruption end in the pages of newspapers, radio announcements and on
television sets?
Almost everybody keeps saying that
government establishments like Police, NEPA, Customs, Immigration, Ports,
Central Bank, NNPC, Universities, Federal Ministry of Works, FCDA, etc. are very
corrupt but how many people have come forward to make any formal complaint of
corruption against staff of such establishments?
Except for the petition received against
the members of the panel set up to hear election petitions that arose from the
2003 general election in Akwa Ibom State, nobody has made any other complaint
against other election petition panel members in other states, despite the fact
that there were a lot of loud accusations of corruption in the pages of
newspapers, magazines and in the electronic media against them.
I read in some magazines and newspapers
all manners of corruption leveled against the election tribunal members that
heard the election petitions in Plateau State but up till now nobody has made
any formal complain to the Anti Corruption Commission. How then can the Anti
Corruption Commission perform creditably if allegations of corruption begin and
end up in the pages of newspapers and in the electronic media?
It is understandable that some people may
find it difficult to report genuine cases of corruption against their bosses,
colleagues in the office, friends, political associates, family members, and
others, due to fear of attack or public stigmatization but Section 64 (1) of the
Act makes provision for the protection of informants and the information so
supplied (whistle blowers).
To further encourage members of the public
to report all cases of corruption, the Anti Corruption Commission investigates
anonymous petitions provided that such petitions are detailed enough and the
petitioner provides reasonable contact address in case there is need for further
information or further lead from the petitioner.
The general public should realise that
they owe it a duty to assist officers of the Anti Corruption Commission to
accomplish their tasks by supplying all relevant information and documents that
might assist in the investigation of any petition promptly upon demand.
Instead of classifying corruption petition
writers as outcasts and saboteurs, the general public should rather see them as
heroes and patriotic citizens who have the genuine interest of the country at
heart.
If the general populace assists the Anti
Corruption Commission by promptly reporting all cases of corruption, all
Nigerians will live in a country of our dream and the stigma that Nigeria is the
second most corrupt nation in the world will be a thing of the past.
•Taiwo, Esq., is a prosecutor, Anti-Corruption Commission,
Abuja.
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