Kunle Oguunba, Lagos-based legal practitioner expresses concern that close to three year, after Chief Bola Ige (SAN) former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice was assassinated, the killers are yet to be found. He decries government's attitude to the anti-corruption campaign, saying it is a vendetta. In this interview, also, Mr. Ogunba shares the view that Nigeria operates a one party state. Excerpts:
The ICPC and EFCC, how effective have they been, even though they have been accused of double standard?
I have said it and time again, and I will repeat it now. What we have is a government of double standard. It is a government of do as I say and not as I do. What I see is this, the EFCC and ICPC are instruments of vendetta. They are meant to persecute perceived enemies. Nigeria is so richly endowed, but there is a lot of financial hemorrhage going on in the system.
There is a lot of wastage. Look at the so-called Nigeria image project. What kind of a programme is that? What image are we laundering and what have we been doing over the years by the president junketing all over the world, all in the name of bringing in foreign investors. He has spent so much money on that, with no benefit. So what is the whole idea of the image laundering project. They say charity begins at home. Have we made our environment conducive enough for our people to invest in, yet we keep hearing or attracting foreign investment. It is a futile exercise and the earlier the government realises that, the better for all of us.
What makes me feel bad about the whole thing is that, we, the people of Nigeria, do not see anything wrong with what our leaders do. There is the allegation that the Vice President owns so many companies and no body seems to be bothered and we are talking of anti-corruption. I know that so many people have applied to establish private universities lately, but they were not granted the licence. But there is allegation that the Vice President and the President have acquired massive properties to establish their own universities and nobody seems to be concerned.
Where did they get the fund from? These are the kind of questions we should take very serious in relation to the so-called anti corruption campaign. Even, the appearance of the president is too flamboyant to be taken too seriously on anti-corruption. I believe the problem of Nigeria is leadership. We have so many laws in our statute books to deal with corruption, but are we doing that? So fighting corruption on the pages of newspapers is a sheer waste of time.
Would you say that the National Assembly has shown enough independence, given the way they have been rubber-stamping virtually all bills and proposals sent to them by the executive arm?
If you look at the first tenure of Obasanjo and the problems he had with the National Assembly as a whole, in this second time, he made sure that it is people that are loyal to him that will be at the helm of affairs. The fact that he will always have his way is taken for granted. Look at the manner in which the state of emergency was declared in Plateau State by the President, even though it relied on a non-existing law, a law that has long been repealed or taken over by the 1990 Act, the National Assembly too found its way to meander through and still acquiesced to what the President wanted. So, for me, I think they calculated the present scenario, by ensuring that the persons who they wanted were saddled with the affairs of the National Assembly.
I don’t expect anything to be in the contrary. In fact since this assembly men came in, I have not seen any serious objection to the proposals from the executive. Another thing is, after making much noise, they would still end up at the point where the Presidency wants them. And don’t forget at the very start, the Senate President almost lost his seat, it was the presidency that saved him. So, within that context, you will agree with me that, though we all saw it coming, the presidency will always have its way. The National Assembly can make noise and all that, it is what the presidency wants that will always prevail.
You accept the view that we have a one party state?
Where are the other parties? Just name the other parties for me. As far as I am concerned, I have not seen any other party on ground apart from the PDP. The other parties have feeble representation here and there, but for me, they are not existing. The only party in Nigeria today is the PDP.
What do you make of godfather politics in the country today?
It is the result of money politics introduced in the country during the General Babangida era. The idea of electioneering process has been unduly monetized. And when any enterprise, whether political, social or economic is monetized, you find out that it goes to the highest bidder.
You cannot do it alone, you will need somebody to back you and give you the financial support and when it is payback time, you just have to pay. So, it is a reflection of our fledgling democratic experience. We don’t have a democratic culture so to speak, otherwise why would it happen that in the Western part of the country, the PDP almost swept the entire area, apart from Lagos. It is because the entire process was influenced by people who sat down some where and said, this is the governor for this state and it happened. And it almost happened in Lagos State. Every other person that is instrumental to that process would want a pay back. It is a reflection of our society.
The problem is further heightened by our economic situaion, the down turn in the economy. You find out that people will readily go out and queue to get N100, and when the man gets there and takes N200million, they will start complaining, forgetting that it is cabbage in garbage out. As long as we see governance as enterprise, then we should ordinarily expect them to look at profit. Godfatherism is a reflection of the fact that our democratic experience is not yet matured, it is fledgling. And a reflection of the down turn in the economy and the fact that most Nigerians cannot distinguish between left and right.
The $25billion mandatory capital based for banks. As a lawyer, what is the implication of this policy?
The information I have was that the banks were given up to December 2005 to raise their capital base to N25billion. But mid way, the Central Bank of Nigeria increased it to N25billion within the same time. It now means that the banks will increase their capital base to N25b. Whatever is the motive behind it, that is the proposal for now.
For me, it is not good to always copy foreign models, by saying, this is the much the banks will have as their capital base, without actually looking at the environment. Without looking at the GDP, and without looking at the economy. We have banks that the N25billion will not pose a problem to. But they got to that stage not by legislation. They got there following years of operation. Well, in terms of financing merger projects, I know several banks have come together, to syndicate loans to Econet, MTN and big multinational organisation. I don’t think that banks should be coerced to increase their capital base.
