Notwithstanding the appearance of new activism by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), LEADERSHIP SUNDAY’s SHUAIB SHUAIB takes an excursion through the corridors of financial impunity in Nigeria and writes that staged prosecutions can never be a substitute for a genuine criminal justice system primed to deliver commensurate sanctions against prominent law breakers who believe they can always purchase justice, ‘made in Nigeria
The city of Kano has historically produced some of Nigeria’s top business executives. Alhassan Dantata was the first of three subsequent generations that would dominate Nigeria’s business and industrial world for close a century now.
Today, Aliko Dangote, a fourth generation Dantata is? Nigeria and Africa’s richest and most established businessman. He has built a business empire that spans several continents and is the biggest employer of labour in Nigeria outside of the federal government. But then, he is not the first member of his family to have achieved so much. Usman Dantata was the oldest child of Alhassan, the founder of the Dantata dynasty. In the mid 1950s, when Alhassan died, Usman inherited millions of dollars and as expected, he turned out to be a very successful businessman.
With millions of dollars in his hands in the 1950s, he was naturally one of Nigeria’s wealthiest individuals. But he had a weakness. Coupled with his pride and the desire to live up to other people’s expectations, he was a philanthropist and gave out money even at the detriment of his business. When he finally ran out of money, he started to print his own money.
He was caught and sentenced to prison where he would spend several years and eventually die not long afterwards. He would however be one of the very few affluent Nigerians that were made to pay to pay for committing financial crimes. If he had been living in today’s Nigeria, his status alone would have been enough to make him untouchable, not to mention being charged and convicted for printing and circulating fake currencies.
Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced to the world that it had successfully prosecuted nine individuals, two Ghanaians and seven Nigerians for the illegal trade in stolen crude oil. Media reports said a Federal High Court, sitting in Asaba, Delta state sentenced to 90 years each, the two Ghanaians and seven
Nigerians who were charged by EFCC, with conspiracy and illegal dealing in petroleum products. Nobody needs to be told that those that have been given these life sentences were only foot soldiers in the illegal operations. The two Ghanaians; Nelson Seanehia, Teko Peter and the Nigerians; Felix Ogogo, Augustine Elomofe, Yakubu Otun, Lucky Tonwei, Sunday Apoh, Segun Agbeyegbe and Felix Mogbeyiteren obviously had no means of buying their way out of the predicament or at the very least get plea bargain the way every high profile politician charged with corruption has done to get him off the hook.
They were each charged for nine counts of crime and trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, sentenced each of the accused to 10 years imprisonment for every count adding up to 90 years each. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of their vessel, MT TROICA which was used to transact the illegal business of bunkering oil. This is a case the EFCC is celebrating, yet it does not inspire confidence in Nigerians about the ability of commission to successfully prosecute people in authority. Justice in Nigeria, it appears has developed eyes and is no longer blind. This is without a doubt, the biggest success that EFCC has recorded under the leadership of Farida Waziri.
? The spokesman of the EFCC, Femi Babafemi had dismissed the notion that the sentencing of these individuals has been the highlight of the leadership of Farida Waziri. He said, “Were you not in this country when Bode George was sentenced? Were you not in this country when some Filipinos were convicted for oil bunkering, when Cecilia Ibru was charged and convicted and when the former general manger of the Federal Housing Authority, who is still serving jail time, was convicted.” He however admitted that the commission was handicapped in seeing all its cases to a logical conclusion because of the slow pace of justice.
He said, “This has been an issue for some time now. The mandate of EFCC is to investigate, arrest and charge to court. It now goes beyond our control and is left the court in the
chain of justice to play its own part. I am not blaming anybody. You can see what is happening. We have 75 high profile cases in court, 1,500 other cases in court and we have recovered over $11 billion for the country. Why is it that in the short time since the commission was created, we have had 750 convictions? What we saying is that in comparison to the number of cases we have in court, that should not be the case. All pending cases should be speedily dispensed with. That is why we are asking for special courts to try our cases.
INEC has the privilege of election tribunal, the Code of Conduct Bureau has its own tribunal, the Federal Inland Revenue has special courts. Why can we not have a special court?”
Other than the conviction of the former vice chairman of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, Bode George who spent two and half years in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons for contract splitting and abuse of office while he was chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority. In recent times, also under Ribadu, Tafa Balogun the former Inspector General of Police who forced to resign from office has been the only other high profile public figure to be tried, convicted and sentenced to prison for graft. It was a junior officer in the police force,
Nuhu Ribadu was then chairman of EFCC that forced the prosecution of his own boss. But then, Balogun too in what has become the trend in the prosecution of politicians and political office holders, settled for a plea bargain and ended up spending only a few months in prison for unlawfully enriching himself to the tune of N16 billion.
At court where he was sentenced, the disgraced former IG said, “life is full of challenges, it has its ups and down. I was up yesterday, I am down today but I will bounce back.”
Other personalities have been far more fortunate than Balogun. While he spent time behind bars, all others who have been equally accused of embezzlement and stealing stupendous amounts of money have only had to part with some of the stolen funds as part of a plea bargain to gain their freedom. And for those that have their cases taken to court without an agreement with the prosecuting agency, they are let out on bail while their cases drag on without any foreseeable end in sight.
? Recently, allegations have been made by stakeholders including the Nigerian Bar Association that justice in Nigeria can be bought and in several cases, it has. The courts, it has been alleged deliberately allow the cases to linger while the accused who have graciously paid off our esteemed judges, live large on looted public funds. The EFCC has also been accused of being complicit in this untidy arrangement, choosing to prosecute cases only when it cannot extort money from the corrupt politicians.
The commission has recently charged four ex-governors to court and claims there will be no compromises of plea bargains this time around. Babafemi has said, “The commission has made it clear that every case will get to its logical conclusion. Former governor of Nasarawa, Aliyu Akwe Doma, along with several of his accomplices are on trial for looting more than N15 billion from the state. But Doma, who is facing a 17-count charge has had to cough out N300 million to get bail and also had to give up his passport. In a twist of events, he has gotten the Federal
High Court in Lafia to hand back his passport so can go holidaying in Saudi Arabia. The EFCC spokesman has however said that the hands of the commission were tied because there was a Federal High Court order that allowed the former governor to take back his passport. The trial has been fixed for December 5 and 6, 2011 by Justice Marcel Awokulehin. Whether this case will end up like all the others is yet to be seen.
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The former governor of Gombe, Danjuma Goje has also been granted bail. Goje is facing an 18-count charge for the embezzlement of N25 billion of Gombe State funds. He is being charge along a head of an agency under the Goje government and two contractors. Justice Babatunde Kadiri of the Federal High Court in Gombe granted the bail for N200 million. The commission had been against the bail believing that the ex-governor with all the influence he possesses will work to thwart its investigation. Goje had initially been reluctant to submit himself to questioning by EFCC, leading to the commission to declare him wanted. It would not be out of place to imagine that the former governor had made attempts to get EFCC to back down and withdraw the arrest warrant.
Before reporting to the commission, He had this to say through an aide, “There was no need by the EFCC to have declared me wanted. I was out of the country when I learnt that the EFCC had declared me wanted; there was no justification for its action. As a former governor who served this nation for eight years and currently a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I am ever ready to defend my action at all time. The allegation of corruption against me cannot stand. All financial resources entrusted in my care as governor of Gombe State were judiciously used. The records are there for everybody to access. This is the price you pay for leadership in a country like our nation where all public officials are seen as corrupt people. I have no regret serving this nation.”
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For rights activist and executive director of the Conference on Security, Development and Democracy in Nigeria, Olufemi Aduwo the EFCC prefers to make noise about the cases with the trials taking place on the pages of newspapers and deliberately takes the cases of ex-governors to their home state where they can easily influence judicial officers. Aduwo said, “The EFCC cannot be agitators in their own case. They should allow these cases to come to a logical end. I am not in agreement with the idea of the ex-governors being arraigned in state High Courts where they can easily get frivolous injunctions. We want convictions. Look at want happened in the case of Peter Odili where he has become untouchable for more than three years now and the commission is pretending that they can do nothing about it. That should not be allowed. But Nigerian should not expect too much from EFCC. The problem is with the judiciary. EFCC has its own problems but this has to do with the judiciary. That is why I share the opinion that there should be some kind of special court to trial these cases. Since the Federal High Court has jurisdiction over criminal cases, the special courts should be created there.”
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A number of these public officials see themselves as victims in a political witch-hunt. Some have gone as far as blaming opposition parties for their woes. Former governor of Oyo, Adebayo Alao-Akala on his part is facing an 11-count charge of fraud, illegal acquisition of property all adding up to N11.5 billion. Ironically, Akala as a policeman was once a law enforcement. His bail conditions were far more stringent than those of his colleagues facing similar charges of corrupt practices. His bail was set at N500 billion by Justice Moshood Abass of the Federal High Court in Ibadan. Akala is charged with awarding contracts worth N8.5 billion for the construction of roads in 33 local government areas of the state without budget provision between 2007 and 2009.
The ex governor also gave a number of other contracts all with the aim of embezzling local government funds and also acquired a property on Old Bodaja, off Rotimi Williams Street, Ibadan, Oyo with money that was illegally gotten.
Former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, also had his bail set at N500 million. Daniel is facing a 16-count charge. In his case, he simply converted state funds to personal use. He apparently converted some $3 million from the domiciliary of the state in FCMB to buy shares in a private company, Glanvill Enthoven & Company Nigeria Ltd.
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