The impending arraignment of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos State Governor and leader of Action Congress of Nigeria by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) is heightening tension and generating several conspiracy theories, writes OLAOLU OLADIPO
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\These are difficult times for Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). ?After many months of speculation on the matter, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has summoned Tinubu to Abuja for interrogation on some discrepancies in his assets declaration forms.
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Specifically, the bureau is querying Tinubu on some foreign accounts it claimed the former governor operated during the period he held forth as the Lagos State governor between 1999 and 2007.
In its summons dated September 6, he was requested to appear before the commission on 21st of the same month, having allegedly contravened sections of the Act setting up the CCB. But in a swift response, the former governor who welcomed the development said, “After years of threats, political mudslinging and media trial on the impending allegations, a formal invitation to commence trial has finally come”.?
The issue and sundry other allegations have formed very important tool allegedly used by the ruling PDP to whittle down his growing clout in politics. From the control of Lagos, Tinubu’s party has used a combination of legal and electoral successes to win four of the remaining five states in the all-important South West geo-political zone. The same efforts also saw Edo under the party’s control. ?
On a number of occassions, prior to the summon, the National Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has raised alarm on the fact that some officers of state were planning to arrest his principal few weeks to election to pave the way for the PDP to capture the very important state of Lagos.
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Perhaps sensing that the timing might be apt to effect Tinubu’s arrest and subsequent prosecution, the CCB moved to entertain answers to the issues raised in the said assets declaration forms as well as the accounts said to have been operated by the ex-governor.
Tinubu has promised to cooperate with the tribunal to carry out its assignment, saying the decision forms part of his philosophy which he said was in conformity with his respect for the rule of law. He, however, offered to submit himself to scrutiny with a caveat to the judiciary that justice must be done, just as he counseled the CCB, to prove such when the legal fireworks begin.
To further express his readiness to face trial, Tinubu who reacted through his chief press secretary, Mr. Abimbola Olakunle, said he directed his personal aides to receive documents containing the summons and not to evade service as he believes justice would prevail at the end of the day.
For the ACN leader, the journey to what he termed “politically orchestrated persecution” started during his second term of office when a shadowy Joint Task Force (JTF) on corruption established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo indicted him as one of 15 governors to be arraigned under the CCB Act.
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Led by the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, the composition of the JTF included representatives of the CCB, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Police. After months of sitting, The JTF concluded that some officers of state declared assets far above what they owned as their declaration could not be substantiated – a case of anticipatory declaration; that some others failed to declare some of the properties they acquired while in office; and that the issue of ownership of foreign accounts and late declaration had been treated with levity.
In the end, 15 serving governors, including Tinubu and Bayelsa State’s Goodluck Jonathan, who became the vice-presidential candidate of the PDP in 2007, had individually contravened some of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, relating to false declaration of Assets and or acquisition of properties outside legitimate means. Reacting to the invitation, former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, said that the Federal Government had been too lenient on Tinubu for not prosecuting him despite several perceived untoward actions committed by him.?
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His words: “The Federal Government has been too lenient with him. What about his perjury case? They should re-open it. What of his company, Alpha Beta Consulting that is taking N2 billion from the coffers of Lagos State monthly? A growing perception is that the former minister’s position might not be unconnected with the age long animosity that exists between members of the PDP and the ACN not only in Lagos State but throughout the South West geo-political zone.?
Coming from an initial gain of cornering five of the six states to a complete routing during the last polls, pundits opine that the persecution theory might not be far from being true. On a number of occasions, the ACN have always accused the ruling PDP of perfecting plans to arrest its leader based on what its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed termed “trumped up charges” to pave the way for the complete take over of the states now under the party’s control.
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Besides the politicians who have maintained differing views on the issue, members of the civil society have also maintained mixed feelings over the move. While some are describing it as a welcome development, others are saying that it is ill-timed and ill-motivated.
Executive Chairman of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), Debo Adeniran maintained that it is the duty of CCB to investigate allegations that border on corruption, adding that his organisation is in support of whatever would restore the people’s confidence in the polity.
“It is the duty of the CCB to invite or summon people once there is justifiable reason and it is the duty of Bola Tinubu to prove his innocence or to submit as guilty as charged. It is a welcome development and we fully support it. One thing is to invite people, but what matters most is what the CCB is able to do with the invitation”, Adeniran said.
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?Abuja based Society for Rule of Law in Nigeria (SRLN), has described the trial as a welcome development, saying, “Nigerians, irrespective of their political affiliations must begin to speak with one voice against corruption because it (corruption) has no political party”.
?SRLN, in a statement signed by its Coordinator, Chima Ubeku, said that with the trial of Tinubu, those thinking that they are sacred cows must begin to have a rethink.
However, some other groups have been rising in stout defense of the former governor. One of such is Defenders of Democracy (DOD) who described the proposed trial as ill-timed and politically motivated. In a statement the group issued in Abuja by its National Coordinator, A.O. Ibrahim, it fingered the PDP as one of those behind the plot to jail Tinubu due to his role to enthrone democracy in the country.
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The group said it was baffled that instead of the presidency probing allegations against serving government officials by a whistle blowing blog, Wikkileaks, it opted for the persecution of the nation’s main opposition leader. The statement read: ?“The recent summons served on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to appear before the Code of Conduct Bureau on allegations of operating foreign bank accounts while in office as Lagos Governor couldn’t have been more ill-timed by the government.
It went further, “This pending summons, which the PDP government has held over Asiwaju Tinubu’s head like a sword of Damocles for years now, comes in handy at a time the PDP is losing political relevance and the presidency under Goodluck Jonathan is reeling from one scandal to another.
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“With PDP’s political hegemony slipping away, due to ACN’s victory under the national leadership of Asiwaju Tinubu, with impending electoral defeats staring the party in the face in the 2012 election, Bola Tinubu easily becomes an easy target.
The group added another dimension to the debate when it wrote, the attempt to try Tinubu was planned and calculated to halt his rising political profile as Nigeria’s leading opposition leader and also stop possible electoral defeat by the ACN.?