Corruption Jibe – Et Tu Obasanjo?

Leadership (Abuja)

Isaiah Tejumola

1 July 2011

analysis

Those who know former President Olusegun Obasanjo very well should not be surprised, reading a recent statement credited to him to the effect that “The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and that of the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua have failed in their efforts to fight corruption.” The statement was made by Obasanjo during the 100th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva and published in many Nigerian newspapers. According to him, the present government lacks the will to fight corruption because “those involved in it are strongly entrenched.”

As a former President of this country, Obasanjo’s statements are usually taken seriously, both nationally and internationally, moreso, as he is the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Also, Obasanjo’s administration between 1999 – 2007 professed commitment to the war against corruption for which he established the nation’s leading anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The questions to ask are: Did Obasanjo truly fight corruption during his administration? Was he sincere in his avowed commitment to the war against corruption? How successful was he? Does Obasanjo have the moral right to haul stones at his successors on the issue of corruption?

While Obasanjo paid lip-service to the war against corruption, what he did, in practice, was to entrench corruption, making his administration the most corrupt regime in Nigeria’s political history.

The facts of Obasanjo’s corruption are difficult to hide. Indeed, the list is endless as the former President looted the nation’s treasury with impunity, violated the Constitution without respect for the rule of law and due process. The following are a few instances:

• Massive fraud involving over N3.5tr in the oil and gas sector, sale of Abuja houses, fraud in the communication and the power sector of the economy.

• Obasanjo was alleged to have illegally withdrawn as much as N231.4 billion from the Federation Account without due process or authorisation from the National Assembly (Daily Sun of Thursday, February 5, 2009).

• The ad-hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives to probe the activities of the NNPC between 1999 and 2008, indicted Obasanjo and former MD of the corporation, Mr. Funso Kupolokun, for violating the guidelines for the respective bid rounds, thereby finding them guilty of “preferential treatment of winners at the conclusion of the bid rounds.”

• Obasanjo illegally approved the withdrawal of $68.8 million from the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) Fund into which a total sum of $86 million was paid.

• A Senate joint committee, headed by Senator Abubakar Sodangi revealed that the plot of land originally belonging to the defunct National Primary Education Commission (allocated in December, 2005 to Inter-Projects Association Limited which immediately commenced development), was illegally allocated to Obasanjo Farms Limited, on May 28, 2007, a day before Obasanjo handed over power to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

• Two Abuja lawyers sued Obasanjo and the Code of Conduct Bureau for mismanaging over N1.2 billion belonging to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

• Both the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) revealed that they recovered about N600 billion allegedly stolen by some individual during Obasanjo’s period.

• The huge proceeds from Obasanjo’s massive corruption were allegedly invested in the prosecution of his third term bid during which legislators were each given a bribe of up to N50 million.

These are just a few samples of Obasanjo’s criminal plunder of the Nigerian State during the eight years he was in power. And for these violations, millions of decent Nigerians, including the media and Civil Society Organisations (see Daily Trust of November 17, 2008) demanded the probe of Obasanjo in all areas in which the former President was alleged to have committed economic crimes against the nation.

The ugly fact is that Nigeria lost more money to corruption and other dubious deals under the Obasanjo’s administration than at any other period in our political history. The most abhorrent aspect of his acts of corruption was his insistence on shuting out of the electoral process those he labeled as “enemies”. He personalised the selection of political process in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, including the unprecedented deregistration of party members whom he believed were not loyal to him. Also appalling was his concoction of adverse security reports on such people who were then subjected to the most traumatising personal humiliation by Nuhu Ribadu’s EFCC to ensure that only candidates approved by Obasanjo – from councilors to governors – participated in the 2007 elections.

It is pertinent to add that the history of corruption dates back to the era of military incursion into our political life. In other words, the military brought corruption into government in Nigeria and Obasanjo played a prominent role in that beginning. So, whether under military dictatorship or civilian governance, Obasanjo cannot escape culpability for the state of corruption in Nigeria.

Political manipulations may be pardonable but fraud and criminality must be punishable without fear or favour. The scale on which Obasanjo defrauded Nigeria is unimaginable, which raises the question as to whether this man should, indeed, be free to walk the streets of Nigeria after such monumental acts of corruption. Certainly, Obasanjo has no right to brand any other leader as corrupt, particularly without any clear evidence.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party, the platform on which President Jonathan was elected must re-examine itself. The unfortunate statement by Obasanjo, who is the chairman of the party’s BOT, is evident loss of faith in the leadership of the party and its moral legitimacy to continue to rule. It is an embarrassment to the party. Obasanjo has no choice but to resign.

Tejumola is a legal practitioner based in Lagos.

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