Are we winning the War on
Corruption?
By
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It is now evident
that former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was not sincere on the
war against corruption even though he wanted to pass for an apostle
of anti-corruption. All his propagandas were mere make-believe.
At best, all his efforts were targeted at those he considered
political foes. Chief DSP Alams was marked out because he nursed the
idea of running for the presidency alongside former Vice-President
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Atiku's sin was that he ever contemplated
being the number one citizen of this country. EFCC became the
willing tool that was used.
The present regime of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was largely seen
as a beneficiary of a electoral fraud that may not have the
wherewithal to fight corruption. It was freely mentioned that if
Yar’Adua was serious on the war, he ought to have started with
himself i.e. the electoral fraud. Even against this criticism, he
assured Nigerians that he won’t relent on the onslaught against
corruption.
However, events that have unfolded so far have not proved that we
are succeeding on this must-win-war. The Justice Minister and
Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Michael Andoaka who is
supposed to be at the vanguard of the fight is largely seen as the
one protecting the thieving public officials.
Several letters written by him to Metropolitan Police in order to
thwart the trial of James Onanefe Ibori, former governor of Delta
State were published by some news portal. Recently, the same AGF was
accused of corruptly enriching himself. A known thief may not be a
good choice for the position of a thief taker.
All the damning allegations of corruption leveled against former
President Olusegun Obasanjo have not been given adequate treatment.
In short, Yar’Adua was quoted to have said that he was not ready to
probe his predecessor.
More than one year into the life of this administration, no former
public official, governor, ministers, local government chairmen etc,
have been brought before the law to account for his stewardship. The
mind boggling revelations that reared its head at the recent public
hearing on the power sector were enough for any serious minded
government to wand the big stick. Nigerians are waiting to see what
becomes of the final report.
Not quite long ago, serious cases of international fraud involving
some highly placed Nigerians surfaced. The Siemens and Wilbros
scandals were enough to show the true of the present regime. Senator
Jubril Aminu, a big fish in the PDP was fingered in the Siemens
scandal. Even though Siemens co-operated and laid bare the facts of
the matter, the government treated that issue with levity.
The Wilbros scandal revealed that one individual masqueraded as
Number 2 and used this to corner colossal wealth for himself, yet
the government of Yar’Adua jettisoned the issue lackadaisically.
Atiku Abubakar who was impersonated went all out to compel the
government to unravel the mysterious Number 2, yet Yar’Adua’s
government was unperturbed. Only God knows whose interest the
government was protecting.
The Senator Iyabo Obasanjo scandal erupted like a volcano. The whole
world waited impatiently to decipher the position of the government.
The drama was played and we enjoyed it while it lasted. At the end
of it all, no one knew what the government of the day made of it
all. It was like a circuit show where one watches a show but at the
end, one can not really say how the hocus-pocus was perfected.
Rather, we are being told that due process is being allowed to take
its course.
On a more serious note, the present administration has not done
anything to portray it as one that is serious to fight corruption to
a standstill, but rather it has done things that portray it as one
that has come to maintain the status quo or better still entrench
corruption.
COKER contributed from Victoria Island Annex Lagos
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