CORRUPTION FIGHTS BACK

         The not-so-discreet manoeuvres for control of the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (E.F.C.C) finally blew open in a most undignified public quarrel last week. The newly-reappointed Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN gave an interview in the Daily Trust newspaper in which he raised the issue of the need to reduce the powers currently enjoyed by Mrs Farida Waziri, the chairperson  of the E.F.C.C, by bringing the Commission directly under his supervision. He lamented a situation in which the Commission is operating largely on its own, with an Executive Chairman who oversees her own management function. He complained that Mrs. Waziri operates as if she is a sole administrator, because the law which establishes the Commission has not provided for sufficient checks within the board against the Chairperson. He says if the Chairman operates without the effective input of other members of the Commission, and is not under the supervision of another organ of government, such as his Ministry, then abuse and the impunities which he complains about will continue. Mr Adoke is bitter that efficiency in the trial of accused persons is severely compromised, and that there are many cases where human rights of suspects or accused persons are evident, or where are conflicting interests are not properly balanced.

         Mrs. Farida Waziri immediately fired back through her spokesman, accusing a top functionary in government of going all out to frustrate he work and smear her record in service in the Nigeria Police and her personal integrity. She claimed that a clique is working intimately with defenders of the corrupt, who are either being investigated or are standing trial to smear her image and scuttle trials. She says that the recent commencement of the  trials ofhigh profile suspects is the impetus behind the escalation of vile propaganda against her person and the Commission.

         The quarrel between the Attorney General and Chairperson of the E.F.C.C represents an additional source of concern for a nation which is choking under widespread and deep-seated corruption; and an administration which has re-stated its willingness to fight corruption, but appears incapable of even harnessing all its anti-corruption arsenal together. Only two weeks ago, President Jonathan listed the fight against corruption as a major objective of his administration, and warned ministers that they will go to jail if they are found to be corrupt. If this type of talk is to have any impact on the low expectations of Nigerians with regards to corruption, then this open quarrel by two of the most important officers of government who can make a difference can only be seen as further subversion of the fight against corruption.

         There is a lot more to this quarrel than the matter of how the E.F.C.C relates to other institutions of government. For a long time now, it has been obvious that accused persons involved in high profile trials have found a way of manipulating gaps in political will behind the trials, or exploiting technicalities or institutional weaknesses to stall trials. The quarrels over the powers of the Executive Chairman of the E.F.C.C are as old as the organization. The fact is that the E.FC.C law was crafted around the person and character of its former Chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and it gave him intimidating powers. The concern over the weakness of other members of the Commission in terms of determining how the Commission functioned was not even the most serious. The more serious concern was that the Commission appeared to have been created to operate on its own, and it appeared to function with little regard for the laws of the land, or substantial autonomy and the larger-than-life powers and status of its Executive Chairman made it relatively easy to lend its considerable weight to partisan interests under its former Chairman, and consequently acquire the reputation that it was essentially a political lap dog of the leadership. Persons being investigated or prosecuted complained that they were being victimized for political reasons, and others who discovered that the Commission is integrity has been tainted by its involvement in political activities sought other ways of weakening its effectiveness through destructive propaganda. Many others used huge funds suspected to have been corruptly acquired to hire very expensive and experienced lawyers to frustrate their trials.

         It is a strong evidence of the ineffectiveness of the E.F.C.C that to date it has not been able to put more than a handful of the hundreds of suspects it is prosecuting through concluded trials. It is even worse that the public only hears of missing files and trials lasting for years, while corruption eats even deeper into the fabric of our lives. Mischief makers and Sabobaurs of the anti-corruption crusade are having a field day denigrating the Commission Almost daily, the media comes up with red herrings intended to further weaken the fight against corruption. A few weeks ago, some sections of the media floated a sponsored debate over the utility or otherwise of merging the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (I.C.P.C) with the E.F.C.C. Much energy was wasted on arguments over two agencies which, put together, have done little to put a dent on corruption in Nigeria. Together or separately, the I.C.P.C and the E.F.C.C cost Nigerians a lost of money, and have produced little to show for it. Yet they are frequently engineered to engage in a distracting fight to protect their furfs, while blaming the courts, rich suspects who hire good and expensive lawyers, society’s degenerating value systems and Nigerians generally for their weaknesses. There is no greater indictment of our anti-corruption agencies than the fact that their most celebrated suspect, Chief James Ibori is today standing trial in Britain, and not in Nigeria where most of the crimes he is being accused of took place.

         Nigerians will be disappointed that President Jonathan is tolerating a public quarrel between the Minister of Justice and Chairperson of the E.F.C.C over issues that are best settled through constructive assessment of the weaknesses of the anti-corruption mechanisms. If the Attorney-General’s position is informed merely by the desire to build empires, the President should call him to order, and stop him from further weakening the image and capacity of the E.F.C.C. If, on the other hand, there is merit in the case he is making for major changes in the law establishing the E.F.C.C to make it more transparent, accountable and efficient, the President should support his position by pushing through the necessary amendments. The E.F.C.C is not a personal institution of the Chairman, and it must meet the requirement of all public institutions in terms of their legal framework and the conduct of the people who run them.

         It is also obvious that the person and image of Mrs. Fedrida Waziri is being dragged into this rather messy fight. Perhaps it is evidence of the rather distant nature of the Commission that the Chairperson has to fight vicious opposition seemingly alone and in her own personal capacity. If she is being maligned by forces bent on distracting attention or destroying the integrity and credibility of the Commission, she must be protected by Mr. President. The best way can do this is by calling the Minister of Justice to order in his public comments about the E.F.C.C, and working with the National Assembly to address possible weaknesses in the E.F.C.C law. If Mr President wants to make any inroads, into the fight against corruption, he must take personal charge of the need to strengthen the nation’s institutional mechanisms for fighting corruption. Right now the public quarrels between the Ministry of Justice and the E.F.C.C is showing the Government in very bad light, and those who think it is corruption’s way of fighting back may be right.