Corruption: Lamorde’s offensive against govs

Posted by admin EFCC Politics, Governors, Headlines Monday, September 15th, 2014

KUNLE ODEREMI writes on the allegation of inefficient managementof resources levelled against state governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chairman, Mr Ibrahim Larmode, last week.

AS the Election Year approaches, there is bound to be a deluge of political activities ranging from the serious to the sublime. Core stakeholders will thrust to the front burner critical issues bordering on quality leadership and good governance. The report in the media credited to the chairman of the Economic and Finacial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Larmode, concerning service delivery by state governors to the citizenry is one of such fundamental issues lately.

At a seminar on anti-corruption entitled, Fiscal Responsibility and Good Governance for state government officials, Larmode reportedly said what was on ground in the states across the land belied the huge allocations from the centre. “Poor service delivery, inadequate infrastructure, poor management of public enterprise, bad governance, moral decadence and general under-development are among the impact of corruption on attempt at development among state governments in the country,” he said.

At the threshold of the 2007 elections, Nigerians were told that at least 25 state governors would be gnashing their teeth in jail for corruption. The pronouncement created eddies in the political space notwithstanding the fact that most citizens had expressed indignation on the profligacy among their leaders in the face of choking economic environment. Ironically, none of the governors was put behind the bars in the land as of the time the eight-year Obasanjo administration wound down. Rather, most of the so-called corrupt governors came out smoking as godfathers and kingmakers, fixing themselves or their proxies in strategic political offices in the country. Some of them stepped higher on the scale of rating among their peers in the political arena by emerging as Senators, ministers and national officers of the ruling parties. There were others, who created fiefdoms by floating parties, where they called the shots and became beautiful brides to desperados for power and authority at the highest level of government.

About nine months to the expiration of the Obasanjo administration, the Ribadu-led EFCC, somehow, raised public hope that some governors would indeed be sent to jail for abusing office. So, he sent to the Senate a report on the commission’s investigation of the petitions and allegations of corruption against 31 of the then state governors and governments. Part of the report claimed that the EFFC was able to establish cases of corruption against 15 of the governors, indictment against three, while six others were still being investigated, just as only one governor was issued a clean bill of health.

In one instance, Ribadu had accused one of the former governors of fleecing his state of N35 billion. He promised that 15 indicted governors were to be arraigned shortly, stating that his team received 4,200 petitions on alleged corruption. The Senate President, Senator David Mark, had challenged the EFCC boss to name the governors involved as he reminded him that corruption cases against the Senators and a former Senate President were not shielded from public scrutiny. “If our own colleagues can be called, then we urge you to name the governors and all those who have been involved, including the biggest thief in the world who is a Nigerian,” Mark stated. Consequently, Ribadu released the stunning details of the governors involved. By October of the same year, Ribadu dropped another bombshell; this time on the hemorrhage corruption in higher places had done to fabrics of the country. According to him, the country has lost about US$ N400 billion to looting of public treasury by government officials since independence in 1960.

To some observers, it appears history is about to repeat itself. The EFCC, it seems, set to re-enact that the scenario that played out prior to the 2007, but with the characters and gladiators slightly different, just as the ways and manner those at the centre of the current indictment might vary. Perhaps, because Larmorde did not reveal the real identities of those allegedly behind the flagrant abuse of office, the state governments might be plotting on how they will individually or collectively fight back. Those states, where their governors have been generally proclaimed to have raised the bar in the area of good governance might be taking their time to respond appropriately to the allegation since the hitherto vibrant Nigeria Governors Forum had not only be fractured but its structures weakened by irreconcilable political difference by the main actors.

What next for the Commission?

Going by the details provided by Larmode as regards his sweeping allegations against state governments, the commission appears armed with necessary evidence to prosecute some of the officials. Though he was silent on the identities of those involved, some pundits contend that the grave offences listed by the EFCC boss do not bar the commission from pressing charges against other categories of other officials involved, since they are not covered by the immunity clause in the Nigerian Constitution. in other words, the commission can initiate legal proceedings against the governors after they would have served out their terms in Government House. In the past, the EFCC and other vital organs of government involved in the anti-graft war had moved back and forth movement on similar issues, which led to most of the cases on corruption against public officials ending in a stalemate or becoming a pun in the hands of diverse and powerful political interests.

But, will the EFCC have the courage or rely on an external force to release the names of the indicted state governments or just refer the report of its investigation to the commission’s legal department and the supervising ministry for advice? Does the proclamation of Larmode mean there are petitions bordering on sleaze by state governments already in the fault of the EFCC? Or is the commission merely playing to the gallery in order to keep the governors on their toes as their tenure winds up in less than a year to go? Is Larmode’s action a wakeup call to other stakeholders in the states to challenge their governors to give an account of their stewardship, especially on the allocations collected by them for the past few years? Some have also raised fears of the possibility of a playback of the Ribadu scenario at the tail end of the Obasanjo administration. Could Larmode be acting a script from above preparatory to a higher authority moving against some recalcitrant governors, whose obduracy has been given the powers that be goose peoples as the tempo of political activities peak ahead 2015 polls?

Some observers, however, have chided the EFCC boss for allegedly singling out state governments for the sweeping allegations. They are curious that he perhaps deliberately left out other levels of governments, particularly the centre, where a couple of serving or erstwhile misters have been on the spot over alleged malfeasance. Some of the critics even cited the cases of agencies and parastatals under the supervision of some ministries, where some key officials were accused of gross abuse of office.

No doubt, the credibility of the EFCC is, once again, at stake. Ribadu made a promise that 25 corrupt governors would be jailed in 2007. Today, the incumbent EFCC boss has publicly declared that the present state governments have fell short of prudence and transparency. How the commission handles the current situation is dependent on its swift action, consistency and pursuit of the cause to a logical conclusion. Otherwise, the commission might be accused of becoming a political weapon to which haunt perceived opponents of the ruling party.

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