*And the corruption in politics
*Why EFCC is walking a tight rope

Eight years after it was set up, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, may have recovered $11 billion and achieved over 600 prosecutions. However, the perception in some quarters is that the commission could have done more were the imbecility of politics not a factor in its activities. Whereas there appears to have been a shift from the corruption-laden environment which predated the establishment of EFCC, this report brings into sharp focus the challenges of anti-corruption in a socio-political environment with clashing interests.

By Jide Ajani, Deputy Editor

John Apkanudoedehe is of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.  In March, after being granted bail by an Abuja High Court, he was immediately re-arrested, slapped by a police officer and whisked away.  No leader in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, or its members in the House of Representatives saw anything wrong in the action.

Last Monday, June 13, Dimeji Sabur Bankole, immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives and a leader – in his own right –  of PDP, was granted bail by an Abuja High Court.  But before he could savour the sweet smell of freedom, the officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, whisked him to another high courtroom and slammed him with a fresh round of charges, numbering 16 – he had to file fresh bail application.  What goes round comes round.

The anti-corruption agency has come out to claim that it did no wrong.
But Bankole’s lawyers shouted blue murder, complaining that “it tantamount to laziness and unseriousness on the part of the EFCC to file charges in installments”.

How did Bankole’s case get to this sorry pass?

Well, Sunday Vanguard can reveal that the former Speaker is both a victim of politics and graft-politics because he may be paying for what a source described as “sins of omission and commission during the days of the health challenges of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua when the issue of transmission of power was seen as being blocked by the leadership of the House of Representatives; graft because the EFCC has laid a plethora of charges on his path some of which have seen many ask how much a legislator should actually earn.

The allegations as slammed on Bankole and the dramatization that is going on are meant to serve multiple purposes.

First, especially at a time when President Goodluck Jonathan was meeting with President Barrak Obama of the United States, the trial of Nigeria’s Number Four citizen who also happens to be a leader in President Jonathan’s PDP, sends the type of message that the American Government would like to hear, see or read as proof-positive that Nigeria is on the march against corruption.

Following closely on the heels of that but with distant relationship is the need to “make other high ranking public office holders understand that the war on corruption can be fought at anybody’s door-step or even anybody’s living room”, a source in the presidency told Sunday Vanguard.

In fact, it is for this reason that EFCC is continuing its investigation of some of the state governors and their deputies who just left office.  They are believed to have used politics and governance to corruptly enrich themselves.

In an interview with Farida Chinyere Waziri, Chairman of EFCC, she hinted at that in response to a question:

“QUESTION: The governors and deputies who just left office and who are without immunity, how many have been or are being investigated by the commission or are being slated for trial?
”ANSWER: It is not the practice of  EFCC to heat up the polity by making pronouncements on on-going investigations.

When we are ready to take up issues with any former office holder, the public will surely know”.

How Efcc operates
For the Commission, there is something called operating under the radar.
It was one of such moves that led to the alleged discovery that  the former Speaker was planning to flee.
Sunday Vanguard investigations discovered that despite the fact that names of other members were mentioned in the on-going trial of both the Speaker and his deputy, “the commission does not arrest or summon suspects based on mere mention”.

According to one of our sources at  EFCC, “it is not our practice to detain or arrest anybody based on mere mentioning of his name when there is no documented and conclusive evidence to invite such a person. We do that only after our men had concluded all necessary investigations on such a suspect before we act.  What our men are doing is to have enough evidence before placing such a suspect under surveillance. For now investigation is still on-going.”

One of the first things the Commission does whenever it has thoroughly investigated an individual and has been able to establish a case, is to formally write the public office holder, inviting him or her for a chat at the Commission’s office.

Depending on the individual’s worth in the polity, there must be a drama to this invitation.
That was what it did in the case of Bankole and other public office holders who had been tried – for instance, Olabode George.

“The commission formally wrote the former Speaker to appear before it but he wrote back choosing to come at his own time which our men considered to be out of place.  He wrote to us that he would come at his own designated time and our people felt that was not good enough as it could jeopardize our investigations”, a source involved in the case told Sunday Vanguard.

“The letter is meant to serve as an invitation and not a fore-warning or an alert for you to escape because when Nigerians receive such letters they jump out of the country to escape the long arm of the law”, Sunday Vanguard was told.

A source also told the Sunday Vanguard that what the Commission does when an individual is suspected of plotting to escape is to keep such a person under surveillance to forestall any attempt to escape justice.

It was also revealed that the last option is the watch list, a process that ensures that such a suspect is not allowed to leave the country without being scrutinised.

The Failed Assets Forfeiture bill

Attempts made in the past by the commission to add to its legal bite in dealing with corrupt politicians met a brick wall as the National Assembly made sure the Assets Forefeiture Bill sponsored by it never saw the light of day.   The essence of the law is to make accused persons that flee the land but had acquired properties via financial crimes forfeit such acquisitions to the Federal Government.

Twice the draft was sent to NASS but was thrown out, even after attempts made via a World Bank-sponsored programme for the legislators to grasp what the entire bill entailed.  They also have their own reasons.
For instance, a senator told Sunday Vanguard that “with what we see going on, whereby some people are just singled out for public disgrace, why should the senate add more powers to the ones the Commission already has”?

Signs from above
Although in the interview with the EFCC chairman, she denied any suggestions that the Commission waits to gauge the mood of the powers-that-be before pouncing on an individual, the information on ground points in another direction.

The present travails of Bankole, for instance, is seen as recompense for his role in delaying the legal framework for the enactment of a legislation that would have transmitted power to Jonathan during those days of Yar’Adua’s illness.

Also, the action of a few legislators in the House of Representatives to work against the zoning arrangement of the PDP in picking a Speaker from the South-West, which led to the emergence of Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, may not have sailed through the way it did “if Bankole had played a pivotal role in thwarting the efforts of his ‘renegade’ colleagues”, Sunday Vanguard was told.

In fact, the reason why it took the eve of the inauguration of the 7th Assembly before the arrest of Bankole, a source close to the former speaker said, “was because the authorities already knew that their zoning arrangement would not fly in the House, that they were bound to lose, hence the swift action to arrest and humiliate him that Sunday night.  Can you beat that efficiency, on a Sunday night?” But the EFCC chairman put a lie to this when she asked rhetorically: “There is nothing to say to this because we have never charged an innocent person to court.  Never! Perception has no basis in law enforcement.  Can perception become a piece of evidence that can be used in any court against anyone? So,  EFCC, as an agency, cannot be used to persecute anyone”.

In far-away Europe last week, former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared that Nigeria’s anti-corruption war was weak and feeble, that it lacked bite.  However, what Obasanjo forgot to add, was that it was under his watch as President and Commander-in-Chief, that some of those whose trials commenced after 2007 committed their crimes.

In addition, most of the activities of EFCC were tied to persons of opposing political views such that members of the public read between the lines. This was one of the accusations laid at the doorstep of Nuhu Ribadu, EFCC’s founding chairman. Today, depending on which side of the fence an individual is, the anti-corruption battle has entered another phase.

That explains why, for instance, Chief Olabode George, a co-ordinator for the Yar’Adua/Jonathan Campaign in 2007, was hauled into jail by EFCC under Waziri.

The grand irony, however, is that there is a ting of politics in the anti-corruption war just as there is corruption in politics, with the open access it provides to government coffers.
EFCC CASES AND DEFENDANTS:

1. Ayo Fayose    (Former Governor of Ekiti State), Federal High Court, Lagos, trial on-going (N1.2 billion), Inherited,  granted  bail by court

2. Joshua Dariye (Former Governor, Plateau State), FCT High Court, Gudu, Adoption of Motion, Inherited,  granted  bail by court

3.  Saminu Turaki (Former Governor, Jigawa State), FCT High Court, Maitama, (N36 billion) Raised preliminary objection on court jurisdiction, Inherited,  granted  bail by court

4. Orji Uzor Kalu (Former Governor, Abia State), Federal High  Court, Maitama, Trial on-going (N5 million), Inherited,  granted  bail by court

5. James Ibori, Federal High Court Asaba, Trial on-going (N10 million), Case just re-assigned by CJ, Inherited,  granted  bail by court

6.  Lucky Igbinedion  (Former Governor of Edo State), Fed. High Court. Enugu, Convicted but EFCC  has appealed the judgment, Inherited,

7. Jolly Nyame  (Former Governor of Taraba State),  FCT High  Court. Abuja, Trial on-going (N 180 million), Inherited,  granted  bail by court

8. Chimaroke Nnamani  (Former Governor of Enugu State), FCT High  Court. Lagos,  (N5.3 billion) Counsel seeking to  transfer the case to another judge. Inherited,  granted  bail by court

9.  Michael Botmang  (Former Governor  of Plateau State),  Fed. High Court,Maitama,  Trial on-going (N1.5  billion), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by  court

10. Roland lyayi (Former Managing Director of FAAN) FCT. High Court. Maitama, Trial on-going (N5.6 billion), Commenced by Waziri, granted bail by court

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11. Nyeson Wike (Ex-Chief of Staff to Governor of Rivers State), FCT. High Court. Maitama, For Hearing (N4.670 billion), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by court

12. Eider George (Australian Business man), FCT. High Court. Maitama, Trial on-going (N5.6 billion), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by court

13.  13 Filipinos  (Charged for oil bunkering), Fed. High Court. Benin, Convicted (65 Years), Commenced  by Waziri

14. 6 Ghanaians  (Charged for oil bunkering), Fed. High Court. Benin, Trial Commenced, by Waziri, granted bail by court

15.  Patrick Fernadez  (Indian Buisnessman), Fed. High Court. Lagos, Trial on-going over  N32 billion fraud, Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by court

16.  Prof. Babalola Borishade (Former  Minister of Aviation, FCT. High Court. Maitama, Trial on-going (N5.6 billion), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by court

17.  Boni  Haruna (Former Governor, Adamawa State), Fed. High Court. Maitama, Adoption of motion  (N93 million), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by court

18. Femi Fani-Kayode (Former Minster of Aviation), Fed. High Court. Lagos, Trial On-going (250 million), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by court.

19. Prince  Ibrahim Dumuje (Police Equipment Fund), FCT High  Court, Abuja, Trial on-going Suspect’s, Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by- court

20. Rasheed Ladoja (Former Governor of Oyo State), Fed. High  Court, Lagos, Trial on-going (N6 billion), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by- court

21. Four Snr Zenith Bank Managers, Fed. High Court, Port Harcourt, Charges filed and  suspects arraigned (N3.6 billion), Commenced  by Waziri, granted bail by- court

22.  Malam Nasir el-Rufai (Former  Minister of Federal Capital Territory), Fed. High  Court, Abuja, Charges filed.  Commenced  by Waziri, case on-going

23. Sen. Nicholas Ugbade, Ndudi Elumelu: Mohammed Jibo, Paulinus Igwe, Mr. Samuel Ibi, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, Mr. Simon Nanle, Mr. Lawrence Orekoya, Mr Kayode Oyedeji, Mr.  A. Garba Jahun
(This is the Rural Electrification Agency Case involving a serving Senator, three serving members of the House of Representatives, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power and other high profile public officers), FCT. High  Court, Abuja, Suspects arraigned (N5.2 billion), Commenced  by Waziri, Remanded in  Prison Custody by Court.

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24. Molkat Mutfwang Michael  Aule Andrew Ekpanobi Alexander Cozman (This is the UBEC case where high profile public servants connived with an American, Alexander Cozman) to defraud the Government., Federal High  Court, Abuja, Suspects arraigned (N636 million), Commenced  by Waziri,  Suspects remanded in  prison custody.
25. Dr Ransome Owan, Mr. Abdulrahman Ado, Mr. Abdulrasak Alimi, Mr. Onwuamaeze lloeje, Mrs Grace Eyoma, Mr. Mohammed Bunu, Mr. Abimbola Odubiyi,
(This is the Nigeria Electricty Regulatory Commission case where the Chairman and his six Commissioners corruptly enriched themselves), Federal High  Court, Abuja, Trial on-going (Nl .5 billion),  Commenced  by Waziri,  granted bail by  court.

26. The Transcorp PLC (Torn Iseghohi,Muhammed Buba, Mike Qkoli), Fed. High  Court, Abuja, Suspects arraigned (N15 billion), Commenced  by Waziri,  Suspects  remanded in Kuje Prison.

27. Dr Albert Ikomi. retired  perm sec, his firm. Satelite Town Dev Co Ltd, Fed. High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, Suspects arraigned  (N43 million), Commenced  by Waziri, Suspects remanded in  Ikoyi Prison.

28. Dr Yuguda Manu  Kaigama. Chairman, Taraba State Civil Service Commission, Taraba State  High Court 5, Jalingo, arraigned on 37-count charge over Nl 7.5m  fraud, Commenced  by Waziri,  Suspect  remanded in prison custody, co-accused.