By Ugoji Egbujo

Andrew has walked. In 2017, the EFCC raided a nondescript house in a humble neighbourhood in Kaduna. There it made a shocking find. Over 9.2 million dollars, stashed in a safe. Those were the days when whistleblowing was the vogue. 

And whistleblowers were ubiquitous. Now, they have gone on sabbatical, vanished. 

Andrew Yakubu had no business living in that seedy neighbourhood. Sometimes big men crave a bit of village life. But this house was dull in and out. ‘Water get level’. An NNPC GMD of the Dieziani era should be a small deity. Andrew’s choice showed he might have done well in the KGB. In 2017, the quiet house Andrew chose for a piggy bank lost its anonymity. The EFCC rolled out drums and vuvuzelas to celebrate the find. The mortified public gaped. A court ordered an interim forfeiture.

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Andrew Yakubu, the billionaire, was arraigned. He argued that the monies, dollars, naira, etc. – were gifts he received from his friends after retiring. Big folks have big friends. NNPC was a cash cow. Anyone appointed as its herdsman would be courted by the high and mighty. Mrs Jonathan had millions of dollars, which she said were gifts from her friends. And like Andrew, Mrs Jonathan kept hers in lowly places, with her stewards. Unlike Andrew, the gifts were deposited in banks. Unlike Andrew, Mrs Jonathan couldn’t be prosecuted. In Nigeria, the law is a coward. Perhaps, tactful. It cowers for heroes and heroines. 

Andrew’s case has ended. The EFCC had filed six charges. The trial court pruned them to four. The appellate court reduced them to two. The issues for determination became whether St Andrew made full disclosure of these heavenly gifts and whether there was any possibility a saint could remain innocent after receiving such gifts without using the banking system. Andrew and his friends who don’t like using banks are innocent. 

During the trial, the EFCC showed familiar zealousness without stamina. When it tried to amend the charges in 2021, the judge refused. The EFCC is one of the most professional organisations in this country. But it is perhaps a one-eyed man in the land of the blind. This agency is dutiful, but it hasn’t shown a consistent capacity for legal marathons. A few judges have lamented. 

A synergy between the investigators and prosecutors at the investigative phases will save the agency many embarrassments.

But the real albatross is the porousness of the legal department. The legal department of the EFCC needs a re-orientation. A weak but honest prosecution is pardonable. A smart but compromising prosecutor is dangerous. If the EFCC doesn’t bare its fangs and cull its bad eggs, its reputation will suffer. 

Soft collaborations between accused persons and prosecutors should be taboo. This isn’t to say that the prosecution of the Andrew case was compromised. No. The agency, like the FBI, will lose some cases. The standard of proof in criminal cases is a high bar. But when they lose cases despite apparent hard evidence, public confidence in the entire criminal justice system wanes.

Andrew Yakubu has been acquitted. 

He had been innocent until proven guilty. Now he is totally innocent. The judge found that the 9.8 million dollars Andrew hid in a safe could be a lawful collection of gifts by Andrew from friends. The court said the EFCC didn’t challenge Andrew’s testimony. He advised that the EFCC should have investigated Andrew’s claims and friends. The EFCC is miffed. It has promised to appeal the case. The EFCC must fight tooth and nail. We should know Andrew’s friends. 

The law is a beautiful ass. The judge has ordered that the confiscated money be returned to Andrew. I guess Andrew will receive the money with interest since it was stored in a bank and not in a house in Nyanya or a sewage pit. Poor EFCC. 

The whistleblower must be despondent too. Perhaps he has since consumed his 5% . Perhaps he might have to refund it. Perhaps he has been waiting for it, and his hopes have now been smashed. 

After such a beautiful assist, the EFCC failed to put the ball into a gaping net. That must be the feeling. Bad week for many eagles. It might not be entirely the fault of the agency. Perhaps the goal post was mobile. Like many judicial goalposts in banana republics. Who said judges are not human? Sometimes prosecutors frolic with accused persons and fix matches, and blames are passed to judges. The terrain is difficult for judges. 

They can’t do the work for prosecutors. With gaping prosecutorial holes, they are often left with few choices. Andrew is now innocent. That is the rule of law. The money belongs to him until a superior court finds otherwise. Pray for the judiciary.

Nigeria, we hail thee.