|
Obasanjos Probe:
Mr. Ribadu’s Redeeming Job
Or How a Politician Becomes a
Billionaire
By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
The single
most formidable threat to President Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s
integrity and acceptance in Nigeria today, aside the
revolting, horribly manipulated elections that brought
him to power a couple of months ago, is his reluctance
or refusal to probe the regime of his predecessor in
office, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, widely believed to be the
most corrupt since Nigeria came into being.
Each time the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) docked one former Governor, Commissioner or
Council Chairman, with characteristic fanfare and din,
the feeling out there is that it was merely engaged in
some diversionary operation, dragging about petty
thieves before television cameras, all in an attempt to
give Nigerians the impression that it was sincerely
fighting corruption.
Certainly, the Federal Government and EFCC cannot
pretend to be unaware that only very few Nigerians
actually believe that they are sincerely fighting
corruption.
When
Obasanjo came out of prison, it was public knowledge
(which also worked in his favour at that time) that he
was in abject poverty, living on the generosity of
friends like Theophilous Danjuma and Atiku Abubakar.
In fact, one of his closest ministers told the nation
that Obasanjo had only twenty thousand naira in 1999.
Now how can anyone explain the sudden transformation of
this paltry sum to the incredible wealth the man
possesses today?
In fact, the joke out there is that while the EFCC
Chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, is at one side of town
“fighting corruption,” Obasanjo is at the other end
neatly arranging his billions, expanding his business
empire, and consolidating his wealthy dynasty.
Obasanjo single-handedly ran the Petroleum Ministry for
eight years, with the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) directly under his command, yet, till
date, no one can claim to have seen any copy of the
audited accounts of that enclave of corruption since
1999. The whole thing was run like a family business.
Again, a former Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr.
Azie, was hurriedly sacked for daring to produce a
damning report detailing the mind-blowing corruption and
financial rascality that thrived in the Obasanjo regime.
Now, are we to take it that the EFCC is neither aware of
that report, nor how to reach out to Mr. Azie to come
and throw more light on the report?
What of the recent Petroleum Technology Development Fund
(PTDF) scandal which threw up shocking revelations about
how mindless profligacy and abuse of office were given a
most vulgar and repelling definition, where money was
frivolously withdrawn to either buy exquisite cars for
“women friends” or finance countless affairs that were
totally outside the PTDF mandate.
How much did the Tenure Elongation madness consume? How
much was expended to destabilize and effect the various
changes in the leadership of the National Assembly in
order to install stooges that helped Obasanjo turn the
National Assembly into an appendage of the Presidency?
Does anyone still remember the N10 billion belonging to
the long-suffering people of Jigawa State "donated" by
their former Governor, Mr. Saminu Turaki, to the Self
Perpetuation Agenda?
Given the overwhelming stench oozing from these hideous
cases, what kind of corruption can anyone claim to be
fighting without having them on top of his list? Or are
Obasanjo and his privileged mob enjoying perpetual
immunity from investigation and prosecution?
Only last
Friday, Daily Independent reported that an NGO,
Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), had sent a
petition to the EFCC voicing the general feeling among
Nigerians that there was no way Obasanjo’s massive
investments could have been financed by his legitimate
income.
“We are aware that the annual salary of Nigeria’s
President is not up to N38 million. But even if [Obasanjo]
earned N60 million per annum for seventy years, he would
not have up to N5 billion. But [he] is currently worth
about N70 billion by our conservative estimate,” the
group asserted. It also called for a probe of the
“several billions of Naira pumped into the power sector”
and the “allegations that Obasanjo overshot the budget
of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as stated
in the report on Budget Performance issued by the House
of Representatives in 2005.”
And while all these were yet to be scratched, the
Siemens bribery scandal exploded on our face, and to the
best of my knowledge, none of the Obasanjo ministers
implicated in the sleaze has expressed any surprise that
his name made the list.
One should
think that instead of countless refutations to
widespread claims that the EFCC is only after
predetermined and selected targets, Ribadu can easily
redeem the image of the anti-graft commission by simply
gratifying the deep yearning of Nigerians to probe the
Obasanjo regime and make the findings public. Nigerians
want to know the view of the Yar'Adua Government on the
Obasanjo regime on this issue of corruption. They want
the EFCC to say what it has found about the regime, to
enable them to make an informed decision on the
sincerity or otherwise of the whole anti-graft business.
Mr. Nuhu Ribadu and his EFCC can no longer afford to
postpone this any further.
scruples2006@yahoo.com
/
www.ugochukwu.blog.com / Monday, November 26, 2007
posted 1 December 2007
* * * *
*
updated
26 December 2008 |
