By JIDE AYOBOLU sept 7, 2006

jideayobolu@yahoo.co.uk

The scale of fraud, corruption and graft has been unprecedented in the annuals of the country since 1999. Although there has been so much hoopla and razzmatazz about the fight against corruption but in the final analysis, it is no more than mere posturing, indeed a lot sound and fury signifying nothing. The conduct of the federal government of recent has shown that it has scant regard for transparency and the due process. It is in this regard that the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) accused President Olusegun Obasanjo of running three illegal accounts and operating, since 2003, a revenue formula unknown to the constitution. The three accounts, namely, export crude oil, excess petroleum profit tax, and excess royalty accounts are illegally maintained exclusively by the presidency, out of which $13.2billion has so far been withdrawn. Similarly, RMAFC stated that N16.8billion was paid as one per cent commission on the Paris Club debt, with the identity of the beneficiary shrouded in secrecy. However, investigations have revealed that the commission was actually paid to the junior brother of the immediate past minister of finance. Since the bubble has burst, in a swift face saving move, the finance minister was hurriedly moved from to the foreign affairs ministry, and the government has continue to keep sealed lips as if nothing is amiss, but in actual fact the is no way such a staggering amount will be paid without the express notification and permission of the president. Yet the government has not deemed it fit to call on the EFCC to investigate the financial scam. But for how long will government continue to play politics with the lives of millions of Nigerians? Is it not even curious that the foreign affairs minister will remain the chairperson of the Economic Management Team and would continue to carry out oversight responsibilities for the nation’s external institutions and transactions.  According to the revenue commission the three accounts are not only illegal, they have no status in law and are unknown to section 162(1) (2) (3) and (10) of the constitution, which provide that, “the Federation Account into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the Government of the Federation and shared among the three tiers of government on a formula approved by the National Assembly”. Hence the president is guilty of gross violation of the constitution by withdrawing money from the Federation Account which has a zero account status in law. This implies that all accruals to it must be shared in such a manner that no funds remains in the account after each month’s sharing. As if this is not bad enough, the presidency unilaterally adopted a revenue sharing formula that is unknown to the constitution.

It is imperative to underscore the fact that, the benchmark should be for the Federal Government and should not be imposed on the other beneficiaries of the federation account. The payment of the Paris Club debts was made directly from the excess crude oil account as against a Supreme Court judgment of April 5, 2002 which ruled that each debtor state should pay its own debt. The arbitrary manner in which these debts were paid, where states such as kaduna, katsina and Nassarawa that do not owe the Paris club any debts had their own portions of the excess proceeds that is federation account not disbursed to them. Also, the sum of $2.4billion disbursable to the 774 local governments who do not owe the Paris club anything was arbitrarily used to settle debts not owed by the local governments. The revenue commission equally stated that there was the curious one percent commission totaling $121,022,881.89 from the excess crude account. It does not seem logical for a debtor to increase his burden by paying incentives in form of commission to the beneficiary. So, why was the commission paid to the ministers’ junior brother? Is the commission not another name for gratification? Who actually authorized that the palm of this unknown character be greased? Is this how to follow the due process and fight? Certainly, this is what Fela calls Paddy-Paddy government.

Apart from the impropriety as well as total lack of transparency and honesty in financial matters, there is also the nagging defence contract scandal. The controversy trailing the award of a $250million contract to Israel’s Aeronautics Defence Systems is yet to settle as the various dramatis personae are running for cover. The key players in the deal allegedly inflated the contract by at least $100million, from all checks on the cost of the contract; the cost should not have been more than $150million. Apart from the high cost, there was the 10 per cent down payment as instructed by the presidency. The secret manner of tendering for the contract is also causing anguish among the officials that facilitated it. Companies that were excluded from participating in the tendering of bids for the contract have expressed grave misgivings over the matter.  In fact, the USA Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, met with top officials of the Nigerian Defense Ministry and complained over the secrecy associated with the contract tendering process from which American companies were blocked. The complaint by the ambassador came shortly after the US director of National Intelligence, Mr. John Negroponte, had expressed concern about the third agenda. Yet this is a government that pride itself as corrective administration that is bent on correcting the wrongs of the past, it has not shown any transparency, probity, accountability and has deliberately refused to follow the due process. And this is the same government that has repeatedly used both the ICPC and EFCC to hound perceived political enemies because of political vendetta to score a political point. These shady deals have demonstrated evidently that the Obasanjo led government is not serious about the whole issue of tackling the menace of corruption in the country. And instead of the government to speak up on the matter, it merely kept quiet to expressly show that it is business as usual. This is certainly not how to run a government. Apart from this the present administration has spent a whopping N310billion as fuel subsidy for 18 months and another N27million on tax collection without the approval of the National Assembly, this is indeed a government of anything is possible. We are suppose to be in a democracy, a government of the people, by the people and for the people but what we have in Nigeria today is government of few people at the corridors of power who are falling over themselves to milk the country dry. This government is not concerned about the plight of the masses; to them it is every man to himself, God for us all. It is as a result of this that the UNDP report says that over 70 per cent of the entire Nigerian population live on less than $1 per day. Or how else does one explain a situation where Nigeria which is the sixth largest oil producing country in the world is ranked amongst the 20 poorest countries in the whole world.

The so-called fight against corruption since 1999 has been selective, vindictive and counter-productive. There are so many cases of corruption that are either swept under the carpet or conveniently glossed over because corruption has more or less become the official policy of the state. For instance, what happened to the case of Mr. Makanjuola the former permanent secretary of the defense ministry that was relieved of his post as a result proven case of financial misappropriation of public funds? Investigations into the National Identity card scam were inconclusive and abruptly truncated for no known reason. The government of the day has also deliberately refused to implement recommendations contained in the Pius Okigbo report which indicted a former military president of misappropriating about $12.4billion oil windfall from the first Gulf war. The now famous trail of the former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun for financial impropriety shows that the way and manner the case was handled was a mockery of justice and travesty of the rule of law. The case of the N84billion fraud in NPA involving a chieftain of the PDP Chief Olabode George was left unattended to. The manner in which both the governors of Oyo and Bayelsa states were removed from office did not follow the due process and the rule of law.  What about 870million financial scam in INEC? What about the 320billion that was to Chief Anienh to construct roads between 1999 and 2003? What about funds that were released to FERMA under the headship of Adeseye Ogunlewe? What about shoddy handling of the Anambra state ill-fated political saga under Dr Chris Ngige? Again, the lid was blown of open as an un-usual request by the president from the FEC, when he brought loads of Ghana-Must-Go filled to the brim with documents, where he sought and got retroactive approval for all NNPC contracts that has been awarded and approved by him since 1999. What about the money that have paid to a prominent local contractor and well known member of the Ali-led faction of the PDP for the construction of roads in the south-eastern part of the country. Why has the government refused to probe the TAM of the refineries for which contractors were paid but the refineries failed to function, yet this contractors donated million of Naira to the president campaign funds both in 1999 and 2003?

Furthermore, a lot of questions need to be asked like, who has the largest share in Transcorp? Who has the largest in Virgin Nigeria? Who owns the N25billion Obajana cement factory? Who owns the Bells University of technology? Who really owns the Nicon group of companies? Who is the greatest financier of corporate Nigeria? What will happen to the billions of naira that was collected during the presidential library fund raising exercise? Who supplied the electronic voting machine and who are the beneficiaries? Until these questions are properly answered, all the noise about the fight against corruption is nothing but a wild-goose-chase. Much more important is the fact that the president has through these acts, committed impeachable offences for which he must be impeached.

By

Jide Ayobolu

Abuja-Nigeria.