Corruption And The Necessity For Probe -By Abachi Ungbo

Corruption thrived luxuriantly during former President Jonathan’s administration – the breadth confounded the nation as his successor beamed the searchlight into the dark tunnels through which it all happened. The former Minister of Petroleum – Diezani Madueke and the National Security Adviser- Sambo Dasuki easily became the administration’s face of corruption. Huge corruption proceeds were retrieved just as prosecutions were made. Though, many other cases are still lingering in courts.

It was a huge heist as the anatomy of the corruption was laid bare. Speaking in an event organized by the Youngstars Foundation Initiative (YFI) in commemoration of the 2017 international corruption day, Debbie Palmer – Head of the UK-DFID stated that Nigeria lost 32 billion dollars to corruption during the 6 years of the administration of President Jonathan. It clearly exemplified the whys and wherefores for the stifled development of the country despite being awash with huge resources.

It was in the early days of the former President Buhari’s administration and not a few cheerleaders were spurred by his action. It was a kind of an opening gambit that struck fear to the entire system. With that, it reinforced the legendary President Buhari’s allergy to corruption. The courage was applauded and hope and confidence grew anew of a new era of zero tolerance to corruption. Pathetically, that fizzled out as days wore on.

The fight against corruption lost considerable steam. It became entirely rigged with rhetoric than action. The administration simply gave up on its avowed fight against corruption. In fact, corruption became braver! The reverberation of bruits of corruption and sharp practices cast aspersion on the squeaky-clean reputation of the President.

The opinion of Bishop Matthew Kukah on corruption in the last administration which he expressed in his lecture at the celebration of the 60th Anniversary to the call to bar of Aare Afe Babalola was singularly brutal- he stated that “they were not the ones who caused corruption but I think in the last administration, we saw the ugliest phase of corruption whether in moral terms, financial terms and other terms.”

According to PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC), in its report on the Impact of Corruption on Nigeria (2016) “the loss to GDP from graft in Nigeria will climb to 37 percent by 2030 if left untamed.” It will really be scandalous for the current President to just carry on as though nothing untoward happened? Truth is, the nation has lost its defenses against corruption which has placed it, in a tailspin. It is the result of atrophic leadership which has consistently rocked the nation. And that underlined why no one envied the successor of President Buhari.

Though, there have been calls for probe since President Tinubu assumed power due to the huge stench of sleaze with the attendant cost to the nation. In my estimation, what is good against Jonathan should be good also against Buhari. Call to public service shouldn’t be seen as a call to the dining table.

Everyone should be made to account for their action or inactions when immunity expires. For instance, the nation needs to know more about the controversial Nigeria Air which the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika launched 48 hours to his exit. The entire process was not only shoddy but opaque with huge shroud of secrecy. It also necessary to look into the allegation that was amplified by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) on the unaccounted 2.1 billion dollars and 3.1 trillion-naira oil revenue and fuel subsidy payment between 2016 and 2019.

There have been so many disapprovals to the proposition of probe- which many consider diversionary and waste of precious little time but it is just way of achieving the following: Firstly, restoring sanity and hope; secondly, reclaiming all that was lost to a few people and thirdly, shedding light to situation that lacked clarity.

The points are predicated on the expectation that they will institute an acute awareness on the mind of public office holders on the absence of immunity against corruption which will practically serve as a deterrent. This brings to the fore the need for effective and quick prosecution of corruption cases; the cessation of mere slap on the wrist- which the nation has witnessed umpteen times; and the plugging of holes through which corruption take place. The place of strong leadership remains an important factor.

The housecleaning in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by the current administration is commendable and should be extended to other areas and personalities besmirched by corruption. The fight to uncovering the rot and mindless fraud must be carried with much seriousness, commitment and courage- that the former President failed to exhibit.

The President must demonstrate statesmanship and patriotism in dealing with not a few fellow party men in the last administration who are known to carry a huge badge of corruption. A selective fight will definitely smack of hypocrisy and that will lead nowhere.

Abachi Ungbo
abachi007@yahoo.com