A VERY strong view in enlightened quarters in this country since the incumbent administration led by President Goodluck Jonathan came on board is that it has been probes after probes in a bid to pull the country out of the dungeon of corruption. Yet, the more probe panels are instituted, the more the country is enmeshed in corruption. What with the allegations and counter allegations of bribery surrounding recent probe panels set up by the National Assembly. But one major question that continues to beg for answer in the face of these allegations is: Where are the country's anti-corruption agencies' Or have they eventually become overwhelmed'Available records have shown that virtually nothing positive has ever come out of any of such probes in the past.It will be recalled that the Godwin Elumelu-led House Committee on Power bungled a probe into Obasanjo's $13 billion Independent Power Project. Members of the committee were indicted in a N5.2 billion Rural Electrification Agency scandal.And as it seems, nothing would be heard again about the Elumelu Committee report which indicted Obasanjo in the way and manner his administration executed the multi-billion dollar power project.Also, a similar committee set up by the Lower chamber to probe the near collapse of the capital market ended in crisis when a N44 million bribery allegation led to the disbandment of the panel led by Hon. Herman Hembe.The Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunma Oteh, who made the allegation against the committee, had also stated that SEC provided monies for Hembe and his deputy to embark on a foreign trip to the Dominican Republic but the journey was not made and the estacode given them were not returned.In all of this, critical observers believe that the culture of impunity and corruption would continue so long as the present leadership of the EFCC continues to be in office. The contention is that the slide of the anti-graft agency to a toothless bulldog started since its pioneer chairman, Nuhu Ribadu was removed from office. Many argue that the era of Ribadu's successor, Farida Waziri has more to show than what the EFCC promises today.When Ibrahim Lamorde, the man at the helm of affairs assumed office, he said the commission needed an internal cleansing and promised to carry out the exercise as a first step to repositioning the agency. But the question is: Since Lamorde assumed office, how many of EFCC officers has he prosecuted for compromising standard as he promised.Many are wondering that rather than get down to work in the fight against corruption, the EFCC is chasing shadows and playing politics with corruption. Nigerians are patiently waiting for the anti-graft agency to begin to aggressively tackle the issue of corruption. However, a greater percentage of Nigerians do not have faith in the current leadership of the EFCC. The expectation was that having been a part of the system all these years, Lamorde would have been the ideal man for the plum job but as it is, he has certainly not lived up to his billing.For many, no other time is better than now for President Goodluck Jonathan to fight the cancer of corruption pervading the country. In the estimation of many, the leaderships of the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) need to be sanitised for effectiveness.The thinking in many quarters is that even with the overwhelming evidence from the recent scam in the House of Representatives, the EFCC would still hardly do anything to convince Nigerians that it can fight corruption.Recall that recently, the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and states and local governments also came up with very revealing report on the scam going on in the Nigerian Police Pension Fund. Many are surprised that rather than work on the report, everybody who testified in the Senate Committee is being harassed by the anti-graft agency.A major casualty of the questionable efforts of the EFCC seems to be the former Director, Pension Administration in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Sani Teidi Shuaibu who was a principal witness in the pension probe. The EFCC claimed it recovered about N2 billion from Shuaibu and many find it difficult to believe it and are still wondering where the money is.The questions begging for answers include: why is it that everybody who testified in the Senate committee on the pension fund is being harassed' What has the former Director, Pension Administration, Dr. Shuaibu who was a principal witness during the pension saga done that the EFCC is after him' Is it not possible that it may be a ploy to silence him since he knows so much about what happened to the pension fund'Recently, Nigerians were treated to a theatre of the absurd with revelations of how the pension fund running into trillions of naira went down the drain. One of the Directors of Police Pension Board who is standing trial over alleged N32.8 billion fraud, Chief Esai Dangabar claimed that some Senators collected N8 illion bribe from him. While many argue that it may not be impossible that his claim may have some element of truth, a greater percentage argue that it may be his smart way of putting the Senate panel on the defence.The Senate had asked the embattled director to be bold to mention the names of all the National Assembly members who shared from the alleged N8 billion bribe. Dangabar, who is standing trial along with five others for complicity in the pension fraud, claimed that members of Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Pension were beneficiaries of the N8 billion withdrawn from Police Pension Funds in 2009.According to a statement he made available to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on February 14, 2012, Dangabar said that part of N8.9 billion withdrawn between January 5, 2009 and December 23, 2009 was used to settle members of the Police Pension Committees of the National Assembly. He claimed that the purpose was to get the Police Pension Fund's budget passed by the lawmakers. But many argue that it is not enough to come up with such allegation if one is not ready with concrete proof.Part of the drama were the allegation and altercation between the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service and states and local governments, and Pension Reform Task Team, (PRTT), headed by AbdulRasheed Maina over N2 billion bribe.
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