Lanre Adewole, in this report, examines the state of the nations anti-graft war in the aftermath of the just concluded general election.IN his days as Chairman of theEconomic and Financial CrimesCommission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, with a strong backing from former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was credited with attempts to stop perceived corrupt politicians from seeking public offices through the 2007 election.Though some sources raised doubts about the sincerity of the move which generated serious controversy, those in government had consistently defended the bid as a move meant to isolate those described as tainted politicians from holding public offices.Before the judiciary shot down the list of the Ribadu/Obasanjo indicted politicians, who had been barred by an administrative panel of inquiry headed by the former Solicitor General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Professor Ignatius Ayua, cries of witch-hunt by the affected politicians had reached a decibel. Thus, when the courts eventually pronounced the 135-man list illegal, massive public sympathy had almost hit the stratosphere for those on the list. Many of them went ahead to win elections in the 2007 election.Whatever shred of credibility that outlived the exercise was completely torn when one of the prominent persons on the indicted list, former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, became Ribadus political godfather for the last presidential election, sponsoring his former accuser on his political platform, the Action Congress of Nigeria.While submitting the corruption list to the then Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC}, Ribadu had said It is time for us to go after corrupt officials. These same people campaigning were the ones that piled up N30 billion debts for us. Now, they have seen that it has been cleared and we now have N30 billion in our foreign reserve, they want to come and throw a party with it. We will never let them. They will never touch it.Among those who made the list but still went ahead to win their election were: the then out-going Enugu State governor, Chimaroke Nnamani who was number 33 on the list of indicted candidates in 2007. Apart from winning his senatorial election, he also installed incumbent Governor Sullivan Chime, number eight on the list; then outgoing Governor Orji Kalu of Abia, who won the gubernatorial election for the incumbent, Governor Theodore Orji, who was then in EFCC detention, with Theodore Orji himself being on the list as Kalus Chief of Staff then.Others included the then out-going Governor Saminu Turaki of Jigawa, who was number 35 on the said list but ended up winning a Senate seat, and installed the incumbent Governor Sule Lamido. Out-going Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State was number 24 on the list but ended up winning a second term in 2007, and so was ex- governor George Akume of Benue State who, despite being on the list, won himself a Senate seat in 2007 and guided the incumbent Gabriel Suswan to victory.Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was number 14 on the list and was almost stopped by the Ribadu/Obasanjo camp, but he was eventually installed as governor by the Supreme Court, which held that he was the lawful candidate of the PDP despite Obasanjos opposition.Ribadus list could also not stop outgoing Borno State governor, Alli Modu Sheriff, from winning a second term in 2007 despite being number 22 on the list, while the next to him on the list, Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, became so popular after being listed as corrupt by Ribadu that he beat the ruling party to become governor in 2007. His erstwhile godson and current FCT minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, who was number 45 on the list, strolled to the Senate on massive public goodwill, with former Zamfara State governor, Sani Ahmed, also landing in the Senate despite being number 47 on the said list, while the trio of Emmanuel Obot; number 63, Abbass Braimoh; number 37, and Patricia Ajudua; number 116, made it to the House of Representatives.Enter Farida Waziri, Ribadus successor, who is making her own efforts to stop perceived corrupt politicians from continuing to be in charge of the nations commonwealth. She must have taken her cue from the illegality that hallmarked her predecessor-in-offices anti-corruption campaign by limiting herself to those that were being prosecuted by the commission and instead of seeking to illegally stop them from contesting the polls, Waziri simply took their cases to the public opinion courts by releasing a list of high profile cases of politically-exposed persons being prosecuted by the commission termed as EFCC Advisory List by the media, which also became controversial.Though frowned on by the supervising Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, the tactics seemed to have worked wonders for the anti-corruption campaign, given the defeat that the affected politicians suffered in the just concluded 2011 general elections which were generally viewed to be free and fair with the peoples votes believed to have counted.Some of those on the Ribadu list who laughed last in 2007 were victims of peoples votes in the just concluded elections. Chimaroke Nnamani, who is facing a 105 count corruption charge for allegedly embezzling N5.3 billion public funds lost the Enugu West Senatorial seat to Gilbert Nnaji; Orji Kalu, being prosecuted by Faridas EFCC on a 107-count for allegedly embezzling N5 billion, was defeated by Senator Uche Chukwumerije for the Abia North Senatorial District seat, while Senator Saminu Turaki lost the Jigawa North-West Senatorial District seat to Danladi Sankara, while a 32-count charge of fraudulent embezzlement of N36 billion is still hanging on his neck.Rev Jolly Nyame, a former governor of Taraba State who is being prosecuted on a 41 count charge of corruption and fraudulent embezzlement to the tune of N1. 3 billion was dusted by Aisha Jummai Alhassan for a senatorial seat in Taraba, while Boni Haruna, a former governor of Adamawa State, being prosecuted by the EFCC at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a 28-count charge of corruption and fraudulent embezzlement to the tune of N250 million, lost the Adamawa North senatorial seat.Tolorunjuwon Joseph Faniyi, former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in Kogi State, is being tried over an alleged N536 million, losing twice to Senator Smart Adeyemi at the Kogi West senatorial PDP primaries and the main elections on April 9, 2011 after he defected to the CPC, with Ayo Fayose, deposed governor of Ekiti State suffering same fate by losing the Ekiti Central Senatorial election to Babafemi Ojudu.He is facing a 51-count corruption charge for allegedly embezzling N1.2 billion, while Mohammed Sadiq, a former Director of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), who is being prosecuted for his alleged role in the 17.5 million euro Siemens bribery scam, lost the gubernatorial primary election of the CPC in Bauchi, with the same fate befalling Attahiru Bafarawa, former governor of Sokoto State, who is being prosecuted by the EFCC at the Federal High Court, Sokoto, on a 47-count charge of corruption and fraudulent embezzlement to the tune of N15 billion. He was a presidential aspirant under the ACN in the 2011 elections and lost to Nuhu Ribadu.Obasanjos daughter, Iyabo, was also not spared by the electorate. She was trounced by Gbenga Obadara for the Ogun Central Senatorial seat, while her 56-count charge prosecution for an alleged N10 million fraud by the commission continues, with Nicholas Ukachukwu, who is being prosecuted by the EFCC alongside former governor Abdullahi Adamu on a 149 count charge of corruption and fraudulent embezzlement to the tune of N15 billion, suffering a similar fate. He lost the PDP ticket for the Anambra West Senatorial South to Andy Uba, just like Senator Nicholas Ugbane who lost the PDP governorship ticket in Kogi while still being prosecuted by EFCC over the N5.2 billion Rural Electrification Agency scam, did. The list is alm ost endless.Reacting to the advisory list, the commissions spokesperson, Mr. Femi Babafemi, had said that For the avoidance of doubt, the EFCC has repeatedly emphasised that it does not have the power to ban or disqualify any person from contesting for a public office and does not intend to embark on actions outside its responsibility. The commission, under its present leadership, has been working, and remains fully committed to working strictly within the rule of law.The list is neither a covert nor overt strategy, intention, ploy nor agenda of the EFCC to arrogate to itself the power of a law court. What the list simply represents is a public disclosure of the gamut of its prosecutorial efforts in the war against corrupt practices, information that has since remained in the public domain for several months.The EFCC, contrary to some selfish claims by a few people, is not seeking to convict aspirants before being pronounced guilty by a law court. In what way will a list that has been in the public sphere achieve the purpose of a conviction The truth of the matter is that, those who have no quarrel with the lion have no need to fear its fatal claws! The innocent need not be jittery. The EFCC is doing its job and should be appreciated for doing so creditably.We do not have any control over what interests the media nor how they do their job, neither do we determine who a political party fields for an election. It is left for any political party to determine the level of integrity of candidates it presents for an election. It is rather unfortunate that at a time when all efforts should be geared towards raising the bar against corruption in Nigeria in a way that will positively affect the global rating of the country, some persons can still be found to be taking sides with the cankerworm that has given our nation so much negative publicity.
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