Why more corruption cases may be lost —Falana

HUMAN rights lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, on Wednesday, predicted that more alleged corruption cases would still be lost if a radical departure from existing arrangements was not taken by the government.

He was the keynote speaker at the opening of two-day training of trainer programme under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).

While reviewing all the cases recently lost by the Federal Government, he absolved the judiciary and asked that the sing-song of corruption fighting back be stopped forthwith.

According to him, “following the loss of corruption cases last week, many civil society organisations have agreed with the Federal Government that corruption is fighting back.

“However, before pointing accusing fingers at the judiciary, it is pertinent to examine the facts and circumstances of the loss of such cases.

“In sharing my findings with representatives of the CSOs gathered here, I shall predict that the government stands to lose more corruption cases unless the it is prepared to reorganise the anti-graft agencies and review the anti-corruption policy in line with the proposals designed by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC).”

Assessing the point where the anti-corruption project was now deemed marooned, Falana said “as a string of court rulings against high profile corruption cases last week, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Buhari to ‘adopt a revolutionary approach to his government’s fight against corruption by referring high-level official corruption cases to the International Criminal Court for investigation and possible prosecution.’

“It may interest SERAP to know that I actually submitted a petition to the office of the Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in October 2015 on the same subject matter. My petition had alleged the commission of crime against humanity by military officers and other police officers who engaged in the criminal diversion of $15 billion earmarked for the procurement of arms and ammunition which led to the killing of over 25,000 people and the displacement of two million people by the Boko Haram sect.

“Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has also expressed concern over the loss of corruption cases by the Federal Government. While blaming the development on lack of proper investigation and poor prosecution, Chief Obasanjo asked the government to rely on ‘ogbologbo lawyers’ and stop the practice of farming out corruption cases to external lawyers.

“With profound respect, the ‘ogbologbo lawyers’ that President Obasanjo has in mind are no longer easy to come by. Hence, under the Obasanjo administration, both the ICPC and EFCC led by Justice Mustapha Akanbi (retd) and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu respectively engaged the services of external lawyers in the prosecution of many high profile cases. In fact, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, who has successfully prosecuted more corruption cases than any lawyer in Nigeria, is an external lawyer.

“Having reviewed the circumstances under which the corruption cases were lost by the Federal Government, I can say, without any fear of contradiction, that there is no basis for blaming the judiciary.

“It is also not a case of corruption fighting back. As far as I am concerned, the cases were lost due to official negligence and lack of inter-agency cooperation by the Federal Ministry of Justice, the anti-graft agencies and the State Security Service.”

Speaking on the capacity of the anti-graft agencies, he said the courts could not be blamed for the official negligence as well as lack of inter-agency collaboration and coordination of the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases by the Federal Government.

He lamented that on some occasions, the DSS had refused to produce accused persons in court without any reason whatsoever, a development he said had led to unnecessary delay in the prosecution of corruption cases.

“It is obvious that the Federal Government wants to eat omelet without breaking eggs. It won’t work. Was it not because the accused persons had put together teams of senior and experienced lawyers that the government decided to set up of a national prosecution agency? But, as no fund was made available to the agency, corruption cases have not been assigned to the members of the agency. With the virtual collapse of the agency, the anti-graft agencies have been left on their own,” he added.

Falana said as he did advocate in another forum last year, the military officers who diverted billions of dollars and naira earmarked for procurement of arms and armament should be charged before courts martial for the offences of aiding the enemy.

The human rights lawyer also said he had never prosecuted for the anti-graft agencies because of the lackadaisical attitude of government to the prosecution of corruption cases.

He also decried what he termed the media trial of criminal suspects and the official policy of opposing the bail applications of criminal suspects.

“While the concern of President Muhammadu Buhari is appreciated, it ought to be pointed out that without adequate funding of the anti-graft agencies and motivation of investigators and prosecutors, many more corruption cases are going to be lost to accused persons who have access to well prepared and well paid team of lawyers,” he added.

Falana equally asked the government to ensure there were no sacred cows in the fight against corruption, lamenting that the presidency had casually dismissed allegations of corruption and abuse of office by certain public officers.