Corruption war: A flash in the pan?

SALIU GBADAMOSI, in this report assesses the war on corruption especially since the inception of this administration, noting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts are commendable but the journey is still a long way away from victory.

THERE is no doubt that corruption has become so entrenched in Nigeria today to the extent that it has eaten so deep into the very fabric of the society. Though every Nigerian knows there is corruption, which Transparency International defines as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain,” many Nigerians view the menace largely from the lenses of public office holders without considering the involvement and roles being played by individuals, including civil servants, among others.

The situation was so bad that a former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently described Nigeria as «fantastically corrupt». Little wonder then that corruption was an issue in the country›s last general election, which ushered in the current government at the centre.

In the view of a Yenagoa-based legal practitioner, Abdul Muhammed, corruption is particularly problematic in Nigeria for two reasons. Firstly, it is bold to the extent that rather than existing as an under-the-table activity, corruption in Nigeria is on full display on the table. The second reason is that it has become so commonplace and so pervasive that acting in a corrupt manner has become the rational choice.

“By this I mean to say that the situation is such that if you are a rational person you are more likely than not to act corruptly because everyone is doing it and you have to reckon that if you didn’t do it then you will be the loser. This is a stark and serious situation but this does not mean that corruption cannot be defeated,” the human rights lawyer told the Sunday Tribune.

How did we get to this sorry state?

Despite efforts aimed at curbing corruption by successive administrations, the country was as of 2012 estimated to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since independence on October 1, 1960. The figure certainly must have leapt triple fold with the sleaze coming out in the last two years.

The incursion of the military into governance in the country, which more or less coincided with the country›s oil boom era, is believed in some quarters to have given life to corruption in the country.

There were instances during the military era where cases of official corruption were in the public domain. Some powerful individuals, including some federal commissioners and governors during the administration of General Yakubu Gowon were fingered in certain corrupt cases. The situation was «so bad» then that one of the major steps taken by the General Murtala Mohammed-led administration was to purge the public administration, including the civil service, of some corrupt element. The General Olusegun Obasanjo administration, which was an offshoot of the Murtala administration followed in the footsteps of its predecessor but it was not without its own issue of corruption.

Corruption assumed an «alarming» dimension in the Second Republic when Alhaji Usman Shehu Shagari became the country›s first Executive President. In fact, it was so pervasive during the administration with many tale tell stories coming out after the administration was kicked out by the military. Some «mysterious» fire incidents that engulfed some public buildings were said to be a direct consequence of corrupt practices. Corruption was one of the excuses given for the coup that brought in the succeeding administration of General Muhammadu Buhari.

Between December 31, 1983 and August 27, 1985 that the Buhari military administration lasted, many politicians and some civil servants were convicted of corrupt practices and jailed. Some of these were slammed with as much as 100 year jail term! The administration was not without its own corruption cross, particularly the Murtala Mohammed Airport›s 53 suitcases saga of 1984 at a time there was currency change exercise going on in the country.

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida administration which succeeded General Buhari could not account for the Gulf War windfall estimated to be in the region of $12.4 billion. The period between August 1985 and August 1993 saw the emergence of some nouveau riche in the land, some of whom were allegedly fronting for top military personnel, mostly in government.

Nigeria and indeed Nigerians in general did not know the level of corruption under the watch of the late General Sani Abacha until his death in 1998. Abacha was in the saddle between November 1993 and June 1998. Huge sums of money have been recovered so far by the Nigerian government as ‘Abacha loot,’ though some are yet to be repatriated to the country even 19 years after his demise.

Though the administration of General Abubakar Abdulsalami, who succeeded Abacha, was very short – June 1998 to May 1999, the Halliburton scandal which is yet to be completely resolved till date remains the sore point of the administration.

The fourth republic experience

The second coming of Obasanjo, this time as civilian President, on May 29, 1999 signaled the advent of the Fourth Republic in the country. By the time the Owu, Ogun State-born Obasanjo came back, things, including corruption had so much degenerated in the country. Despite the fact that the administration gave official bite to fighting corruption with the establishment of anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC), there were yet some corruption questions hanging on the neck of the administration. An instance is the Siemens bribery scandal. The former President was accused of making attempts to bribe members of the National Assembly with huge sums of money in lobbying them with a view to amending the constitution to accommodate his alleged third term bid.

Though the anti-corruption agencies, particularly EFCC, were seen as a tool deployed by the Obasanjo administration to fighting its enemies, they were undoubtedly a bold move by the administration to tackle the menace of corruption in the country.

President Umaru Musa Yar›Adua was not allowed by ill-health, which eventually led to his death, to be really assessed. However, his administration was noted to some extent frustrated some local and international investigations into some corruption cases. This was mostly carried out by the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Aondakaa. A particular case in mind here is that of a former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, who EFCC could not secure his conviction in Nigeria but was eventually jailed in Britain where he was tried and convicted by the British police.

A major reason attributed to the failure of the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan government in the 2015 elections was the allegation of high level of corruption under his watch. For instance, under the watch of the Jonathan administration, Nigeria›s ranking in the Transparency International›s Corruption Perceptions Index improved from 143rd to 136th in the world in 2014.

Sometimes in 2013, the then Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido, wrote a letter to the then President Jonathan, informing that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit US$20 billion in oil revenues owed to the state. This was seen as the main reason Sanusi was removed from the Apex bank by the Jonathan administration, which vehemently dismissed the then CBN Governor›s claim. The government ordered a forensic audit of the NNPC accounts. On the completion of the audit, the Jonathan administration shortly before the 2015 general election announced that NNPC›s non-remitted revenue was actually US$1.48 billion, as against the $20billion that Sanusi claimed and directed the corporation to refund same to the government coffers.

The Buhari anti-corruption war

The Buhari Tsunami that swept through the country during the 2015 elections was seen as a turning point in the fight against corruption in the country. With fighting corruption as part of his electioneering mantra, the expectation on the administration was high. With Buhari›s legendary statement that we have to kill corruption before corruption kills the country, no one is expecting anything short of a total and complete all-encompassing war against the menace from his administration.

With his second coming, Nigerians heard shocking revelations of how the people›s commonwealth was pillaged by a few Nigerians. The investigations of the arms deal under the last administration have brought former National Security Adviser Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd), former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh; former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Adesola Amosu; former Chief of Naval Staff, Air Marshal Jibrin Usman, among others under scrutiny.

Even officials and some chieftains of the then ruling People›s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Jonathan administration were arrested and charged to court over corruption. Some of Jonathan›s ministers like the then Ministers of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison Maduekwe; Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, Federal Capital Territory Minister, Bala Mohammed, among others, have either today made refunds of huge sums of money or are being prosecuted.

The Buhari administration has also said it has been able to block certain loopholes through which government funds were being looted with the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

Institutionalised corruption 

The depth of institutional corruption in the country remain largely suggestive until recently when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released its first ever large-scale household survey on corruption which estimates the total amount of bribes paid to public officials amount to $4.6 billion in purchasing power.

While the report, which sampled 33,000 households across the country about whether they had been asked to pay a bribe and complied between June 2015 and May 2016, identified the police as the most corrupt public servants, the judiciary ranked second in the survey. According to the NBS› report,  “Of all adult Nigerians who had direct contact with a police officer in the 12 months prior to the survey, almost half (46.4%) paid that officer at least one bribe.”

The report noted that a third of Nigerian adults who had contact with public officials in the period under review reported cases where bribes were solicited or paid to a public official, noting that on the average, Nigerians pay six bribes per year or one every two months. The bribes were paid to facilitate bureaucratic tasks or to avoid paying fines and avoid payment of public utility. The report found that almost 70 per cent of bribes collected by public officials were paid for a service to be rendered.

What the NBS report brought to fore was that while attention has been given to large scale corruption cases, including government contracts, involving top government officials and politicians, there are institutionalised corruption cases involving other public officials which remain unattended to. Perhaps these cases were being regarded as a «normal and every day» occurrence.

Sadly, NBS’ report also suggests that the corruption is not in any hurry to go away soon from the Nigerian society. This is premised on the fact that Nigerians do not report demands and payments of bribe, informing that only 3.7 per cent of the survey samples reported demand and payment of bribery to the authorities. This, the report attributed to the lack of faith in the ability or willingness of the authorities to take any action.

What is being done right or wrong

As it is today, most Nigerians, if not all, are aware of corruption. Though it was an open secret that corruption was in the land, the level of awareness now is so high. What is debatable, however, if whether the fight against corruption by the Buhari administration is being fought well or not.

The administration is believed in some quarters to be doing well in terms of fighting corruption, while some believe the fight is selective and mainly targeted against opposition figures. What, however, remains  indisputable is the fact that the anti-corruption stance of the administration is yielding some results in terms of recoveries of looted funds, particularly with its introduction of the whistle blowing policy, which has led to some recovery of funds.

Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu recently informed that «In the area of prosecution of cases in court, we are also making progress despite the antics of some persons accused of grand corruption to delay trial. The potentials for improvement are good as more cases are brought to conclusion in the remaining four months of the year.»

According to him, despite the successes recorded so far, the anti-corruption commission was not resting on its oars, declaring that there are still a lot to be done, arguing that there is the need for every Nigerian to be involved in the fight against corruption, which he noted had never been tough like it is.

A member of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACA), Professor Femi Odekunle, while reviewing government efforts, stated on a recent television programme that the fight against corruption by the present government is not dying down, saying that people should give credit to the President for the political will for engaging in the war. He described the recent treaties signed by Buhari with some countries known to harbour Nigeria’s looted funds as a means of engaging in better and faster ways of recovery the funds.

He added that the President had also set up a prosecution centre, which was to enhance prosecution of high-profile cases, adding that under the Buhari administration, Nigerians are now more aware of the depth of corruption in the country, saying this could not have happened if the administration did not take up the fight.

“You cannot deny the advantages we›ve got from the TSA. You cannot deny the advantages we›ve got from the blockage of certain loopholes. You cannot deny the fact that Nigerians are now more aware of corruption because people knew there was corruption but they never knew the depth of it that one individual could have 50 houses; that one minister of petroleum would be in billions of naira and dollars,” he stated.

Flash in the pan?

Professor Odekunle in his assessment of the anti-corruption war is of the opinion that: “This war against corruption is not a battle you can fight one day and win; it is a war which has series of battles which can last five, 10, 20 years,” adding that corruption started seriously in the country in 1986 and got exacerbated in 1999 when Nigeria returned to civilian rule. According to him, corruption is not a battle but a war.

For Muhammed, the Yenagoa-based lawyer, so long as the prosecution service in Nigeria is ineffective, “then we cannot win against corruption. The prosecution system is poor, the prosecutors are not enough, the prosecutors do not make the prosecution decisions and the prosecutors suffer a deficit of credibility where it matters the most – before the courts. So whatever is achieved cannot be sustained.”