Of Senate, Buhari and his men

ANYONE who doubted the sincerity of the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s fight against corruption should have had his doubt cleared by President Buhari’s reaction to two recent events. First was the purported indictment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. David Babachir, by the Senate for alleged inability to account for about N2.5 billion allocated to the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE) kept under his watch. He was also alleged to have awarded N273 million contract to Rholavision, a company he had substantial interest. The second event was the Senate’s refusal to confirm the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, as the substantive helmsman of the anti-graft commission. Relying on a security report by the State Security Services indicting Magu for alleged corrupt practices and professional misdemeanour, the Senate declined confirmation and asked President Buhari to send a fresh nominee for the position that had been vacant for over a year now, following the expiration of the tenure of Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde.

Expectedly, the events generated heightened public interests as social critics latched onto the allegations indicting the two key officials of the Buhari administration. Just as critics mounted the moral high horse to challenge the president to proceed against his men, he ordered further investigations into the alleged malfeasance, asking the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to get to the bottom of the matter. Opposition politicians who had accused the president of being selective in his fight against corruption must have been disappointed by his reaction. They had thought that he would toe his past line of defending his officials. For there had been allegations of corruption against two ministers of the administration. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and Minister of Solid Mineral Resources, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had both been various alleged to have misappropriated sundry sums running into billions of naira while holding sway as governors of Rivers and Ekiti States, respectively. But President Buhari’s reaction was that their accusers should approach the appropriate anti-corruption agencies for redress.

President Buhari would appear to have turned a new leaf with the latest development. He would, however, need to be careful not to unduly hurt his foot soldiers and subsequently isolate himself in his chosen task. For the Senate’s actions look more like a self-serving fight back against the executive arm of government that has been adamant on taking the war against corruption to the legislature. Following domestic and international public outcry over the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East of the country, the Senate decided to institute an enquiry into the worsening condition of the IDPs. It subsequently composed an ad-committee headed by Senator Shehu Sani from Kaduna State to look into the matter and make a return within two weeks or so. The committee went to work, visiting the IDP camps, interviewing stakeholders and considering memos from members of the public.  What should have been a noble assignment, however, degenerated into a witch-hunt.

There had been reports of serious humanitarian crises in the various IDP camps across the North East and Abuja. Relief materials, including foods and medicines meant for IDPs were not reaching them. Rather they were being found in open markets being illegally sold. The results were that the IDPs were starving. Malnutrition was ravaging the camps and basic needs, including shelter and water had become rare. The committee’s brief was to find out why these were happening and to suggest solutions to the problem. But what did it do?

First, it could not conclude its simple enquiry within time and decided to rush in an interim report. Why an interim report when it could have asked for more time to complete its work? Second, it betrayed its intention and the main reason for its composition by the indictment of the SGF and demanding his resignation or sack by the president.  In its interim report, the Shehu Sani committee, among others, reported that the PINE could not account for the N2.5 billion allocated to it to take care of IDPs and that the SGF corruptly enriched himself by awarding N273million contract to his company, Rholavision. Accusing the SGF of corruption, it called for his resignation, failing which the president should relieve him of his position. How the committee could have to come these conclusions even when it did not hear from the SGF is baffling. But the flourish with which the Senate received and considered the defective interim report betrayed the sinister motive behind the entire exercise.

It is a notorious fact that while the Senate has the constitutional power to carry out oversight over the activities of the executive and the judicial arms of government, such function must be exercised within the limits of due process of the law. PINE is an ad-hoc agency of the government under the SGF whose accounts are subject to audit by the Auditor-General of the Federation. The audit of federal agencies are done annually. As at November when the Senate committee was charged with its assignment the audit had not been concluded. How then could the Senate have come to the conclusion that the budgetary allocation to PINE could not be accounted for? Did the committee receive an interim report from the AGF stating that the ad-hoc agency had been found wanting? The Senate conclusions are to say the least, hasty.  Indeed, how do you proceed with a recommendation on an allegation, which consequence could be the termination of someone’s appointment without giving the person a chance to defend himself?

Given that these procedural lapses are too glaring to have escaped the distinguished Senate, it is necessary to look behind the veil to find out the real motive of the senators, at least the dominant ones. It should be obvious that the target is President Buhari. The intension is to embarrass and isolate him. If he could be blackmailed to drop his trusted aides, his government would soon become weakened as he would have to deal with less trustworthy hands, a situation that may see his administration under-perform far below the expectation of the people. It is, therefore, necessary for President Buhari to exercise caution in the handling of the corruption allegations levelled against Babachir and Magu by a Senate that has shown scant attention to worthy causes, including the fight against corruption.

• Omokioja, a public affairs analyst writes from Warri, Delta State.