Opinion: It’s time to re-focus Nigeria’s anti-corruption war

Two months from now, the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration would have spent one full year in office. One year is a long time for a visionary leader to assert his vision. Leaders are elected to solve problems with their vision and not to trade blame.

However, it does seem that the absence of a vision in the three areas, which sum up the president’s campaign promise, viz: Economy, Security and Corruption, have pushed the country to a free fall.

All economic indices are negative; insecurity has assumed newer dimensions and the anti-corruption media trial has not been scary enough to put off some people in the president’s kitchen cabinet from the allegations of pilfering and bribery.

Even those who have earned names as Lion of this, Lion of that, as a result of their proclivity for corruption are now anti-corruption champions in their little dens.

There is so much anti-corruption clatter on arrest and detentions, which now appear to be politically motivated in the eyes of keen observers.

On a high scale of probability, most of the high profile anti-corruption cases initiated by this administration would be lost on the ground of technicality and for lack of evidence, without reaching the threshold for standard of proof to secure criminal conviction. Perhaps, the reason the presidency is bent on sensational media trials is to ensure that it wins in the court of public opinion in the event that it loses in the law court.

That is dangerous.

It is dangerous because it would continue to project our judiciary in bad light. Remember, the judiciary ought to be the last hope of the masses, such that the common man would agree with the law courts that justice has been truly served.

This exactly was what Lord Chief Justice Hewart in the famous case of R v Sussex Justices was projecting when he said that “it is fundamentally important that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.”

Winning a case in media and losing it in the eyes of the law would only give credence to the president’s disdainful statement that the judiciary is the main stumbling block in his anti-graft war.

It’s obvious that the president needs help with a better strategy.

To win the war on corruption, the president needs to entreat the bench and the bar instead of fighting it. He needs to do so with the view to lobby and advocate for judges to set new judicial precedence that would transform the entire criminal prosecution of public office holders.

The president needs to also meet with top lawyers and Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) who would take up pro bono cases as state prosecutors. Lawyers always know the law and its loopholes. These lawyers can be compensated with some sort of national recognition or honors based on the number of convictions or plea bargain they secure.

To prosecute an unbiased anti-graft war, the president needs to focus on the three cash flow sectors of our economy. He needs to ensure he investigates and clean up the books in NNPC, Customs and FIRS. Above all, the banking sector requires a closer look.

Additionally, in order not to overstretch some of our anti-corruption agencies while leaving the others redundant, there is a need to democratize the prosecution process.

Anti-corruption agencies and institutions like Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Special Fraud Unit of Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) all need to have equal share of anti-graft war with full support of Presidency and State resources.

For instance, the EFCC could be directed to focus on investigating banks and other financial institutions and Money Laundering cases. The Special fraud Unit of NPF can take up the role of advance fee fraud from EFCC and focus solely in that area.

The ICPC can as well concentrate in investigating public officials involved in corruption related cases such as breach of public trust, mismanagement of public funds, Due process in awarding contracts etc. The CCB could concentrate in verification and investigation of assets declarations of public officials.

If all the agencies swing into action, there would be better inter agency cooperation in the anti-graft war. Ours would be a nation where people would be more careful, public accountability would be embraced and everyone would begin to work with the mindset of ‘equality before the law’.

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Opinion article written by Mbasekei Martin Obono

Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

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