Buhari as Africa anti-corruption czar

“Corruption and its effects have many sides. It poses real threat to national security, unity and survival of the African State and people. The African Union Agenda 2063, under Aspiration 3 recognises that corruption erodes the development of a universal culture of good governance, democratic values, gender equality, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of the law.”

– President Muhammadu Buhari in his speech at the launch of 2018 as the African Anti-Corruption Year on January 28, at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It was the first time that the African Union will declare a year-long fight against corruption. To lead the assault, the AU on July 4, 2017, at its 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa unanimously endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari. Was this a meritorious appointment? Is there no better African leader to lead the fight against corruption in Africa? How has Buhari fared at the home front? What are the hurdles the President has to scale to succeed in this onerous task?

On Monday, January 29, I was a guest analyst on this topic on Business News at 3pm on the Nigerian Television Authority. However, the programme’s duration was too short to examine the entire parameters of this assignment hence my decision to pen this thought.

To my own mind, Buhari’s appointment is laudable. That the endorsement was unanimous speaks volumes. It shows the trust and confidence that the African leaders have in our President. It is a recognition of his administration’s efforts and commitment in fighting corruption in Nigeria. Recall that this government came to power on a three-point agenda of fighting corruption, insecurity and revamping the economy. I concede the fact that the war against corruption in the country is far from being won. However, while we may not be where we ought to be, we are not where we used to be. It will be uncharitable to say that this administration has not done anything or achieved much in terms of the onslaught against corruption.

Recently, while responding to some allegations by former President Olusegun Obasanjo against the incumbent administration, the spokesperson for the government who is also the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, inter alia: “Our determined implementation of the Treasury Single Account has stopped the haemorrhaging of the treasury. Some N108bn has been saved from removal of maintenance fees payable to banks, pre-TSA. The nation is being saved N24.7bn monthly with the full implementation of the TSA.  The elimination of ‘ghost workers’ has saved the nation N120bn.”

As part of the measures to fight corruption, the Federal Government in December 2016 came up with the Whistle-blower Policy. According to the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, as of July 2017, over 5,000 reports had been made through various reporting channels, 365 actionable tips were received out of the 5,000 reports. She said that over half of the reports came from public servants. The minister noted that the tips related to issues of contract inflation, ‘ghost workers’, illegal recruitment and misappropriation of funds. Others, according to her, included illegal sale of government assets, diversion of revenues and violation of the TSA regulations.

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, said on Monday, during the 2018 budget defence at the House of Representatives, total asset recoveries by the anti-graft agency amounted to more than N473bn, $98million, €7million, and £294,000 among others between January and December 2017. Under this administration, an unprecedented number of Very Important Personalities including Politically Exposed Persons have been arrested and currently being prosecuted in various courts across the country. These include former governors, ministers, commissioners, heads of departments and agencies, party chairmen, legislators and even judges.

As a measure of support for the administration’s anti-corruption drive, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen, on September 18,  2017, announced the creation of a special court for corruption cases while the Justice Suleiman Galadima-led Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee was also established.

On the flip side, not many convictions have been secured by the anti-corruption agencies.  The EFCC in particular has been widely accused of shoddy investigations and lack of diligent prosecution. The commission has also been indicted of shadowboxing, engaging in a witch hunt and media trial. This administration has equally been accused of double standard in the fight against corruption. According to Senator Shehu Sani, a lawyer and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress from Kaduna State, “When it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly and the Judiciary and in the larger Nigerian sectors, the President uses insecticide, but when it comes to fighting corruption within the Presidency, he uses deodorants.” This observation was made in respect of the President’s tardiness in handling of the corruption allegations against the immediate past Secretary to the Federal Government, Babachir David Lawal. Other corruption scandals that have rocked this administration include the “Mainagate”, Kachikwu versus Baru face-off over the NNPC contracts and the indictment of the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, by a report of the Department of State Services leading to his non-confirmation by the Senate.

Back to the continental assignment to champion the fight against corruption, President Buhari has his job cut out for him. He did acknowledge the Herculean task ahead of him and has promised to do his best. Among others, the President observed that “strong institutions are a necessary condition in any society which aims to fight corruption. In building strong national and regional institutions, we must adequately empower our national anti-corruption agencies and insulate them from political influence. We have to encourage increased institutional collaboration between law enforcement agencies and anti-corruption agencies in order to win this fight.”

That is spot on! The President was also on point when he noted that a judiciary which stands firm against arbitrariness and injustice by the executive is a vital pillar in the anti-corruption fight.

The three priority areas the President intends to pursue this year are: To organise African Youth Congresses against Corruption, in order to sensitise and engage our youths to the fight against corruption; to mobilise  all African Union Member States to implement the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, and  lastly, to advocate  the strengthening of the criminal justice system across Africa through exchange of information and sharing best practices in the enforcement of anti-corruption laws.

Perhaps, if these are faithfully implemented, the estimated $50bn being lost annually on the continent to corruption will be halted. The big questions are:  Will African leaders walk the talk? Will they give maximum support and cooperation to the leader of the crusade? Will the crusader also tighten the nuts and bolts of the anti-corruption war in his home country? Time will tell.