What is Tinubu’s anti-corruption agenda?

Last week, I was in the ancient city of Kano for the fourth edition of the Annual Kano Social Influencers Summit, #Kansis23. I had attended the inaugural edition of the summit four years ago and was privileged to be invited again this year to speak on, “Working as Influencers: Challenges, Successes and Reflection.” There were many other speakers. Some of them included the Executive Director of Primera Africa Legal, Maryam Uwais, who spoke on gender corruption and accountability; a scholar in the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Dr Bala Muhammed, who presented on “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Narratives On Social Media Uses”; Executive Director of AFRIMIL, Dr Chido Onumah, whose presentation was on how social media can help whistleblowers. The two-day event, held on October 25 and 26, 2023, was organised by the Centre for Information Technology and Development with funding support from the MacArthur Foundation and other partners.

Also in attendance at the event were academics, students, researchers, social influencers, development workers, media practitioners, traditional and religious leaders to mention a few. There were several plenary and break-out sessions. My visit to Kano last week enabled me to once again familiarise myself with the Hausa and Fulani culture. Kano has the highest population in Nigeria according to the National Population Commission and also has the highest number of local government areas which is 44. The people are very warm and hospitable. Kano is the home of theatre and movies known as Kannywood. Among the illustrious sons of Kano are the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, and his arch business rival, Abdulsamad Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group. The current National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Dr Umar Ganduje, is the immediate-past governor of the state while his arch political rival, Musa Kwankwanso, is the leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and also former governor of the state. Kano is also the home of the notable politician, Aminu Kano, whom the state’s international airport is named after.

Interestingly, the state is more peaceful than many of its neighbours that are plagued with banditry such as Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina. I used the opportunity of the summit to go round the town and feel the pulse of the people. Among the places visited included the Bayero University, Kano (both temporary and permanent sites), Igwe’s Palace, which is a notable restaurant in the Sabon Gari area of the town and the Yusuf Maitama Sule University where the KANSIS held. It is noteworthy that the social infrastructure in the state has improved since my last visit in 2020.

For the benefit of those who may not know, Investopedia describes corruption as dishonest behaviour by those in positions of power. Those who abuse their power may be individuals or they may belong to organisations, such as businesses or governments. Corruption can entail a variety of actions, including giving or accepting bribes or inappropriate gifts, double-dealing, and defrauding investors. Transparency International defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. TI says, “Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis. Exposing corruption and holding the corrupt to account can only happen if we understand the way corruption works and the systems that enable it.”

In 2022, Nigeria ranked 150 out of 180 countries in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Listening to various speakers at the Social Influencers Summit last week brought to fore once again the need to wage serious war against corruption if at all we want to overcome our development challenges.  There was a consensus from the summit that Nigeria isn’t doing well in the fight against corruption. This is buttressed by our current ranking on the CPI as well as the culture of impunity around the embezzlement of public resources by political office holders and their civil servant collaborators. Under the Tinubu administration, there is already swirling rumour that some of the recent appointments being made were actually paid for by the beneficiaries. It is important to note that corruption is not all about bribery or misappropriation of funds. Abuse of office, exchange of sex for jobs, appointments or admission, unmerited favours granted to people, contract splitting and inflation of cost of projects, cheating of customers by traders, are all part of corrupt practices. So there is petty corruption and grand corruption. However, people focus more on grand corruption among government officials while overlooking their own sharp practices.

Since 1999, each administration has done one thing or the other to fight corruption. Olusegun Obasanjo’s government set up the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission in 2001, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2003. Umaru Yar’Adua did well to fight political corruption by sanitising our electoral process through legal reforms. Remember the popular Muhammad Uwais Electoral Reform Committee set up in August 2007 which submitted its report in December 2008. It was from this report that Yar’Adua initiated constitutional and electoral reforms that birthed financial and administrative autonomy for the Independent National Electoral Commission, set timelines for electoral dispute resolution, and enhanced transparency and accountability in the electoral process.

Dr Goodluck Jonathan initiated the Treasury Single Account, Bank Verification Number, and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System. Muhammadu Buhari implemented all of these and passed some pieces of anti-corruption legislation and came up with the Whistleblower Policy. What does President Bola Tinubu want to do in the area of anti-corruption which is one of his eight point Renewed Hope Agenda? Thus far he has eased off the leadership of the ICPC and EFCC in controversial circumstances and replaced them promptly. The removal of Abdulrasheed Bawa was particularly untidy and reprehensible. The young man from Kebbi State was suspended, arrested and detained for over four months without trial. He was only released last week. No charges were preferred against him in any court despite the purported weighty allegations that led to his suspension in the first place. This followed the same sequence as his predecessors namely: Nuhu Ribadu, Farida Waziri, Ibrahim Lamorde, and Ibrahim Magu.

On October 18, 2023, the Senate screened and confirmed Ola Olukoyede and Mohammed Hamajoda as the new EFCC chairman and secretary respectively. This was despite the popular belief that the new chairman did not have 15 years cognate experience in any of the security and anti-corruption agencies. I wish him well and hope he will be able to avoid the banana peel that has been the Achilles heel of previous chairmen. Another appointment which the president made that is heart-warming is that of   Mr Shaakaa Chira as the substantive Auditor-General of the Federation, as recommended by the Federal Civil Service Commission. That position has been vacant for about 18 months. The office of the Auditor General is another anti-corruption position.

It is advised that President Tinubu do the following: Initiate electoral reform to fight political corruption and electoral fraud like Yar’Adua did, initiate the passage of Whistleblower law to protect the anti-corruption vanguards, ensure that all our anti-corruption agencies, including the Code of Conduct Bureau, are well resourced.