Making the ministerial list in spite of
graft allegations against some of the nominees, according to analysts,
is a reflection of the double standard approach to President Muhammadu
Buhari’s anti-corruption war, writes FISAYO FALODI
The excitement that trailed President
Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to kill corruption in Nigeria before the
menace finally kills the country started declining on Tuesday following
the opening of the envelop that contained the names of the first batch
of the ministerial nominees by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
This was after the mixed feelings that greeted the submission of the
list to the Senate on September 30, 2015, four months after Buhari took
the oath of office to beat the September deadline the President had
earlier promised.
It
will be recalled that before the list was submitted to the senate,
several names, who later made the ministerial list, had been bandied
around as the likely personalities that would form the change team that
Buhari had on several occasions promised to unfurl to assist him to
build a new Nigeria where corruption and poverty, among others, would be
tackled and detested.
But to the consternation of some
commentators who had initially taken Buhari seriously for his promise to
work with technocrats, former governors and others whose previous
public lives were characterised with allegations bordering on corruption
and mismanagement of public resources, made the list.
The commentators have yet to come to
terms with the yardstick(s) for considering them worthy for appointment
as ministers because of the moral burden against some of them. They
wondered whether President Buhari was planning to appoint them based on
merit or to compensate them for contributing to his success in the last
general elections.
As revealed by the senate, however, the
names on the list are: a former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde
Fashola; a former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; the All
Progressives Congress Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammed; a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami; a former defence chief,
Abdurahman Dambazau; a former APC governorship candidate in Taraba
State, Aisha Alhassan; and a former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi
Amaechi.
Others are a former Anambra State
Governor, Dr. Chris Ngige; Adebayo Shittu, Udo Udoma, Ibrahim Jibril,
Solomon Dalong, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Amina Ibrahim, Dr. Osagie Ehaneri,
Emmanuel Kachukwu and Mr. Suleiman Adamu.
Also on the list are Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Ahmed Musa Bello and Senator Hadi Serika.
Though most of the ministerial nominees
were said to have made remarkable success in their various disciplines, a
brief journey into their recent past tells more about them.
Fashola
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria and
two-term governor of Lagos State was described by his admirers as a
consolidator, an example of strong leadership character and intolerance
for lawlessness. Fashola’s administration was hailed for conceiving a
vision aimed at transforming Lagos into a megacity through
rehabilitation of infrastructure, ridding the once dreaded Oshodi of the
activities of miscreants, redefining transport service in the state and
the implementation of the state traffic law to check motorists’
recklessness, among others.
Less than two months after Fashola
vacated office, allegations bordering on misappropriation and financial
recklessness were filed against him by the Peoples Democratic Party and a
campaigner of corrupt-free society, the Coalition Against Corrupt
Leader.
The PDP Publicity Secretary in Lagos
State, Mr. Taofik Gani, had accused the former governor of collecting
N32bn Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme fund meant for the
state, but the expenditure of the money could not be reflected in any
project, CACOL was peeved that Fashola allegedly spent N78m public fund
to upgrade his personal website.
A report published on the website of the
Lagos State Government also detailed alleged financial sleaze by
Fashola. As a result, CACOL asked the Economic Financial Crimes
Commission to arrest the former governor for prosecution, apart from
campaigning against his appointment by Buhari.
Fayemi
Apart from his profile as a holder of Phd
degree in War Studies, a former Director of the Centre for Democracy
and Development, a Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies,
University of Ibadan; Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at the
African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, Fort
McNair, Washington, D.C., the United States, among others, Fayemi’s
contribution to the intellectual content of Buhari’s campaign was
believed to have endeared him to Buhari.
In spite of these intimidating profiles,
there are barrages of allegations bordering on diversion of public fund
against Fayemi by the Ekiti State PDP chapter.
The state PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr.
Jackson Adebayo, had alleged that Fayemi’s hands were not clean while in
office. He had therefore asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission to include the former governor while
hunting for suspected corrupt public officials.
Adebayo said a lot of petitions and
pieces of evidence had already been submitted to the ICPC and the EFCC
to assist the anti-graft agencies in getting to the root of the
financial misconduct allegedly perpetrated by Fayemi.
Amaechi
He was described as a brave, fearless and
dogged fighter. The former Rivers State governor was the secretary of
the defunct National Republican Convention in Ikwerre Local Government
Area of Rivers State and a former Speaker of the Rivers State House of
Assembly, among others. He was believed to have contributed massively to
the finance of the Buhari’s presidential campaign.
Amaechi’s supporters believe that the
former will be a good hand to Buhari’s vision because he (the former
governor) invested massively in the development of infrastructure such
as construction of roads and building of bridges where necessary, as
well as invested in urban renewal and modernisation of transportation
services.
But Amaechi’s successor, Mr. Nyesom Wike,
believes that the record of success credited to the former governor was
propaganda. He said the ministerial nominee had nothing to show for the
huge amount of money accrued to Rivers State under his watch.
The former governor was alleged to have
spent the N19bn approved for him by the state House of Assembly on the
APC campaign with the hope that he would be appointed Buhari’s running
mate.
Four months before the N19bn was alleged
to have been approved, it was said that Amaechi was given similar
approval to access N30bn from the state treasury for the completion of
projects “which locations were only known to him and the authorising
lawmakers.”
Based on this and other sundry allegations, Wike constituted a five-man panel to probe the former governor.
In its report, the panel, headed by
Justice George Omereji, indicted Amaechi and said that the former
governor’s administration withdrew N53bn from the N55bn left in the
state reserve fund between 2014 and May 2015.
Omereji claimed that his panel could not
locate any project linked to the withdrawal of the N53bn and asked Wike
to recover the money.
Lai Mohammed
Muhammed was believed to have prepared himself for a role in Buhari’s cabinet.
But not a few are of the opinion that the
APC’s spokesperson could over-heat the polity with his usual and sharp
criticism of national issues, if appointed as a minister.
Dambazau
The former Chief of Army Staff had served
in various capacities over the years. He was military police officer,
Aide De Camp to the Chief of Army Staff (1979), commanded military
police units and served as a Special Investigator (1984-1985).
Dambazau is a known face around Buhari
before the elections. He was the coordinator of his security and even
after he became President, the former army chief has remained intimate
with the president. He has been part of Buhari’s entourage to many
official functions.
As a military tactician, the Director,
Intelligence and Security of the APC 2015 Presidential Campaign Council
is believed to be Buhari’s favourite in terms of security.
Like other nominees, Dambazau has moral burden against him.
He was alleged to have mismanaged the
fund meant for the renovation and the upgrade of 44 Army Reference
Hospital in Kaduna when he was the Chief of Army Staff.
A petition claimed that billions of naira
were voted for the renovation and the upgrade under Dambazau’s watch
without any commensurate result.
The alleged sleaze was said to have initially cost Dambazau the position of the National Security Adviser.
Ngige
The medical doctor-turned politician has
been one of the last standing South-East politicians who left the PDP
for the APC when it was not certain that the latter would form the
government at the centre.
Ngige was popular among the majority of
the people of Anambra State while he was in office as the governor for
embarking on populist programmes like road construction.
It was rumoured that the former governor
of Anambra State would have been elected as the senate president had he
won the March 28 election to represent Anambra Central Senatorial
District.
Kachikwu
A technocrat with over 30 years
experience in policy-making positions in the petroleum industry,
Kachikwu is currently the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation. He has been the Executive Vice Chairman/General
Counsel, ExxonMobil Companies in Nigeria and Oversight Counsel,
ExxonMobil Companies in Africa since 2009. His accomplishments include
the authorship of several law books like the Nigerian Foreign Investment
Law and Policy and more than 20 other publications. He influenced over
$10bn investment from ExxonMobil Group into Nigeria and other African
countries.
Udoma
He was described as “one of the pillars
of the Nigerian legal community.” Udoma was a two-term senator
representing Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District. During his membership
of the Senate, he was a member of many committees such as Public
Accounts, Judiciary, Banking and Currency, Science and Technology,
Privatisation and Drug and Narcotics. In 2010, he was the Chairman,
Governing Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Malami
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria is a
former National Legal Adviser of the defunct Congress for Progressive
Change. Malami began his career as a state counsel and a magistrate
court judge in the Kebbi State Ministry of Justice. He later became a
lecturer at the Othman Dan Fodio University before opting for a private
legal practice. Malami lost the APC governorship ticket to Governor
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State in the last general elections.
Sirika
He is rumoured to be one of the trusted
allies of Buhari. Sirika, a pilot, once represented Katsina North
Senatorial District on the platform of the CPC. He was also a member of
the Senate Committee on Aviation.
Shittu
Shittu has been a serial governorship
election contestant in Oyo State. Shittu, a lawyer, hails from Shaki in
Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State. He attended a public primary and middle
schools in Ghana and later, Baptist High School in Shaki and Obafemi
Awolowo University for a degree in law.
He started politics at the Nigerian Law
School and also won election into the Oyo State House of Assembly in the
Second Republic on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria.
Shittu became the Commissioner for
Information, Culture and Home Affairs, member of the National Political
Reforms Conference in 2005, member of Oyo State Judicial Service
Commission before he eventually became the state Attorney-General and
Commissioner for Justice.
Adeosun
A former Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State is a finance expert with over 23 years of experience.
Adeosun is a member of the Institutes of
Chartered Accountants, England and Wales, as well as Nigeria. Born and
bred in London, a graduate of Economics from the University of East
London, she was a senior manager at the Price Waterhouse Coopers,
London. She is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants,
England and Wales.
Adeosun was also among the six former
commissioners whose names were sent to the Ogun State House of Assembly
for screening by Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
Amina Mohammed
She was said to have garnered over 30
years experience in public sector. Amina Mohammed was the Chief
Executive Officer and founder of the think tank Centre for Development
Policy Solutions. She had worked as senior adviser to the President on
Millennium Development Goals for six years during which she oversaw the
designing and development of projects aimed at poverty reduction in the
country.
Onu
He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy
degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of California,
Berkeley, California, the United States in 1980 where he did extensive
work on coal liquefaction and production of synthetic fuels under mild
conditions.
Onu’s supporters described him as a fine
statesman, brilliant scholar, outstanding intellectual, accomplished
administrator, prolific author and poet, a man of great ideas and
inventions as well as a distinguished man of exceptional principle and
exemplary character.
Onu became the first governor of Abia
State from February 1992 to December 1993. As the National Chairman of
the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, Onu participated actively in the
merger of opposition parties in February 2013 to form the APC.
Ogbeh
The 68-year-old farmer and politician is a
former minister of communications and minister of steel development
during the administration of the first executive President of Nigeria,
Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
Ogbeh began his political career in the
Benue State House of Assembly on the platform of the defunct National
Party of Nigeria where he was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the state
House of Assembly in 1979.
In 2001, he became the National Chairman
of the PDP to replace Chief Barnabas Gemade. He held this position until
January 2005 when he resigned due to his harsh criticism of the then
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
Alhassan
Alhassan would have become the first
elected female governor in Nigeria had she won the Taraba State rerun
election conducted on April 25, 2015.
She was a former Attorney-General and
Commissioner of Justice. She was also appointed as the Chief Registrar
of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory on December 17, 2003
before she retired to participate actively in politics.
Alhassan once represented Taraba North
Senatorial District before she defected to contest the governorship
election on the APC platform.
Meanwhile, commentators have already been
asking why Buhari has decided to bring into his change team
personalities with suspected moral questions. They agreed that some of
the nominees contributed massively to the success of the President’s
victory, but wondered whether the appointments were meant to compensate
them at the expense of the change and good governance through the
tackling of corruption the President promised.
The Presidential candidate of Kowa Party
in the last general elections, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya, said Buhari might
have considered the nominees worthy because they had yet to be tried and
prosecuted, she nevertheless said that it was disappointing that the
President kept Nigerians waiting unnecessarily.
According to her, she shares in the
concern of majority of Nigerians because of their heightened expectation
and the long wait they had before the names of the nominees were
released.
Sonaiya, however, called on the
anti-graft agencies to dispassionately investigate some of the nominees
based on the corruption allegations against them.
She said, “There is a certain level of
disappointment because people were really expectant; they were looking
forward to see a new brand of people with competence and integrity to
serve.”
As the senate begins the screening of the
ministerial nominees next Tuesday, the Kowa Party presidential
candidate urged unbiased screening by the senators.
Sonaiya said, “I hope the senate will not
just automatically confirm everybody. Maybe the senate should wait for
the outcome of the investigation before confirming those who have been
accused of corruption among them.
“I hope the EFCC and ICPC will fast-track
their investigation of those alleged to have soiled their hands so that
it will be clear to us where we are going as a country.
“The right thing to be done is unbiased
investigation and if it is then clear that the investigation is biased,
then we will raise our voice.”
A political scientist and commentator,
Mr. Kehinde Fasore, was miffed that in spite of the arrays of petitions
claimed to have been submitted to the EFCC and the ICPC offices, none of
those alleged to have mismanaged public resources among the nominees
was either invited for interrogation or detained.
While stressing that Buhari has the right
to compensate some of the nominees for contributing to his electoral
success, Fasore said it would be wrong for the President to claim that
he was not aware that there were allegations of corrupt practices
against some of them.
He also flayed the EFCC and the ICPC for deliberately refusing to act on the petitions.
Fasore said, “It is doubtful that the
corruption Buhari identified as the major problem in Nigeria will not
continue to live with us in this country if the President pretends that
he is not aware that some of those he plans to appoint as ministers have
moral burden against them.
“It it takes Buhari four months to select
people suspected to have mismanaged public resources to work with, then
it will take him more than two years to select those with clean
records.”
He, however, asked the senate to demand for the EFCC’s and the ICPC’s clearance from the nominees before screening them.”
Also CACOL Executive Chairman, Mr. Debo
Adeniran, was disappointed that suspected corrupt persons could still
make Buhari’s ministerial list despite the fact that the President had
initially pledged to tackle corruption in the nation’s public life.
Apart from claiming that the long wait
that heralded the list was unwarranted, Adeniran was furious that Buhari
only wanted to use public office to compensate most of the persons
whose names appeared on the list.
He said, “By the way, where lies the
change the President and the APC have been promising Nigerians all this
while if appointment into his cabinet is still the same old style of
‘settling the boys’ regardless of whether or not such appointment enjoys
any merit.
“The President had kept Nigerians on the
edge for four months of waiting anxiously to welcome the super
technocrats that would steer the ship of change in our polity but what
have we now seen? The same old wine in a new bottle.”
