AGF’s Mugging of Madam Farida Waziri, EFCC & ICPC
Sunday, August 14, 2011
This
is the second time a sitting Attorney General of the Federation will attempt to
usurp and whittle down the powers of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
and the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related offences Commission (ICPC).
The first was the tempestuous Michael Kaase Aondoakaa (defrocked SAN), during
the tenure of rambunctious Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu (restored AIG). However, due to
the public outcry, the then AGF retraced his steps.
Today, the new Attorney-General and Minister of Justice (AGF),
Mohammed Adoke SAN, is at it again. The AGF has come up with his own novel idea
of what Femi Adesina refers to as “satanic verses” (Daily Sun, Friday , July 29,
2011, back page), through a gazette referred to as ‘Economic and Financial
Crimes commission (Enforcement) Regulation 2010 No 61, Vol 97,’ which compels
the EFCC’s investigation and prosecuting activities to be totally under the
AGF’s whims and caprice; in other words, the AGF, must decide who should be
investigated, prosecuted, and jailed. What rubbish.
There seems to be various reasons for this unpatriotic act on
the part of the AGF. Initially the targeted agency was the Independent Corrupt
Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The AGF is alleged to be a
godson of the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Katsina Alu, who
is battling with ICPC over the exclusive right to investigate the corruption and
fraudulent activities over misappropriated funds alleged to be in the sum of 6.4
billion naira at the National Judicial Institute (NJI). But the retired former
Acting Chairman of ICPC refused to back down, insisting that the right to
investigate and prosecute NJI resides with only ICPC and not with the CJN as
stated by law; and besides that, the CJN cannot investigate a body of which he
is a member; except if he the CJN has other ulterior motives. That case is still
being stalled and may not see the light of day if the AGF’s new directive is
allowed to hold.
Then enter EFCC; after the elections, when the lists of
intending minister’s surfaced, the Security agencies charged with clearance,
asked both EFCC and ICPC to submit their files on those nominated to be
ministers by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR. Those files had serious
charges on allegations of corruption against some of these very powerful people,
and would have been a national embarrassment if revealed to the press-public-and
the nation. The AGF in particular, the former acting Chairman of People
Democratic Party (PDP), and Minister of Petroleum, were allegedly not favored by
the findings of EFCC and ICPC. Whereas, the Petroleum Minister’s file was
alleged to be an eyesore-laden-corruption, but that of the AGF and the former
PDP Chairman and current Minister of Defence, were allegedly soiled with serious
collateral effects from Halliburton, and Siemen’s bribery scandals. The AGF is
on record also for withdrawing several serious corruption cases which did not go
down well with the EFCC’s mantra of fighting corruption; and this may have led
to this current war of supremacy.
When these files were presented to President Jonathan, he was
said to be flushed with embarrassment. He wanted to drop them; however, the
emerging cabal surrounding him apparently prevailed upon him to allow these
alleged corrupt men to be cleared by the various security agencies; to the
chagrin and disappointment of the security agencies. Of course, this was leaked
to the AGF; therefore, it was not surprising to see him during the Senate
confirmation hearing come out in full battle gear against EFCC and ICPC; the
EFCC for having the impudence to tell the truth about his alleged tempestuous
appetite for corruption, and the ICPC, as a favor to his alleged
Judicial-godfather-the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
With
the architecture of the war drawn, first an NGO-group raised the issue that the
Chairman of EFCC, Madam Farida Waziri, did not retire as an Assistant Inspector
General (AIG) of police; second, the overrated-double-barrel mouth- legal
practitioner, Mr. Femi Falana, and others asked Farid Waziri to resign. Why now,
and who is funding this psyops against EFCC?
If as claimed by these muggers that Madam Waziri’s retired
rank of Assistant Inspector of Police (AIG) was false, why did the Senate clear
her when she was appointed; what did the security agency see in her file before
sending it to the Senate; why did late President Umar Yar’Adua, not see the
error; why did this same AGF, Mohammed Adoke, not see the error while he was AGF
all through 2010, but only saw it now. And, why didn’t Mr. Femi Falana see this
error when he received a brief from the same Madam Farida Waziri, in 2009. It
appears Femi Falana’s grouse, according to a close associate of his, is because
he submitted a fat bill for the brief, but was paid less, as approved by the
then AGF for that 2009 brief; hence, his misgivings with Madam Waziri may have
started when he asked for additional briefs, but did not get them. The same
Falana, during the reigns of Nuhu Ribadu, was alleged to have received as a
gift, a house confiscated by EFCC for little price or nothing; the house is
located along Imani Estates, and is currently his office in Abuja, and is worth
a lot more in today’s real estate market; he has no locus to comment or even ask
for the resignation of Madam Waziri.
For reminders; the promulgation of National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Decree of 1989, the precursor to Independent Corrupt
Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, was necessitated by the United Nations Convention
against Illicit Traffic in Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, of which
Nigeria is a signatory. The NDLEA were then the sole body responsible for both
drugs and financial crimes investigations and prosecution, and were overwhelmed
to the extent that the International community, sensing that the agency may have
been compromised asked for decentralization of responsibilities.
Then enter the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an
inter-governmental policy making body whose purpose is to establish
international standards, and develop and promote policies, both at national and
international levels, to combat money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF)
was established by a Group of Seven (G-7) summit in Paris, and in 2001, the
groups objective was expanded to what was then called 40+9; with a mandate to
ensure global action to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and to
establish a concrete implementation of this policy amongst member-nations. And,
another group, Inter-Government Action Group against Money Laundering in West
Africa (GIABA), formed in 1999, by a decision of Heads of State and government
of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), agreed that money
laundering and terrorism are issues of critical importance to the world
community which require global action; further, that the economies and financial
systems of the countries need to be protected from laundered money and proceeds
from terrorist activities; GIABA members recognize that West Africa needs to
address these issues and find global solutions to them, thus GIABA became an
associate member of the FATF.
Therefore, EFCC, and ICPC became disentangled from NDLEA to give both agencies
the added muscle to fight corruption and money laundering head-on. Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo, did not create ICPC and EFCC because he loves
Nigeria and wanted to fight corruption. These bodies were created because
Nigeria, as signatory-members of these International organizations is compelled
by their guiding principles of law to do so. The Attorney General of the
Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, is wrong in his
approach.
As the Chief Law officer of the federation, the least we
expect from him is to invite the heads of both ICPC and EFCC to a closed door
meeting, to discuss how the office of the Attorney General and Ministry of
Justice can add value to the fight against corruption. The ICPC and EFCC did
nothing wrong in sending the files of those nominated to be minister’s to the
security agencies as required by law, regardless of the contents.
Nigerian’s must rise up and stop this
nonsense of singling out Madam Waziri by these male chauvinistic-muggers; women
organizations must stand up against this primitive abuse of power.
The EFCC is a body established by an Act of Law; If
Madam Waziri should resign or be forced to or even fired by the President, let
the decision be based on non-performance of her duties as the Chairman of EFCC,
and not for a flimsy issue about the rank she retired on; after all, the minimum
requirement established by government to head the agency is Assistant
Commissioner of Police (ACP); Nuhu Ribadu was a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP)
when he became the Chairman, but was hurriedly promoted to Assistant
Commissioner of Police (ACP). In the case of Madam Waziri, she was a full
Commissioner of Police, in full charge of the special fraud unit (SFU) at the
least, before becoming an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Rtd.
The EFCC and ICPC are doing their duties, and the monumental
performance recorded by EFCC under the current chairman, Farida Waziri, is
unprecedented, their setbacks can be attributed to a non-committed AGF, and
Judiciary. Therefore, the point remains that the unwarranted mugging of Madam
Waziri, EFCC, and ICPC is an act of vendetta on the part of the AGF,
orchestrated and financed probably by cabals of governors, former minister’s,
and business moguls and their organizations facing corruption charges, and who
may have compromised someone higher-up to frighten and pressure Madam Waziri to
resign her position as Chairman of EFCC.
ABRAHAM NWANZE; SECURITY & MGT CONSULTANT, ABUJA, NIGERIA