The Politics of Absolving Babachir Lawal
Ring True
with Yemi Adebowale; yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com
The so-called war against corruption of the Buhari administration is fast turning into a charade. Nothing typifies this more than the ignoble clearance of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal of corruption allegations by President Muhammadu Buhari. It is clearly not the business of the President to clear his aides facing corruption allegations. I thought that Lawal would have been suspended and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, allowed to thoroughly investigate him. But our dear President, desperate to give Babachir a soft-landing, tactically referred the case to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. Of course, the AGF gave Lawal the desired succour.
Buhari’s letter to the Senate clearing Lawal left me depressed. I spent most of this week thinking about this epistle read on the floor of the Senate. Instead of addressing the issue of corruption against the SGF, the President dwelt extensively on technicalities. The part, in which the President concluded that the report indicting Lawal was an interim one, and should not have been acted upon, is ludicrous. The President has suddenly forgotten that the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki was indicted and arrested in 2015, on the basis of an interim report submitted to Buhari by a presidential committee set up to investigate the utilisation of funds for the procurement of arms by past administrations.
Even with the obvious overwhelming evidence that Lawal was duly invited to defend himself, Buhari, in his letter accused the committee chaired by Senator Shehu Sani of denying the SGF of fair hearing “by failing to invite him to defend himself during the investigation” on the mismanagement of funds of the Presidential Initiative on the North East. So, what happened to the invitation letter sent to and acknowledged by the SGF’s office? There was also a full page advert published in the Daily Trust of December 2, 2016, where Lawal was listed among those invited to the investigative hearing. I am convinced that Lawal elected to stay away because he had nothing concrete to tell the committee. Buhari’s talk about the majority of the committee members not signing the report indicting Lawal is also a funny one. None of the members has denied the report.
The Chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee was apt when he described the President’s letter as the funeral of Buhari’s anti-corruption war. Senator Sani added: “When it comes to fighting corruption in the National Assembly, the judiciary and in the larger Nigerian society, the president uses insecticide but when it comes to fighting corruption within the presidency, they use deodorant. It is shocking to me that such a letter can come from the presidency with such misinformation and outright distortions. I stand by the report of that committee. If we allow this committee’s report to be shredded, then l think it would be in order for us to open all the prisons in this country for all the convicts and awaiting trial inmates to go scot-free.
“It is unfortunate that we have a political atmosphere where you have a saintly and angelic presidency and a devilish and evil society. We must in every respect fight corruption within the kitchen as we do in the verandah. If we don’t do that, then we are being hypocritical. This letter does not in any way reflect the spirit which we espoused as a people, fighting to cleanse and fumigate this country of corruption.”
It is apparent that Buhari was misinformed to sign this humorous letter. I have no iota of doubt about this. For me, the intention is to simply reach a pre-determined conclusion by covering up the matters raised by the committee. We can all see that the President’s letter failed to address any of the issues raised by the legislators. This SGF should help us save Buhari by resigning honourably. The evidence against him is overwhelming. I need to go back a bit here to refresh our memories about this enormous evidence showing that Lawal soiled his hands with PINE contract. The forensic report showed that some of the contracts were awarded to companies belonging to top government officials, their cronies and family members. It showed further that Rholavision Engineering Limited, a company, with the SGF as a Director was awarded consultancy contract by PINE. The copy of the search report from the Corporate Affairs Commission is an open secret. It clearly shows that Lawal only resigned as a Director of Rholavision on September 16, last year.
The investigative committee remarked: “Although, Lawal resigned the directorship of the said company in September 2016, it is on record that he is a signatory to the accounts of the company. Aside Lawal’s complicity, PINE, which carried out the entire procurement activities, contravened laid down rules. Those that awarded PINE contracts took undue advantage of the provision of ‘emergency situation contract award’ in the procurement act to inflate figures. Also, most of the contracts had no direct bearing or impact on the IDPs, who are living in deplorable conditions.”
It is pertinent to note that in the course of the public hearing on PINE activities, its key offices could not convincingly account for the N2.5 billion released to them to tackle the crisis in the camps of the IDPs. The Secretary of PINE, Umar Gulani, claimed that the body spent N203 million to clear grass somewhere in Yobe State, but the Yobe State Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Lamin, disputed the claim. “No taipa grass was cleared in the state by any Federal Government agency,” declared Lamin. Gulani’s claim that PINE cleared invasive plants species around river banks in the state at the cost of N253 million was also disputed by Yobe State officials. They also disputed the N422 million PINE claimed was spent on the provision of tents for displaced families in the state. Claims of renovating 18 schools destroyed by the Boko Haram in Yobe also turned out to be dubious. According to Yobe State Government’s records, only three schools were renovated by PINE. It is also sad to note that PINE confirmed donating N50 million to a questionable organisation while our unfortunate IDPs wallow in poverty.
Also, it was discovered that Josmon Technologies, a firm that was awarded contract by PINE, paid the money into the bank account of Rholavision Engineering Limited, owned by the SGF. Even more damning was the fact that Lawal, who only relinquished his shares in Rholavision on September 16, 2016, remains the sole signatory to the account of the company, as his Bank Verification Number was linked to the company.
After Josmon Technologies was paid by PINE, it began to make payments into Rholavision’s account number 0182001809 in Ecobank on March 29, 2016, when it paid N50 million in five installments of N10 million. The payment continued for days.
Curiously, the award of contract for the removal of wild grass along the river channel, which does not fall into the IDPs’ immediate needs, came into the job schedule of PINE.
The call for the sack and prosecution of the SGF by the Senate is a fair and just one. Report of his complicity in the diversion of the humanitarian funds is apparent. The contravention of the provisions of Public Procurement Act and the Federal Government Financial Rules and Regulations pertaining to award of contracts is also obvious here. Lawal’s defence has been unimpressive. Bath Nnaji, power minister under the Jonathan administration was forced to resign in almost similar circumstances few years back. This SGF should not be an exception.
This morning, I urge our dear President to reflect on the statement of the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, who stated: “The President’s handling of the corruption allegations against the SGF was tragic. It is tragic that a President, whose sole credential is anti-corruption, would treat a monumental allegation against one of his principal officials this way. It is the lowest low for anti-corruption.”
Babandede Should Tackle Problem of Passport Booklet Scarcity
Nigerians aiming to obtain or have their old travel passport re-issued have been going through hell in the last five months. There is a scarcity of this document in passport offices across the nation. Some have been waiting since August 2016, just to obtain a passport. As a result, the situation in these offices has been chaotic, leading to all sorts of shady deals. Trying to obtain the 32-page version of this document is like a camel trying to pass through the eye of a needle. The 64-page version takes a little bit less time to obtain. The story in town is that the printing of this document has been shifted to Malaysia by the Nigerian Immigration Service, with all sorts of challenges trailing it. The situation was a bit better when it was being printed in Belgium. I can’t understand why our nation’s security press can’t produce this document. It is a big shame. The Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, must rise up to this challenge and put an end to the agony of Nigerians in immigration offices across the nation. This anguish must not be allowed to continue in an era of “change”. Babandede must justify his appointment.
Gale of Kidnapping and the Shame of a Nation
After almost two weeks in the den of kidnappers, three pupils and five staff of the Nigerian Turkish International College, Ogun State, were freed this week. Princely money was said to have been paid to the kidnappers by the traumatised parents. This has become a frightening trend in our dear nation in the last 20 months. Kidnappers have been terrorising Nigerians, as if we no longer have security agents. So many of them collect ransom and get away with ease. Frustrated families of victims now negotiate with kidnappers directly because security agencies can no longer be trusted to deliver on their mandate. Their usual rhetoric is “we are closing in on the kidnappers”. More often than not, nothing concrete comes out of this. Relatives of victims often rescue them with ransom. It is a big shame. Even when our security agents know that kidnappers now target schools, nothing proactive has been done to stem the tide. Earlier in March, 2016, three pupils of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos, were abducted by gunmen. On October 6, 2016, four pupils and two teachers were also abducted at the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe. There is an urgent need to stem the tide of this evil wind blowing in schools across our nation. Sensitive issues involving the safety of students should get swift intervention nationwide. I sincerely hope that the police, DSS and the military will meet and come up with a proactive measure to tackle this menace.
