Anti-graft war: Fighting Goliath with bare knuckles

One of the unadvertised reasons for the removal of Mrs. Farida Waziri as head of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was her reported ‘stubbornness’ in pressing for a special court, a tribunal of sort, to try corruption cases. Had Mrs. Waziri not been thrown out of office, it is unlikely that a self-confessed felon like John Yakubu Yusuf would have got away with a mere slap on the wrist after confessing to stealing public funds. But the sorry and sordid tale of John Yakubu Yusuf, a modern version of Jack the Ripper and a man who ironically has the (dis) honour of answering to the names of three great prophets of God was given a clean bill after confessing to stealing public funds estimated at anything between N23 and N32 billion.

The message is clear: steal big and damn the consequences. After all, law, the bloody ass it has always been, is made to be broken! Perhaps, both Mrs. Waziri and those who pressed for her ouster knew what was at stake. As a former cop and head of EFCC, she was aware of the billions being stolen by Nigerians but more importantly, she knew too, as a lawyer, that she was incapacitated by extant laws that shield high-profile thieves. Those who pressed for her removal knew the high price to pay if Mrs. Waziri had her way and eventually got a special court established to specifically try corruption cases. In a sense, Mrs. Waziri was akin to an unknown angel, which, in a manner of speaking, is dangerous than a known devil. She had constituted herself into an irritant of sort and had to go.

In the wake of the two-year jail term for the man who stole N32 billion, some prominent lawyers drew the flak while interpreting the judgment. From the point of law, the presiding judge who passed the ridiculous judgment could not have gone outside the law to jail John Yakubu Yusuf for more than three years as prescribed by law especially since the man did not waste the time of the court. Had Nigerians paused to read the lawyers right, it would have been clear that the message passed across was that that many things are wrong with our law books and which need be put right if nation is sincere in fighting corruption. What the lawyers said and what has been swept under the carpet should be sweet music to the ear of those facing corruption charges. Tampering with the law books needs an input from the National Assembly, some of whose members are regular customers of the EFCC.

As members of the National Assembly, lawmakers in the Federal House of Representatives and the Senate are responsible for giving legal bite to EFCC. With some members of the National Assembly making endless trips to the EFCC, it will be asking for too much to expect tainted members of the federal legislature to support a strong anti-graft agency or support the establishment of special courts to try corruption cases. It is like asking a sensible person to drink poison knowing what it is capable of doing. No one should delude himself that a tainted person will back laws that could mean long spell in jail. It does not matter whether that law has retrogressive effect or not. For equal measure, no one should delude himself into believing that such a law will not be opposed by those waiting for an opportunity to make hay.

But again, no one should delude himself into believing that all hope is lost. It is not. Before we get there, however, Nigerians must wait out the outcome of the promise of the Chief Justice of the federation to look into this ridiculous judgment. While we wait, no one should expect anything revolutionary especially with the clarification of lawyers in the case of John Yakubu Yusuf. As things stand, John Yakubu Yusuf and his ilk stand protected by extant, colonial-era laws. The process involves a painless therapy; all a crook does after emptying the till, is to have the presence of mind of not to waste the time of the court. All you get from a judge is a tap on the wrist and admonished to go home and sin no more! This guarantees a quick release into the waiting hands of noisy, placard-carrying rented crowds. Typical of Nigerians, there will be a great welcome-home reception and colourful thanksgiving. He has looted enough to last a life-time even if he outlives Methuselah.

With respect to John Yakubu Yusuf, his loot, with the wind of democracy blowing should be enough to press the right buttons to be considered for a presidential pardon. Thereafter, he could consider throwing his hat into the political ring. Lucky man! All manner of vultures, desperate for a piece of the action, will swarm him and he will eventually succumb, as has become the fad, to ‘ well-meaning appeals and pressure’ from people back home to be their voice at the National Assembly, the ultimate terrain where people in his mould find easy roosting nests. He is in good company! How many shameless, self-confessed treasury-looters would afterwards support any stringent measures, assuming it ever gets tabled at the National Assembly, to fight treasury looting? It is a vicious cycle; a bad coin that keeps recurring.

If, as in any democracy, the Chief Justice of Nigeria cannot dictate to the National Assembly, what Nigerians expect those charged with running our judicial system to do is to forget the idea of special courts to try corruption cases. Of course, this too amounts to seeking an oasis in the desert as desperate attempts will be made to frustrate it. But there will always be a way out for those running the judicial system. They should be able to review, and urgently too, those laws for which they do not need the endorsement of the National Assembly. The start-off point is to urgently embark on a revolutionary review of extant laws that prescribe ridiculous two-year jail term and an equally ridiculous option of N750000 fine for criminals who steal N32 billion. This law, which belongs to the colonial-era, was okay at a time there were no millions and billions to be stolen by light-fingered government officials.

Relying on those colonial-era laws to check treasury-hijackers, thieves who can engage the services of the most unimaginative average lawyer who can easily punch holes in law is not the way forward. It reinforces the widely held belief, wrongly or rightly, that the much-advertised war against corruption is one big hoax.

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