On the so-called war between Malami and Magu

BY ACHO NDUBUISI

In its editorial of Friday 15th September 2017 titled “EFCC, AGF rift denting Buhari’s anti-graft war”, a national newspaper among other things suggested that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice HAGF and the Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission are at war over the procedure for prosecution of high-profile corruption cases.

Reference was made to certain pronouncement of the Honourable Attorney General in support of the position and it was also alleged that the Attorney General is exercising undue influence over Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Editorial even passed judgment on the prosecutorial powers of the Attorney General and further alleged that the Judiciary is also complicit. It was concluded that EFCC should not be allowed to be distracted by the Attorney General but must rather be made to report directly to the Office of the Vice-President who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

It is important for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR in its avowed fight against endemic corruption to be committed to institution building as against making a Leviathan out of any individual in any sector of the administration. More so, as the President has consistently promised Nigerians that he would adhere strictly to the Rule of Law and Due Process.

In actual fact, can it rightly be said that there is a fight between the Honourable Attorney General and the Acting Chairman of EFCC as it is being speculated and touted in several quarters? It is beyond doubt that the Attorney General is seriously committed to his responsibilities as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, and is keeping faith with his obligations as enshrined in Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended). Recently, the Honourable Attorney General in furtherance of his commitment to institution building has signed onto the Open Government Partnership (OGP) to enable the deepening of reforms across government institutions. OGP is a multilateral initiative by more than seventy five (75) participating countries to focus on promoting transparency, accountability and Citizens’ empowerment in the fight against corruption, and harnessing new technologies to strengthen governance.

Contrary to the allegation in the Editorial, there cannot be any war on the procedure for the prosecution of any case, low or high profile as the Constitution is clear on the role of the Honourable Attorney General with respect to Prosecutorial powers in Nigeria. More so, under the EFCC Act, the Attorney General is vested with supervisory powers over EFCC and it is a misnomer to have an organization that does not believe in due process, nor willing to be subjected to review as stipulated by Law in a Constitutional democracy like ours.

Notwithstanding the Federal Government’s commitment to fight corruption, the fight must be regulated and not at the Whim and Caprice of the Anti-Corruption Ceazers who, as things appear, can do no wrong. Primitive and savagery practice of arrest before investigation, or arrest before evidence must stop. Enough of needless traumatization of the arrested or trial on the pages of the Newspaper that lead to nowhere. Be an organization or individual so high, yet the Law is above them! The examples drawn from Singapore in the Editorial is totally misconceived, and at any event cannot be followed sheepishly without recourse to the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria which grund norm, cannot be abridged whimsically for purposes of convenience.

The suggestion that the Acting Chairman of EFCC should report directly to the Vice President is unconstitutional and at best remains a wishful thinking until there is a constitutional amendment to that effect. It would however be a thousand pities if the Nigerian constitution would be amended ad-hominen simply because the current Vice President is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. What then would happen the day an Economist or Accountant becomes the Vice-President? Does that mean the Office of Governor of the Central Bank would also have to be subsumed under the Vice President? Nigeria should rather build institutions rather than build performance around individuals.

It has been suggested in some quarters that the current Vice President, since he lost the bid to be appointed Attorney General of the Federation in 2011, still has his eyes on the Office and will do everything to perform the Constitutional roles of the Attorney General notwithstanding that providence has elevated him. The Office of the Vice President has since the inception of this government been usurping the functions of the Attorney General through pseudo and unconstitutional committees and series of interferences in the Constitutional functions of the Attorney General.

In all, rather than being unnecessarily judgmental, the Press and the general public should be aware that any institution that does not want to be subjected to laid down control process and inherent checks but would rather operate with unguided discretion portends more danger to the Society, and of course constitutes a corruption of democratic tenets.

Acho is a public affairs analyst