PMB: Forward movement on corruption

It’s not in doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) hates corruption. He has said so many times and even people say his body language shows it. His Spartan and stoic reputation has enhanced his brand as an incorruptible man.

However, every Nigerian leader had anti-corruption as an agenda. Perhaps, taking a stand against corruption has become a legitimizing tactic for our leaders. As far back as the January 15, 1966 Radio broadcast of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu – announcing Nigeria’s first military coup he said: “Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent…those that have corrupted our society.” Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, declared Corruption as Nigeria’s “Public Enemy Number One”. Perhaps to show his commitment to tacking corruption, the first bill he sent to the National Assembly was a bill to prohibit and prescribe punishment for corrupt practices. That bill was subsequently passed as the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and was signed into law by the President on 13th June 2000. The Act is the enabling legal instrument of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The Commission was inaugurated on 29th September 2000.

However what stands PMB out from the previous presidents is his personal commitment and integrity. The worst of PMB’s enemies knows he hates corruption.  When the British Prime Minister Mr. Cameron was caught on camera saying Nigeria and Afghanistan were “fantastically corrupt” countries, the Archbishop of Canterbury  seems to have corrected him saying  “this president” (meaning Buhari) is not corrupt” .

corruption is a woolly concept and its definition makes a lot of impact on how effectively it can be controlled or curtailed.  Our former president even clarified that “stealing is not corruption”.  So how does PMB describe corruption? I am not aware that PMB has defined corrupt. However, I think three things have characterized his view of corruption. One, corruption is always about money and finances. Second, corruption is about public officials. Three, corruption is about politicians who were in power before him.  As a result, most of the efforts around anti-corruption have been defined by the above.  So because he sees corruptions as financial, the president is silent on accusations of nepotism and illegal employment of people into some government department. Since this isn’t financial, it’s not corruption.

Transparency International (TI) classified Corruption into grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs.  According to TI, “Grand corruption consists of acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good. Petty corruption refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- and mid-level public officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens, who often are trying to access basic goods or services in places like hospitals, schools, police departments and other agencies. Political corruption is a manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth”. As it is in Nigeria, PMB is solely focused on grand corruption. And while he is making progress in that area, we seem to remain the same with petty corruption. Petty corruption is the harbinger of other forms of corruption. Petty corruption affects more people and impacts the poor. Unfortunately, the president needs a coalition to fight petty corruption. He can’t do it alone. Something tells me that PMB is more concerned with Grand corruption and not the other forms of corruption. That itself become problematic.

The fight against corruption isn’t a personal fight. Rather it to use institutions to fight against corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been in the fore front in the fight against corruption. While the EFCC has made a lot of arrest, it has not being able to secure a single conviction in one year.  What many Nigerians are made to believe is that the EFCC is recovering various sums of money looted from the treasury. Unfortunately, the EFCC hasn’t been transparent in the amounts and process for recovery of the sums of money. Lack of transparency is even a harbinger of corruption. It’s a sad reality that the EFCC hasn’t been able to start and conclude a single corruption case in one year. That doesn’t show any seriousness or real commitment to punishing acts of corruption.

I struggle to understand how the EFCC has taken funds retrieval from suspects as its prime role. Is the primary purpose of the EFCC to retrieve money or prevent corruption? I am yet to see how the EFCC has done much to prevent or reduce corruption.

What about the other institutions set up to fight corruption? The Police, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), rules and laws.  How effective have they become in the last one year? What about culture, customs and norms that drive, initiate and promote corruption? Seems we haven’t seen them activated in the fight against corruption in Nigeria yet.

We cannot fight corruption without using the whole arsenal of resources at our disposal.

Another surprising fact is that It’s almost impossible to fight corruption without whistle blowers. It’s almost one year since a Whistle Blowers Act was sent the presidency by the National Assembly. While the former president didn’t assent to this bill, President Buhari has also refused to sign the bill into law. If corruption is a major focus of the government act, refusing to assent to a whistleblower act in a year, says a whole lot.

PMB has experience in the development of institutions. He was our Military ruler in 1983. Within the space of less than two years, we instituted a viable institution against indiscipline called the War against Indiscipline (WAI).  Actually on the 21st March 1984, his regime inaugurated the WAR AGAINST INDISCIPLINE (WAI). That’s less than 100 days in power. Some of the legacies of this institution remain till today.  So one wonders why he hasn’t taken similar actions in the last one year against corruption.

PMB belongs to a political party. In the last one year, His party has chosen individual who are under persecution by the EFCC as Gubernatorial candidates on two different occasions. The Vice President even attended the campaign of one of them. How does the EFCC prosecute a man, but the president’s party chooses that man as its candidate? This has two major implications. One, the political party believes these individuals prosecuted by the EFCC are noble people.  Secondly, if the candidate wins, he gets an immunity that prevents further prosecution. If President Buhari’ s political party would select such individuals, it’s says a lot of what people close to the president think about the fight against corruption.  Perhaps close associates of PMB believe he isn’t serious about the fight against corruption and the commitment to punish corrupt acts.  Let me cite a lesson from Singapore.

In November 1985 a man claimed he gave a Minister a bribe. The Minister denied it. He later tried to see the president who refused to see him until after the investigations were over.  This minister later committed suicide and left a letter for the president reported below:

“I have been feeling very sad and depressed for the last two weeks. I feel responsible for the occurrence of this unfortunate incident and I feel I should accept full responsibility. As an honourable oriental gentleman I feel it is only right that I should pay the highest penalty for my mistake. Yours faithfully,”

This minster took this action because he was sure he would be convicted. He was also sure the president will not interfere with the cause of justice.  Do close associates of PMB take his fight against corruption this serious?

Transparency is the antiseptic for corruption. According to Seun Onigbinde, “Compounding this has been the recurrent public complaint – largely justified – that the Buhari government is one that barely communicates with Nigerians, even when seemingly acting with the best of intentions. And, that a lot of its activities are largely opaque, if not outrightly shrouded in mystery, as in the instance of the administration’s anti-corruption programme’s recovery of stolen public assets, the extent of which Nigerians are still unaware of”.  In one year, we haven’t seen increased transparency in many government operations.

Another gap in the current fight against graft is the lack of a coalition against corruption. This lack of corruption manifests in a lack of synergy in the fight against corruption. For example, the other tiers of government — states and local governments are neither engaged nor involved. Sadly these levels of governments control up to 48% of Nigeria’s revenue. There is no interest or commitment to fighting corruption at that level. What about the other social agencies?  In other climes, a convicted offender loses beyond the position and assets. Former President Richard M. Nixon was disbarred in July 1976 by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court on charges of obstruction of justice connected with the Watergate scandal.  What has been done to mobilize other civil society organizations to eliminate corruption or punish corrupt people? If a lawyer was convicted for corruption would the Nigeria Bar Association act against their member? Will a convicted people have his chieftaincy title revoked by his town union? Would his religious organization take action? Except the current leadership can mobiles everyone and every organization to fight against corruption, the fight may not be effective

President Buhari in his inauguration speech on May 29, 2015, stated that: “Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the States and local governments. Not least the operations of the Local Government Joint Account. While the Federal Government cannot interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked.” In one year, the president has done anything about corruption at the local level.

I think the president should introduce tokens, gestures and artifacts to fight corruption. These are simple acts that drive the anti- corruption message further.   Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore and his party, the People’s Action Party (PAP) had a commitment to fight corrupt. When Yew and his team took their oath of office, they wore white shirts and white trousers.  According to them this was to symbolize their determination to keep the Government clean and incorruptible. Brig General Tunde Idiagbon who was Major General Buhari’s deputy in 1984 argued the value of tokens and small acts that can change corruption. He said “. … Begin by drawing public attention to little but important everyday manifestations of indiscipline such as rushing into buses, driving on the wrong side of the road, littering the streets, parks and dwelling compounds, cheating, taking undue advantage of scarcity to inflate prices for quick monetary gains, constituting ourselves into public nuisances, walking without commitment and devoting little or no time to the upbringing of our children…” Some small and little acts go a long way to drive the message further. In doing such, the president needs to activate the potentials of the National Orientation Agency to galvanize actions against corruption in Nigeria.

President Muhammad Buhari had said on the campaign trail – “We need to kill corruption now or corruption will kill Nigeria”. His use of the word “kill” is powerful and impactful.  Unfortunately, it seems his action is milder.

In conclusion, the president has a great opportunity to raise the game in the fight against corruption. One he has the personal credibility to fight corruption. Second, he has ensured he distanced himself from any corrupt act. Third, Nigerians wants him to fight corruption. With all these leverage opportunities, he has no need to fear or become slow in fighting corruption.  Killing corruption won’t happen with feeble and solo efforts at fighting corruption. We need to get all Nigerians mobilized and committed to fighting corruption.

The President has taken significant steps against corruption. He needs to do more, with more people and organizations. Only then can the fight be sustainable and significant enough to really kill corruption.

Final Grade: 4/10

Teacher’s Comment: The President has a lot of potentials. If he decides to work with others, do more modelling and build institutions, the sky will be his limit. Good attempt thus far.