Corruption: The World Bank lists of Nigerian looters and the Code of Conduct Tribunal Corruption: The World Bank lists of Nigerian looters and the Code of Conduct Tribunal. The Nigerian public was shocked by the revelations by the World Bank, the apex international Credit and development bank which shows the massive looting of the Nigerian economy in the past decades evidenced by foreign accounts owned by the political class, public officers, and the military with outstanding performances by the erstwhile past heads of states, and the powers behind the emerging political challenges in the country. I was devastated by the list not only because of the stupendous amount of loot lying in foreign banks and oiling the British economy and other EU nations that has paid lip service to the fight against corruption in Nigeria but also the sheer brazen thievery and primitive acquisition of wealth with its attendant stultification of our economy. It is estimated that over four hundred billion dollars made up of oil revenues, diverted international loans and internally generated revenues has been stolen and or misappropriated, most of which has found its way offshore and lying in foreign Banks. Today Nigeria ranks as one of the poorest nations in the world, threatened by starvation, instability, unemployment, AIDS, poor health facilities, armed conflicts, energy crisis, health crisis, bombastic insecurity, and a devastating civil war with Islamist terrorists with a deluded leadership that seeks to develop the strongest economy in Africa in the backdrop of the chasm of odouriferous miasma of stifling corruption, failed infrastructures and debilitating energy crisis. UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES. The fight against corruption in Nigeria is a war but fought insincerely by those who are directly indicted and challenged on behalf of our people without the hope of likely success. However a turn of events followed the continued outcry of the international community which has identified these loots and their owners. A Recent World Bank publication identifies the looters and the amount which is available online when you Google. There is one common similarity they share. They were public office holders: Since the monies were stolen at one time or the other by public office holders and stored in foreign banks, contrary to the provisions of Nigerian statutes and the code of conduct bureau, it is a case of strict culpability. Such monies are returnable to the Nigerian governments as the public officers affected can not argue successfully against the strictures of the code of conduct for public officers provisions against the holding of offshore accounts and or show that the monies were truly earned and not laundered. More so, that the mere presence of these accounts in foreign countries held by present and former members of Nigerian Governments are against the provisions of our domestic laws and international understandings on money laundry. Many serving Governors and legislators, ministers and commissioners are also accumulating loot in offshore accounts at a great detriment to our state and national economy. The provision of the code of conduct for public officers under section 172 of the 1999 constitution is instructive and stipulated thus: “A person in the public service of the federation shall observe and confirm to the code of conduct” Under the fifth Schedule of the 1999 constitution on its prohibition of foreign accounts provided under its paragraphed rule (3): “The president, vice president, Governor, deputy governor, Ministers of the government of the federation and commissioners of the governments of the states, members of the national assembly, and of the Houses of assembly of the states, and such other public officers or persons the national assembly may by law prescribe shall not operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria.” This provision should be read in conjunction with rule 11 which provides for the declaration of the assets by every public office holder immediately after taking office and thereafter, at the end of every four years and at the end of his term of Office, to the code of conduct bureau, a written declaration of his properties, assets and liabilities and those of his unmarried Children under the age of eighteen years. Further more under rule 18(1-7) which provides for the punishments that the code of conduct may impose which includes, the vacation of office or seat in any legislative house as the case may be, disqualification of membership of a legislative house and holding public office without prejudice to criminal prosecution in a court of law. This constitutional provisions are wide sweeping and placed the corrupt public officers including those out of office in onerous situations and engendered the necessity to protect their loot in foreign Banks hence they introduced a Bill in 2013 to legalize foreign accounts by public officers in view of the exposures by the world Bank and thus disable foreign powers from confiscating their loot and returning same to an accountable government of the people. In my view, the national assembly can not make laws that will enlarge its interests and amend the constitutional safeguards to protect the country but only a constituent assembly that can do that. It can only enlarge the lists of persons who cannot hold foreign accounts not remove its members from the list. WHAT MUST BE DONE? The frail moral infrastructure of the Nigerian leadership, in particular, our legislators at the national Assembly undermines our democratic experiment and facilitates the rogue appetite of a bandit political class. Why not? Nigeria is seen as a country where the opportunity to serve the country is perceived as an opportunity for larceny in a generalized plunder of the wealth of the wretched people of the country. Our national history has shown that neither democracy and or military dictatorships has resolved our problems but rather the twin evils has exacerbated them through self enriching leaden individuals who force theirselves into public offices. The major reason for corruption in Nigeria is because the loots are derived from the oil resources rather than from taxation and further, the religio-ethnic bias which seems to suggest that the stealing by one ethnic or religious group is permissible to the exclusion of others and or the phenomenon believed strongly and wrongly, that since we are not one people, Nigeria offers the opportunity for ethnic and individual aggrandizement. We need a restructuralization of our democratic constituencies along colonial parameters which facilitated equality and resource control. If Nigeria must survive, the feudal and thieving hegemony of the northern political class and the rest of the country must be supplanted and uprooted. It is dizzying to appreciate that in the short time that military head of state was an interim leader, he was able to accumulate such loot exposed by the World Bank report. More so the sudden death of Sani Abacha led to the losses of billions of dollars stolen from our lands. The code of conduct tribunal must rise to the grave challenges of corruption and prosecute the offending public servants who have looted the National wealth, at the same time that the Nigerian public must rise to the new consciousness that our elected representatives are seemly out to legalise corruption.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 08:07:32 +0000
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