Buhari Must Kill This Bug

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, was alleged by the Senate to have taken some sleaze off the contract for the upkeep of camps for the Internally Displaced Persons, while the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, was indicted through a security report prepared by the Department of State Services alleging that he benefitted some privileges from persons under investigation for corruption.

Of course, these are weighty allegations. And for an administration which major selling point is the fight against corruption, these allegations may be the dark hole for the Buhari’s presidency. It is therefore not unexpected that the presidency has taken a swift action by asking the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to investigate these allegations. That is a welcome development and a clear departure from the norm during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan when government visibly used its might to protect its officials that were accused of corruption. The case of the former Minister of Aviation readily comes to mind and how it took the Jonathan presidency so long a time to sluggishly relief the minister of her seat on the Federal Executive Council.

The allegations against these two senior administration officials and the extent of dexterity the Attorney General throws into the task of investigating the allegations will be a litmus test of how sincere and far-reaching the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari administration can be. Some sceptics have, however, expressed doubts on whether the Attorney-General of the Federation can undertake the assignment without the slug of political compromise. Valid as this scepticism might sound; the very fact that neither President Buhari nor the administration made any attempt to provide protection for these officials is the reason why Nigerians must believe that the Attorney-General will do a good job on his mandate.

The Attorney-General of the Federation is the chief prosecution officer for the country and, as such, he supervises agencies of government like the EFCC, the ICPC and other sundry agencies of government saddled with criminal investigation and prosecution. Although an appointee of the president, the Attorney-General in carrying out his role, goes beyond political compromise in his judgement and actions, as any step taken by him not in conformity with the requirement of the statute is quickly greeted with public outcry.

We may refresh our memory with the confusion the whole country was thrown into when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was deceased and the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Michael Aondoakaa, was making funny attempts to tweak the constitution in such a way that will make it difficult for the vice-president to be sworn-in as a successor president. It was in an instant that the whole country rose in unison against the mischief being orchestrated by the Attorney-General and the cabal that was trying to perpetuate itself in power.

I am sure that across different states of the federation and even in our extant history as a country, we have seen several instances when the Attorneys-General acted outside the soapbox of political compromise in upholding the tenets of the law.

In other countries too, Attorneys-General do investigate the administrations that they serve and with proud and uncompromising results to show for it.

In the United States of America for example under the presidency of Bill Clinton, US Attorney-General, Janet Reno was much of a sore under the skin of the administration on the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. She went in the direction of the law and ignored political compromise in gruelling the president during investigation into the sex scandal that embroiled the Clinton administration.

Similarly, a former Israeli President, Moshe Katsev is currently in jail after being convicted for the offense of sexual harassment. The investigation that made a case for that decision was carried out by the Attorney-General of that country.

By his decision to call for a full investigation into the allegations of corruption against his appointees, President Buhari has clearly put life into the assertion that he belongs to all, and to nobody. It thus behoves the Attorney-General to aim for the bull’s eye in carrying out the mandate on his desk.
Adesanya writes from Ibadan, Oyo State.