|
Legal
Victory Can't Erase Nigerian Leader's Troubles - New
York Times
LAGOS, Nigeria The last legal
challenge to the legitimacy of President Umaru Yar'Adua
was quashed by the Supreme Court last week, but he and
Nigeria are far from out of the woods.
Although Mr. Yar'Adua, a former governor from a remote
northern state, finally has a firm mandate to take
charge of Nigeria, Africa's most populous and oil-rich
country, he has accomplished so little in the 19 months
since his flawed election that few believe that he can.
In its 4-to-3 decision on Friday in his favor, the
Supreme Court did little to inspire confidence in the
president or in the circumstances that brought him to
power. While dismissing the suit brought by opposition
leaders to overturn the April 2007 elections, the court
conceded that widespread voting irregularities had
occurred and severely chastised the national electoral
commission for incompetence.
Even officials of the governing party said the president
experienced a close call. Local and international
observers had declared the elections fraudulent, marred
by theft, violence and political intimidation. The chief
lawyer for the electoral commission called the decision
a “narrow escape for the president.”
Though Nigeria has a long history of corruption and
misrule, opposition leaders did have some reason,
however small, to hope for something different this
time. In the past year, the electoral victories of
several state governors were overturned in a series of
local court rulings, inspiring moderate confidence in
the growing independence of the judiciary.
However, most of the mandated revotes in those cases
still resulted in victories for the governing Peoples
Democratic Party. And in the latest case, few expected
the Supreme Court to overturn the election of a
president who had already been in office for more than a
year.
“Nobody would want to rock the boat at this point, as
badly as things are going,” said Namdi Obasi, an analyst
with the International Crisis Group. Asked if the court
ruling meant that Mr. Yar'Adua would now earnestly
tackle Nigeria's many problems, Mr. Obasi said:
“Absolutely not. There is not going to be any dramatic
difference now in the way the country is governed. I
think people are just counting the days until the next
elections in 2011.”
Those days will probably go by slowly for the president.
Plucked from obscurity by former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Mr. Yar'Adua, a former teacher, is the subject
of widespread concerns about his health and doubts about
his ability to govern.
Examples of his inefficiency abound. His efforts to
shuffle important cabinet positions stalled for nearly a
year. He has still not appointed a replacement for the
health minister, ousted in a corruption scandal nine
months ago.
His pledge to end corruption was undermined by the
demotion and forced exile of the country's popular
antigraft czar. After making the first concrete efforts
to prosecute corrupt leaders, several of whom landed in
jail, the official was driven into hiding after two
attempts on his life.
There are also serious concerns about Mr. Yar'Adua's
health, so much so that political insiders have already
begun to speculate about a possible replacement. In the
middle of the 2007 election campaign, Mr. Yar'Adua flew
to Germany for undisclosed medical treatment, and he has
traveled abroad for health reasons at least twice since
his election.
In August, what was supposed to be a short religious
pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia turned into a weeklong
absence, during which rumors swirled. Officials played
down the trip but acknowledged that he had undergone
another minor treatment, again for an undisclosed
ailment.
That the president of Africa's second-wealthiest country
and its biggest oil exporter had to travel abroad for
minor treatment speaks volumes about the state of
services in Nigeria. The average Nigerian lives on less
than $2 a day and has no reliable access to electricity,
clean water or adequate health care.
At a cybercafe in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city,
residents shrugged at news of the court decision. None
were surprised, and none held out much hope for the rest
of the Yar'Adua presidency.
“What can we do?” said Gbenga Biodun, 23, an accountant.
“We just have to fold our arms and accept what our
leaders do.” Patrons near him nodded in resignation.
“I knew there wouldn't be any surprises,” said Akinbode
Oluwasemi, 40, a social worker and environmental
activist. “It's a culmination of the fraud we saw at the
election. If they suspended the election you would have
seen jubilation in the streets. But as you can see no
one was jubilating.”
Crude
Oil Theft: JTF Hands Over 22 Filipinos To EFCC
This exclusive
internal memo of the ICPC was obtained by
SaharaReporters, inside, there are details of a fraud
perpetrated by the current Chairman of the People's
Democratic Party (People Defrauding People-PDP) Vincent
Ogbulafor. It speaks volumes about Yar'adua's "Zero
Tolerance" for Corruption- PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!!!
INTERNAL MEMO
TO: TEAM 3 LEADER
FROM: PAUL AHMED BASSI
The Joint Task Force in the Niger
Delta, Operation Restore Hope, on Tuesday, handed over
22 suspected Filipino oil thieves to the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution.
Our correspondent learnt that the JTF handed over the
suspects at the agency's Port Harcourt zonal
headquarters in the early hours of Tuesday.
The foreign nationals were apprehended aboard a
bunkering vessel, MT AKUADA by the personnel of NNS
Delta, Warri Naval Base, Delta State, three weeks ago.
The Filipinos were arrested at Escravos in Warri
South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, while
attempting to escape with stolen crude oil.
The ocean-going vessel which allegedly sailed into the
creeks of Delta State to steal crude oil after 'due
authorisation' by some unscrupulous officials of the JTF,
was impounded by naval personnel who were not involved
in the sharing of the loot taken from the illegal oil
operators by the JTF's troops.
Operatives of the JTF have been criticised in recent
times for aiding and abetting illegal oil deals in the
areas under the jurisdiction of the security agency.
The critics of JTF's operations alleged that some
officers were masterminding the crime of oil theft.
Some oil thieves had also accused JTF's officials of
connivance in the wake of the arrest of an oil vessel in
a coastal community in Delta State.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre,
JTF, Lt. Col. Rabe Abubakar, in a press statement on
Tuesday, confirmed the handing over of the foreign
nationals to the anti-graft agency.
Abubakar said the action was in line with the
observation of due process and the rule of law as
championed by the administration of President Umaru
Yar'Adua.
He said the ocean-going vessel carried about 12,000
metric tonnes of stolen crude oil valued at about N1bn
at the point of its arrest.
He said, “The arrest was made possible through the
effective blockade of the creeks by the JTF. The war on
oil theft has reduced the level of criminality
associated with oil theft in the oil rich region.
“The campaign to stamp out illegal oil activities in the
region is a continuous one and there
will be no retreat no surrender until the security
outfit achieves its desired objective.
“Similarly, troops on patrol of the waterways
intercepted and apprehended a wooden boat loaded with 76
x 200 litres of drums of diesel illegally refined at
Sapele Waterside. One suspect was arrested during the
operation.”.
Brig.-Gen. Rimtip
Igbinedion
Convicted, Fined
A former Edo State Governor, Chief
Lucky Igbinedion, was on Thursday convicted on a
one-count charge of corruption by the Federal High
Court, Enugu.
Igbinedion will, however, not go to jail as he was
merely fined N3.6m.
The light sentence was the result of a plea-bargain
arrangement the former governor entered into with the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
But the commission, which arraigned him alongside four
companies in which he had interests in, rejected the
judgment, saying it would go on appeal.
The EFCC, which had filed a 191-count charge of
corruption, money laundering and embezzlement against
Igbinedion and the companies made a volte face on
Wednesday by dropping the charges. It filed an amended
24-count but arraigned him on just a count.
Igbenedion, who had earlier pleaded not guilty to the
191-count charge, admitted being liable to the one-count
charge one-count charge.
The single charge reads, "That you, Lucky 19binedion
(former governor of Edo State) on or about January 21,
2008, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court
neglected to make a declaration of your interest in the
account No. 41240113983110 with GTBank in the
declaration of Assets Form of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission and you thereby committed an offence
punishable under section 27(3) of the EFCC Act, 2004."
The second accused, Kiva Corporation, was convicted on
two of the 23 count charge levelled against it and
ordered to pay N500m fine and to forfeit its landed
properties.
The properties include a parcel of land at Asokoro,
Abuja, a detached building on two plots comprising four
bedroom and two outer houses in GRA, Benin, and a storey
building also in Benin, to the Federal Government.
Igbinedion, who came with a few of his aides, paid the
fine within minutes after the verdict and was driven
away in a white Peugeot 307 marked Nasarawa AG 16 NSW.
During the proceedings, the prosecuting counsel, Mr.
Rotimi Jacobs, informed the court that the EFCC had
withdrawn the charges against the accused and filed
amended charges against them.
The former governor thereafter, entered the dock where
he pleaded guilty.
Jacobs had told the court that the former governor
failed to disclose in his assets declaration form that
he had N3, 579, 524.16 in his GTBank account.
He tendered five exhibits, including the certified true
copy of the assets declaration form, the statement of
account of Kiva Corporation which showed how monies were
paid into the GTBank account; and payment vouchers from
the Edo State Government House showing how monies were
withdrawn and lodged into the account of the company.
The index of payment received from government house
showing withdrawals and payments of money to the company
was also tendered. The prosecution urged the court to
consider the ingredients under count two and three where
payments totaling N30m was made to Kiva Corporation on
January 10, 2007 and another sum of N70m paid to the
same company on May 17, 2007 by one Pat Eboigbodin, an
Edo State Government official.
"These showed that the company retained the proceed of
crime and Your Lordship is empowered under section 16 of
the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2004 to convict the
accused for the offence," Jacob said.
It urged the court to take the facts as stated and to
convict accordingly.
Igbinedion's lawyer, Mr. Adetunji Oyeyipo (SAN), did not
object.
The former governor was then directed to confirm the
ingredients of the facts which he did.
Shortly before Justice Abdullahi Kafarati adjourned to
prepare the judgment, Oyeyipo made an allocutus (plea
for mitigation of sentence).
He prayed the court to consider the fact that his client
voluntarily returned to the country from a foreign trip
when he learnt that the EFCC had filed charges against
him.
Oyeyipo said, "Your Lordship would observe that on
occasions when he was granted leave to travel, he had
always returned to face trial.
"Even when he acquired the e-passport, without any
prompting, he submitted the passport to the court·. The
accused was charged with neglecting to make a
declaration of assets, but he didn't willfully refuse or
knowingly refuse to disclose his interest in an account.
"The amount in the account as stated by the prosecution
is N3, 579, 524.16; this is not an amount he would
ordinarily want to hide. My Lord, the account is that of
a first offender and this offence is a strict liability
offence.
"Taking the circumstances into consideration, the status
of the accused before he became Edo State Governor and
also as a former governor, we respectfully urge your
Lordship to impose the mildest punishment sir,
particularly, having regards to section 382 (1) of the
Criminal Procedure Act which is applicable in this
count."
In his judgment, Justice Kafarati convicted Igbinedion
and Kiva Corporation as charged by virtue of the facts
and exhibits presented before him.
Kafarati took cognisance of what he called the demeanor
of the accused and the severity of his offence before
pronouncing the verdict.
He said, "Having considered the charge against the first
accused and since the amount is negligible, he is
therefore sentenced to a fine ofN3, 579, 524.16, being
the amount in the GTBank account he failed to declare.
"He should be remanded in EFCC custody until he pays the
fine," the judge ordered.
Oyeyipo thanked the judge for the 'wise exercise' of his
power.
But the EFCC later issued a statement in which it said
that it was disappointed by the judgment of the court.
It claimed in the statement by its Head, Media and
Publicity, Mr. Femi Babafemi, that it "would rather go
the long way of prosecution than to settle for a
plea-bargain verdict that has no bite or will not serve
any deterrence purpose."
The statement reads, 'The former governor had sought for
a plea-bargain in the course of his prosecution by the
EFCe. The outcome of the exercise at the court in Enugu
however fell short of our expectation.
"It is believed that the essence of a plea-bargain is
not only for suspects to forfeit the proceeds of crime
but that such should go with a sentence which will serve
as deterrent.
"In view of this development, the Chairman of the EFCC,
Mrs. Farida Waziri, has instructed the commission's
counsel to file an appeal against the verdict
immediately. "
Oyeyipo later told journalists that the summary of the
charges against his client "either in their original or
amended form, bordered on the use of security votes or
utilisation of duty tour allowance.”
The Senior Advocate added that the experience of his
client in the past 11 months had been humbling and
traumatic.
Jacobs, in an interview with our correspondent, said he
was neither happy nor sad over the judgment.
He said, "The judge exercised his discretion in
sentencing the accused, so there was nothing we could
do. I may appeal if directed to do so, but the fact that
the accused is convicted is enough."
Back
|
