With every incident so far involving prosecution of alleged financial crime, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) makes it more difficult for Nigerians to match her public vows with her sincerity and real intentions in the fight against corruption in government.
When an Asaba High Court on Friday December 18, 2009 discharged Ibori of all the 170- count charges brought against him by the EFCC over money laundering allegations, the initial reactions from Nigerians especially those of us from Delta state were outright emotional outbursts of anger and vexation against the nation’s judiciary and the entire legal system.
But beyond our initial reflex reactions, an unbiased look at the entire trial right from Kaduna, clearly show that the EFCC by well-intended design deliberately engineered the case to fail. The reasons are as clear as they are obvious despite what the commission wants Nigerians to believe by its theatrical Rambo stance and pronouncements.
It was an outright deceit for the EFCC to fake an expression of surprise over the judge’s quashing of all the 170-count charges against Ibori? Was Farida Waziri expecting anything different from what the court actually delivered? This is the big moral question the leadership of the commission needs to answer.
The anti-graft commission in a statement, entitled: “Ibori: What the Public Need to Know”, quickly wanted the public to note amongst other things that the accused (Ibori) refused to take plea and instead raised objections to the charges; that the matter was not tried, no evidence was led or taken by the court; and that the ruling was based merely on charges and proof of evidence.
The EFCC also wanted Nigerians to believe that Ibori have only been discharged and not acquitted and “as such, we are convinced that the case is not over yet as we (EFCC) are determined to take it to a logical conclusion, not withstanding the obstacles being brought our way.” Truth be told, the only obstacle on EFCC’s way has remained the road block of deceit, lack of sincerity and political will-power and sinister complicity in the entire issue of corruption and fraud in government circles across the country. This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
How correct was Ibori’s counsel when he said that “EFCC’s case against the former Delta state governor was irredeemably deficient because the anti-graft body did not provide evidence for its case at the lower judicial chamber.” The commission by design simply played into Ibori’s hands by its deliberate shoddiness.
The EFCC should tell Nigerians why the commission’s four officials who investigated and gave evidence against Ibori did not make statements. It was very absurd that a ‘thorough’ investigation conducted by a serious- minded agency like the EFCC over a very serious allegation of fraud and laundering of public fund had only verbal interim report rather than final written report. Does it mean that investigations are still going on and if yes, why hurry to drag the accused to court when you are not ready with the facts to prosecute the case? Even the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) did not make any written statements.” So who is fooling who? There is something not very right from the EFCC’s end of this game.
The only statement the anti-graft agency had on the case was by Nuhu Ribadu the erstwhile EFCC boss alleging that Andy Uba offered him a $15 million bribe from Ibori.” Another question here is: Why did the EFCC not call Uba to make a statement concerning his involvement in the transmission of the bribe at least Uba is still in the country and would have readily cooperated with the agency because of his interest in Anambra politics?
The anti-graft agency accused Ibori of money laundering, procuring somebody to open an illegal account, and in all the charges brought to the court, not one account number was mentioned nor details of cash movement provided throughout the commission’s submissions. If you say that someone illegally opened an account with a Bank, it means you know the bank and must quote the account number for ease of reference and verifiability. The EFCC deliberately did not do that. The commission should tell Nigerians why they filed a case of money laundering without quoting the numbers of the accounts through which the money was allegedly laundered.
Another funny aspect of this whole case was that the EFCC claimed that Uba offered Ribadu the $15 million bribe from Ibori on April 24, 2007, yet the erstwhile EFCC boss kept the money until December 12, 2007, a day after Ibori was been arrested. How could Ribadu have kept that kind of money without alerting anybody for eight months and until Ibori was arrested? It was after the arrest that Ribadu remembered that he had been keeping $15 million bribe from Uba
From the disgraceful outing of the EFCC in the Asaba High court, it was obvious that there was no case file on this particular prosecution. What is not clear is whether the Ibori’s case file was among the ones Ribadu took away when he was sacked as Nigerians were told by Mrs Waziri when she assumed office.
Rushing to the Appeal Court to seek redress on the verdict without thorough preparation will only further muddle the case. The question is: What is the EFCC going to say at the Appeal court? Are they going to manufacture the evidence that they did not adduce at the lower court?
Though the legal experts should know better, but those of us concerned think that the EFCC should put its acts together, repackage its case with its evidence which I believe they have at their disposal (or at the disposal of Nuhu Ribadu) and press a new case against Ibori rather than appealing the ruling of the Asaba High Court. This case originated from Kaduna where the charges were first filed in December 2007 and later transferred to Asaba for trial for reasons best known to the EFCC and Ibori’s counsels. There should be a way for the current leadership of the anti-graft agency to collaborate with the erstwhile chairman, Ribadu to fill-in the missing links because this is the only way, as it stands now, that the commission can provide an intelligent case against the former Delta state governor. But the big question is: Will Ribadu cooperate with Waziri when he is on the wanted list of the Yar’Adua-led federal government. You see, the deprived people of Delta state are the real losers in this whole game-plan of mischief by the EFCC. It’s a pity.
IFEANYI IZEZE IS AN ABUJA-BASED CONSULTANT ON STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATION (iizeze@yahoo.com)
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