Speaking up
and loud
This is the stuff great people are made of,
fearlessness in the face of persecution and boldness to speak truth to power.
I have many a time been perturbed by the cost of our
democracy and the stranglehold corruption seems to have on every facet of life
in Nigeria.
Yesterday brought in a number of interesting
revelations, whilst many sanctimoniously concentrated on the sensational, the
bigger issue was the insight into the workings of our legislature, the
committee system and the bottom-feeding frenzy of rent-seeking legislators steeped
in despicable malfeasance playing to the gallery pretending to unimpeachable
conduct.
Sensational
allegations
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma
Oteh was appearing before the House Committee on Capital Markets chaired by
“Honourable” Herman Hembe – the title must be in quotes until it is regained by
a fair assessment of the allegations made and the man is proven completely
innocent of the claims.
During the day we were regaled with tales of the
profligate excesses of the Ms. Oteh, that she had stayed in 5-star hotel accommodation for 8 months
instead of the regulatory one month, that she has spent NGN 850,000 ($5,391) on
dinner and everyone ran to town with it. There some dispute as to whether it
was NGN 850,000 or NGN 85,000 ($539.10), in either case, this was piffle,
almost of no consequence in the scheme of things, the way the country is bilked
and milked by all those in political office.
She stoops
to conquer
Nigerian politicians are given to bluster and
grandiloquence arrogating to themselves privileges, emoluments and untrammelled
fiat to bludgeon people who appear before their committees without due
courtesies and respect to the attendees.
Ms. Oteh ran the gauntlet of being questioned about
her qualifications to fill her position and her ability to perform, it was an
inquisition so disgraceful and unbecoming of anyone who deigns to be recognised
in polite society but that was Day One.
When Ms. Oteh appeared on Day Two, she was battle-axe
ready, fuming, agitated and shooting all guns with deathly accuracy in what
might become the biggest political earthquake of our democratic experiment, I
should expect aftershocks of similar magnitude to follow.
Explosive
political bombshells
She alleged with dates that the Committee Chairman had
received moneys to attend a conference that he eventually did not attend and
did not refund the expense. She also alleged that he had asked the SEC to fund
the activities of the committee to the tune of NGN 39,000,000 ($247,376) and
then another demand was made for NGN 5,000,000 ($31,714.80).
She questioned the integrity of the chairman and his
credibility to sit in judgement with unclean hands and his maturity in
commenting on issues related to the SEC without first verifying the facts
possibly with the view to undermine, discredit and contemn Ms. Oteh.
More importantly, she pointedly accused the chairman
of corruption and in the court of public opinion challenged the chairman to
defend himself against the claims whilst making the case for fairness and
better adherence to democratic principles. The raw emotion was palpable as she
trembled and her voice quavered with each forceful statement, the discomfiture
of the committee was quite evident.
Noisy body
talk
The body language of the chairman was like an open book
screaming out the words as he swivelled in his chair in pendulumic consonance
squirming with embarrassment as he tried to fend off the allegations, twisting
Ms. Oteh’s words and playfully making light of the situation but before the
whole world, this was a most uncomfortable moment.
In a display of braggadocio he mandated the
anti-corruption agencies to investigate the claims, but we Nigerians have very
little confidence in the ability of these institutions to follow through to
conclusion any allegations, charges or indictments made on senior politicians
in Nigeria – it was both a dare and a moot point, if anything comes of it, we
will be in for an unusual surprise.
He was obviously rattled that he forgot his manners
when he told and not asked Ms. Oteh to turn off her microphone. In a society
where character, reputation and integrity matters, where a senior official is besmirched
with allegations of corruption, one would expect him to recuse himself and not
bring the activities of the committee and the House of Representatives into
disrepute, but impunity without consequence is the name of the game in Nigeria,
he reasserted his questionable authority and banged the gavel – the seal of
authoritative corruption and obvious indifference.
Ms. Oteh –
the big spender?
So many things stand out from the events of that day
which I will attempt to address one at a time.
Could Ms. Oteh have spent $539 on dinner? Very likely,
it would probably have covered a meal with friends and considering the cost of
living in Nigeria especially in luxury settings, the prices are unbelievably steep
for what we would get at a reasonable cost in Europe. It is quite doubtful that
she spent $5,391 at one sitting, it reads like a very tall tale exposed to
ridicule and embarrass her – The SEC has asserted the lower figure but why let
the truth get in the way of a sensational exposé?
That Ms. Oteh stayed in 5-star accommodation for a
whole 8 months is quite beyond the pale but then one can understand that
enjoying luxury at the expense of others can be a difficult and herculean task
to wean yourself of off, in some ways she was being both a chancer and human –
people have done worse, she has been in her position for over two years now,
which means alternative lodgings have been arranged for at least 16 months.
Report or
proclaim?
Certain people have wondered why Ms. Oteh did not take
her allegations of corruption to the anti-corruption agencies. For reasons I
have stated before, they have not excelled in their briefs, literally everyone
of political clout in Nigerian has gummed up the system and deftly used the
judiciary to extricate themselves from the clutches of due process of
investigation and administration of justice.
In my view, that public forum was the best place to
make those allegations and with it in the open, force many more voices to demand
action be taken. If the chairman feels he has been besmirched and libelled he
can easily seek redress in the courts but I doubt he has the courage to be
exposed to the scrutiny of his cupboard of rampaging skeletons. Compromised
legislators grandstanding in public will from now on have to thread carefully.
Estacode
abuse
One area of patronage and source of corruption that
needs to be reviewed reformed and better regulated is the use and abuse of estacode
- funds intended to cover traveling costs by public servants and politicians.
Politicians, especially in Nigeria are quite handsomely remunerated; they
should not be receiving hand-outs before they have completed whatever missions
they embark on.
In the private sector, a modicum of control is
exercised on spending because the money first comes out of the pocket and the
person is later reimbursed on the presentation of receipts and audited review
of the expenses.
Though that process can also be abused, with the
presentation of false documents or through collusion, it will not result in
profligacy and excessive pre-compensation and the person will be more
accountable for their spend. That the chairman received moneys and did not use
it for the intended purpose is at best dishonest, if not fraudulent.
Conflicts of
interest
The operation of committees needs to be reviewed, the
independence of a committee will always be compromised and the perception of
its ability to function transparently and fairly will be suspect if the committee
and its members receive favours from the institutions they have oversight of. It
is befuddling that the concept of conflict of interest has not become part of the
framework of the fabric of our democracy.
The legislature has its budget and it must operate
within its means without seeking emoluments and sponsorship of external organisations
that can exact influence on the probity, transparency and integrity of the
committees in some quid pro quo arrangement – this must be deemed illegal,
corrupt and outlawed. Perceptions matter, always.
A new breed
of public servant
One other interesting point is that Ms. Oteh appeared
to be quite combative and it is interesting that on Day One the proceedings
were not given a public hearing and then the damaging allegations of living
large seemed to set the stage for the committee to embarrass the lady for not
playing ball with a live and televised hearing which now seems to have
back-fired on the legislators.
If you are called to public service in Nigeria - Do
not be assimilated and do not be intimidated. Arunma Oteh is a class act.
There is no doubt that our legislature would prefer
Nigerians were not privy to the machinations of corruption, pay-for-play,
bribery and other despicable practices that have been rumoured about but never
verified. With Ms. Oteh’s very public assailing of these rent-seekers there is
very little damage limitation that can be done to restore the public’s
confidence in our democracy.
We need to put the feet of these people to the fire
and apply more pressure on the system to change, to reform and to root out the
atrocious wolves in sheep’s clothing who are selfish, self-conceited and
greedily feeding on the system with ravenously gluttonous appetites.
If we are to learn anything from Ms. Oteh, our
democracy is in need of an urgent reset.
References
Nigeria:
Ministries banned from funding National Assembly – Written in 2008 about
conflicts of interested between the legislature and executive.
