Nigeria: Ex-Health Minister has a case to answer

That Ministry of Health scam is back in the news

Even I had forgotten that this case was in the docket somewhere about to have a pronouncement from a judge and ready to move to the next stage of deliberations or resignation.

In March 2008, the then Minster of Health, the highly respected Professor Adenike Grange resigned along with her deputy and a host of senior management staff in the Ministry of Health.

It transpired that the President had given a directive to all ministries to return to the federation account all unallocated funds to the end of the last year.

In any setup that understands the line of command, executive authority and the appreciation of responsibilities conferred when asked to serve in public office, this should not have been a tough thing to do.

Scheming for a Christmas bonus

Unfortunately, it is alleged that the management team of the Ministry of Health cooked up an elaborate scheme of fraudulent agencies to siphon away N300 million (Naira) where the management were paid millions and the rank and file staff got a pittance that was further depleted by top-brass greed and passed off as a Christmas bonus.

Then, I laughed off the idea that a ministry in Nigeria could have the structures and monitoring models typical of a merchant bank in place as to have set goals and met objectives to be deserving of a bonus.

The underhand of oversight

However, this all was unique in its consequences but benign in relation to the events that followed, this bonus scheme included dishing out N10 million to the Senate Committee on Health whose chairman apparently squandered it on some capacity building trip to Ghana.

This capacity building trip which was supposed to help in presenting a bill to deal with the serious health crisis in Nigeria hit the road blocks on its first outing, it was completely castigated by the Senate that it had to be withdrawn then.

Anyway, after the Minister resigned, the EFCC waded into the case and basically pointed fingers at all in authority who could have mishandled the cash that should have been returned to the federation account.

The drama that ensued involved weeks of speculation about the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health who vaulted her security wall to evade capture by law enforcement agents from the EFCC and went into hiding that it became a bizarre news story until she showed up and ended up setting up an opulent chamber in the offices of the chief of police when remanded in custody.

The Chairman would have us believe that there is no conflict of interest in taking moneys from an arm of the executive to do legislative business with a department over which she is supposed to have legislative oversight – it is a muddled democracy out there, the question of ethical conduct is as alien as a visitor from Mars having supper with you tonight.

A case to answer

Meanwhile, all these suspects have been challenging the case that has been made against them by the EFCC, which for all that we have heard and read about this scam looks like a really decent case that should have its run in court with all the legal scrutiny and advocacy that such issues entertain.

In a ruling yesterday at an Abuja High Court, that judge ruled that they all have a case to answer [1], at least for any layman, somebody has to answer questions satisfactorily about why a welfare committee was set up to disburse funds that should have been remitted elsewhere.

As for the case of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, the judge opined that she does have to answer questions relating to the N10 million that was paid to her committee out of the N300 million [2] – which anyone should find just plainly reasonable.

Justice will prevail

However, we can trust that these people would want to frustrate due legal process to serve their own ends such that no more light can be shone on why people who held responsibility for making decisions for Nigerians on health and healthcare felt they had a greater cause to fill their pockets and go on fanciful jaunts.

It would go to appeal according to their lawyers and hopefully, the higher up they go, the judges would be more convinced of the fair and just need to lift the lid off this rotten scam and its perpetrators; so we can get to the substance of the charges and test those charges before a fair and balanced judicial process.

The people with their agitation do not help us maintain the presumption of innocence about them, it is like they have something to hide and human nature does have a tenacity that pits against tenacity till one gives – the one being, we need to know the truth about how a presidential directive failed to exact the power and authority it should have had in any honest, reliable, ethical and responsible setting.

They should bring on their battalions of legal luminaries paid for by unaudited sources of wealth and we stand sure that justice would prevail, those who are innocent would be set at liberty and their honour restored, those who are guilty, for all that we have already been dragged through to get to the end of this matter – woe betide you.

Sources

[1] allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Iyabo, Grange, Others Have Cases to Answer – Court

[2] The Punch: N300m scam: ‘Obasanjo-Bello, Grange, others have cases to answer’

EFCC - Economic and Financial Crimes Commission - Wikipedia

Nigeria: The powerful taking the law into their hands

The third part of that programme

If we are to go by the respect for the rule of law as the core intent of President Yar’Adua’s programme in Nigeria, I have noted we also have to have that go in tandem with equality before the law.

Reading another news story today leaves me very aware of the fact that the President does have a mammoth task before him and I can only wish him Godspeed.

Obviously, it appears many of my insights seem to revolve around the family of the ex-President, I would have you know that their cases are not unique and almost always representative of people who can wield power and peddle influence by reason of their association rather than personal achievement.

Daughter bothers mother

This time the matter concerns of the mother of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello – Mrs Remi Obasanjo; considering the tribulations her daughter has been going through and they the parents would quite have us believe their daughter is being persecuted and victimized as a means of getting at her father.

That is a matter for some other debaters; however, it is nice to see that families do close ranks when met with some sort of adversity.

It would appear the mother had been in Abuja to offer moral support to her daughter and only just returned to Lagos after her daughter had fulfilled her bail conditions.

Since the daughter until recently had been as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel the press decided to seek a sound bite off her mother in Lagos about the travails of her daughter.

Within the law your privacy

Now, anyone anywhere should be at liberty to exercise the right to privacy and be able to seek relieve from intrusion of the press. Generally, that should be a polite message to visitors that one is not interested in their entreaties and inquiries, failing that one can seek the help of law enforcement or go as far as seeking an injunction from a court of law.

A journalist from the Punch newspaper - the powerful have a seething contempt for professional, journalists, most especially - visited the premises of Mrs Remi Obasanjo in Lagos seeking an interview and presented his business card to the security guard; soon afterwards an aide of the madam came to the gate and this allegedly is the conversation that took place between them.

The threatening conversation

Aide: Are you the owner of this card?

Reporter: Yes.

Aide: Madam is not in the mood to see anybody now and I will advise you strongly that you leave this place at once.

Reporter: Did Madam actually send you to deliver this message?

Aide: Yes, and I will advise you in your own interest to leave and never to come around this place again.

Reporter: Why?

Aide: Well, I have just told you, if you love yourself, don’t come here again. Or why do you want to risk your life?

Reporter: But this is not my first visit here.

Aide: And since you have been coming, how many times have you seen her? So, in your own interest don’t come here again.

Reporter: But make sure you give my card to her.

Aide: She has seen your card, and will call you when she is in the mood to talk. Bye

Reporter: All right.

My pique

I have a serious problem with this conversation, the first clause of the second sentence of the Aide is fine enough – Madam is not in the mood to see anybody now – fair enough she has had a rough few weeks on account of her daughter.

Is there any reason to then try to menace the journalist with – I will advise you strongly that you leave this place at once – it is very much like chasing away a stray dog; there might be cases for treating journalists as dogs, but I do not think the conversation warranted this level of hostility.

The reporter then tries to ascertain if the threat was a direct order from the madam or the aide being supercilious and working beyond her brief.

Incriminating her mistress she affirms that she was told to threaten the journalist – fine enough.

She then threatens the well-being of the journalist saying he should in his own interest leave and never come back again – well, where there is a public interest issue that would be a difficult order to follow – we can agree that the case of the daughter does not automatically make the mother a public interest subject.

The threats and menace continue with this statement – I have just told you, if you love yourself, don’t come here again. Or why do you want to risk your life? – She does appeal to his sense of self-preservation but a threat to his life?

Is Nigeria this lawless?

This is just not on, is Nigeria such a lawless society?

Is she implying that an enquiry made of the ex-wife of a former president can lead to a homicide in trying to escape or avoid media scrutiny?

That I would say is completely lawless, no one should have their lives cheapened in such a way in order to convey a message that they are being inconvenienced, it is really taking the law into their hands and there are places where such a threat would be prosecuted to the limits of the law exacting apologies and compensation.

But this is turning into a train of ideals that need to be part of the President’s grand scheme – respect for the rule of law, equality before the law and not taking the law into ones hands.

The aide either exceeded her lawful remit or her madam was wielding influence and power that primarily should belong to law enforcement and legal process – you can refuse to see a journalist, you can beseech the journalist not to visit or pursue you but you have crossed the line of legality when you threaten a journalist with menace.

In the end, I am glad she did not send out her security guards to beat the journalist to a pulp, I would not put it beyond their ilk to commit such a heinous act and get away with it.

I think can now really announce that I am officially exiled from Nigeria – I cannot countenance this kind of attitude, it is just not on.

Nigeria: A desire for equality before the law

The knightly crusader without a horse

Having read the transcript of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s interview conducted by the Financial Times, I could not help but think that his knightly crusade to ensure Nigerians respect the rule of law was missing a horse.

It became very clear to me this morning as I whipped through the Nigerian dailies on the web to catch up on happenings at home.

Now, who would have thought we had our own home-grown Paris Hilton trying to play escapegoat whilst lamenting she is being made a scapegoat.

Nobbling the judge

News reaches us that the invisible Senator, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello finally appeared in court and was refused bail after the lawyer failed to sway the judge by mentioning that she was a medical practitioner, a Senator and a daughter of the ex-President of Nigeria.

To anyone, it was an innocuous plea but it was laden with menace and threats to the authority of the judge – she is no medical practitioner in a general sense, she is a veterinarian and I doubt she has ever shown medical compassion to a stray dog.

Indicating she is a profession might appeal to the professional stature of the judge, but it did not work; the view that she is a Senator is just piffle, she has not been in the Senate for a month and she was not there to present the Health Bill that finally got passed last week.

Piling on the pressure by indicating she is a daughter of the ex-President was to warn the judge that he was dealing with powerful forces in Nigeria, but that did not wash with the judge.

She only gained reprieve by being sent to police custody rather than Kuje jail.

It is in police custody that we find the bolted horse that the knightly Yar’Adua is supposed to mount for his ever so important crusade.

Enter the diva

She gets to Maitama Police Station and suddenly becomes the diva, we find that she has commandeered the place and is sleeping chief officer’s office having brought in her own bed and fan, and she arranges for the air-conditioning equipment and power generator to be fixed and gets a carpenter to fix the netting on the windows to keep out mosquitoes.

One could be forgiven for thinking the accused was banged up in police custody with creature comforts that might have one renaming the location Maitama Hilton Towers.

Obviously, influence and sycophancy has prevailed on the better judgement of law enforcement as she holds court in the police station giving us the impression that she is being lawful and respectful of the rule of law.

Influence peddling again

Well, I am getting fed up of these spoilt brats that get involved in nefarious activities, influence peddling, corrupt practices and unethical conduct who when caught by the law would cry me a river and not face up to the weight of the consequences of their actions – they almost always get off lightly as people of privilege wielding their status wherever they go subverting the course of justice.

Beyond the crusade of respect for the rule of law Sir Umaru – the great knight of the rule of law crusade – has to mount the stallion that ensures equality before the law. If she should be in an executive cell, then all prisoners should have executive cells, the culture of preferential treatment at the execution of orders of the court or the law has to stop.

I do not think the judge would be too pleased to learn that his orders have been be carried out with such levity so as to undermine his authority – send her to the executive penthouse of Kuje Prison and make sure the gates are properly locked up.

Current Developments

However, despite my protestations, she has now be granted bail, but the irony of it all must not be lost on anyone, I suppose removal men had to be called in to move her creature comforts back home.

Nigeria: Ministries banned from funding National Assembly

Don’t give

Once again, one does not see tectonic shifts in reform but the small steps one sees are significant.

The Secretary to the Federal Government (SFG) has sent letters to Ministries, Departments and Agents (MDAs), advising them that every arm of government has its own budgetary allocations to fund their activities and so they should not be sponsoring activities for other organs of government especially those of the National Assembly.

This came about after the illegal disbursement of funds from the Ministry of Health to both the House of Representatives Health Committee and the Senate Committee on Health.

Bad gifts

These funds were part of the N300 million excess that the President had ordered the Ministry of Health to return to the treasury but lead to an elaborate scheme to embezzle the funds disguised as Christmas bonuses, this lead to the resignation of the Ministers and the indictment of administrators of the Ministry.

Offering N10 million each to the committees in the National Assembly would have compromised the oversight and lawmaking functions they have over the Ministry of Health; the House of Representatives committee returned their share whilst the Senate committee went on a jaunt in Ghana.

Obvious conflicts of interest

Though, the Senate did not see anything untoward in accepting funds and cleared the chairman of the committee of wrong-doing, better sense has prevailed upon others in the Executive that there is a clear and attributable conflict of interest in that kind of transaction.

The letter of the SFG clearly addresses the responsibility of chief executives of government organs in the stewardship of their resources and conformance to existing financial laws whilst warning that their prudence should ensure they are not caught in criminal conduct.

It also seeks to address avenues of patronage that might lead to corrupt practices.

Clear separation of powers

In general, a clear separation of powers is being advocated by removing inducements; without saying it in words; whilst hoping to promote a transparent and professional relationship between the Executive and the Legislature.

The fallout from the Ministry of Health embezzlement is no all bad; I think it strengthens democratic structures in a progressive and positive manner.

Once again – Good Job, Yardy!

Nigeria: Beyond Due Process

The dues of process

With a number of cases of supposed impropriety leading to the ousting of political officers, the resignation of ministers, the indictment of politicians or the accusation of public office holders, the revelation of each developing speculation might make us lose focus of the pertinent issues.

One phrase that has been bandied around the most on most of these matters is that of “due process”. It makes one ask, how much process is due process and when does due process become a bureaucratic ordeal that requires the vultures of the law to nitpick the minutiae?

Beyond due process

However, beyond the façade of due process maybe we should review the issues of perception, appearance and transparency.

Some holders of public office would like to be considered honest, trustworthy and able; in return they expect to be respected and treated with some dignity whilst their authority and office is not impugned.

In those seemingly exceptional cases, it should not just be the letter of the law or guiding principles of rules of procedure that they should adhere to, they should endeavour to go the extra mile to ensure that nothing they do by commission or omission is construed to be suspect.

Separation from the detail

In the case of the threatened impeachment of the Speaker of the House Representative which lead to her resignation; there might have been reason to renovate the premises of those officers and the acquisition of vehicles for official duties, however, the Speaker should never have gotten directly involved in any of the contractual negotiations to the extent that she got implicated.

If there were rules about tendering, allocation of funds and execution of contracts, she should have ensured that her subordinates were aware of all that would make the activities transparent and above board whilst keeping her distance from matters that could create clamour about conflicts of interest, talk less of the whiff of corruption.

Obeying simple orders

The matter of the resignation of the ministers in the Ministry of Health is simple; the President gave an executive order to return unspent moneys to the treasury; it was disobeyed and then an elaborate scheme was hatched to distribute the said funds to senior staff whilst cheating the junior staff of their share of the loot.

I have no sympathy for the senior officials of that ministry; what they did was unforgivably corrupt and it should be punished after the necessary legal issues have ascertained guilt or innocence of the parties concerned.

Part of that distribution ended up in the Senate Committee for Health which has legislative oversight of the Ministry of Health and this was used to sponsor a retreat in Ghana.

Avoiding the conflict of interest

There are commentators who suggest that the Chairman of that committee, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello is a victim of a witch-hunt by reason of the fact that she is the daughter of the erstwhile President who is having his whole tenure discredited for all sorts of matters of due process.

I do not however subscribe to this idea of a witch-hunt; whilst a Senate committee is allowed to solicit funds for activities to help them fulfil their functions; it surely cannot be right for an oversight committee to solicit and accept funds from organisations over which it exercises the obligation of oversight.

Here, the chairman should have done the prudent thing, return the money to the ministry citing the possibility of conflict of interest and the perception that their clear and objective assessment of issues concerning the Ministry of Health could be compromised.

Asking for good character

Obviously, this is asking for a higher level of probity from participants in the governance of Nigeria, this kind of thinking has to start from the top for it to permeate through the fabric of our political system.

In the end, there is the matter of the spirit and letter of the law and procedures with the additional but unwritten aspects of perception that stems from the character and virtues of the people who hold high public office.

We should have in mind that this does not pertain to any religious affiliation of the people concerned, if they are not in and of themselves honest and trustworthy, no religious adherence would make them any better than they are – do not be badgered with the false witness of swearing to some potentate when you are seeking the truth about any matter.

Nigeria: Senator frogjumps her back wall

A new interest in Nollywood

I am no particular fan of Nollywood, though in the 70s we got caught up in aspects of Bollywood and Sinowood (Bruce Lee, the noises and the kicks), neither do I watch much Hollywood, the last time I was in a cinema was just about a year ago.

I must however say that some scripts, which are inadvertently appearing as news from Nigeria, are looking like we would be getting a major blockbuster very soon starring the thespian qualities of the histrionic Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello at her most melodramatic – I am enthralled.

Senator Obasanjo-Bello happens to be the daughter of the erstwhile President of Nigeria, and it seems she is getting embroiled in every kind of shady deal, which brings the name of Nigeria and the “office” of an elected representative into disrepute.

Cleared but not really cleared

Recently, the Nigerian Senate cleared their own from culpability in the squander of funds from the Ministry of Health; she happens to be the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health.

We have been told that 10 million Naira was given to the Senate Committee for a junket retreat in Ghana. The Director of Administrator in the Ministry of Health, Dr. H. B. Oyedepo who has been talking to the EFCC says it was 20 million Naira – so there is a little business of searching out the real truth and why the doubling or the halving of the money.

The great and desperate escape

Anyway, the EFCC have been after the powerful senator and on a visit to her home to invite her to appreciate the comforts of the commission, news reaches us that she made for the back garden and scaled her wall to escape those menacing EFCC clutches.

The senator would contend that she is no fugitive and we are being regaled with a sob story that she is now afraid for her life.

I’ll tell you this much, if I ran to my backdoor and scaled the wall of my garden, not only would I be afraid for my life, I would be in danger of losing it with a 7-storey plunge.

I cannot believe that such a highly placed politician who has been besmirched with claims of corruption and is protesting her innocence would resort to such desperate measures usually reminiscent of illegal overstaying refugees trying to escape the capture of immigration agents.

Her father’s daughter

The senator has form and she goes on the defensive by claiming, “There's a very huge anti-Obasanjo sentiment in the country now and honestly the behaviour is not normal.”

I could almost sympathise but the truth about the matter is simple, I know that many of us hold our family names in such esteem that we would be all too reluctant to be involved in anything that would bring shame to the family.

That inclination comes from a life of honesty, rectitude, integrity and pride instilled in us by our parents, which would have been instilled in them by a culture that could not countenance the concept of being brought to shame. We hold those values dear, no matter where we are in this world, the few who stray sometimes completely lose their way and end up foul of the law.

Some of the children of President Obasanjo do not seem to have been privileged to acquire this kind of parental guidance, the Obasanjo presidential term seems to be a litany of entrenched corruption, smoke screens of fighting corruption and the complete abuse of process.

A coward exposed

The example of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello shows that she has followed after the abuse of power rather than the desire to maintain a reputable family name, which others would do by keeping a low profile.

She now feels she is a victim of harassment; that is just so pathetic – she would make us believe she has done nothing wrong - whilst she has peddled influence with impunity and she is now reaping the results in being wanted by the anti-graft agency for a number of questionable activities. Unfortunately, daddy does not seem to be able to pull the strings to exculpate his daughter.

What is most revealing about this saga is this, having been involved in a number of shady deals and transactions; she is unable to face the music and consequences of her actions. This is typical of people who have gained power through nepotism and abuse of process such that they know nothing of the responsibility they are given and when the going gets tough they are crybaby cowards.

If this does not sound like the makings of a Nollywood thriller, I challenge you to come up with a better plot.

Nigeria: Senate safety from blame not guns

That Teflon girl

The Nigerian propensity for a junket and partying knows no limits as we hear the Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello has been let off by the Nigerian Senate.

Her Senate Committee on Health took 10 million Naira of funds off the Ministry of Health for a retreat in Ghana when that along with another 290 million Naira should have been returned to the Treasury on the orders of the President.

This is what led to the resignation of chief officers of the Ministry of Health and the unfortunately scalping of that most respected academic and healthcare professional, Professor Adenike Grange.

Rules and dues

Apparently, Senator Obasanjo-Bello broke no Senate rules which we are told tally with rules in United States and United Kingdom constitutions and because the money has already gone towards their retreat, it cannot be returned to the Nigerian purse.

The rules might tally, but in those countries, they have democratic accountability, judicial oversight and anyone who besmirches the name of the parliament or Congress by mere association would with dignity step down from a position of authority.

As all things in Nigeria, it might just end there because the culture of impunity and collegiate of banditry that props up fellow miscreants allows for all to play the same rotten game and get away with it.

We can only hope that she not yet out of the crosshairs of the EFCC because this lady has form in very many shady matters.

Gun of a chief

Meanwhile, the Senate President, Senator David Mark who might well have to go back to the electorate soon to re-contest his seat has been celebrating his 60^th birthday, troops of titled and lettered chiefs, bloated politicians and power brokers would be in tow.

The Olubadan of Ibadan had another chieftaincy title to dole out for favours yet unknown which saw the Senate President conferred with the title of Aare Onibon of Ibadan.

Aare would be the equivalent of an English peerage some sort of arch-chief, commander-in-chief or generalissimo and the Onibon part, I would suspect means he is the custodian of the guns of the city.

Anytime I hear someone has an Aare kind of title, I am always suspicious of something about to happen.

A requisite sacrifice

A mobile policeman, Sergeant Akinola Tajudeen happened to be at the ceremony to help keep order and he blows of his head accidentally at the investiture of the custodian of the guns – in Nigeria, there is more to it than meets the eye, this one almost makes one believe that one should never consign to conspiracy what can be attributed to incompetence.

There seems to be four versions of the event in the same news story, not that it matters; an unfortunate human sacrifice is as much a successful chieftaincy initiation, no questions about why a mobile policeman in a civil setting should have a gun without the safety catch on.