The President must be mindful that perception can be as consequential as reality in public life. If he was so concerned about getting the EFCC to back off in Osun, he could have directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to adopt constitutionally recognised procedures that preserve the autonomy of the EFCC, rather than present himself as an almighty, stick-wielding headmaster whipping all agencies into line. President Tinubu can, in fact, help Nigeria restore the integrity of our institutions.
Last week’s encounter between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Osun State Government again illustrates one of the many failings of Nigeria’s democratic experience.
The EFCC had instructed one of the state government’s bankers to place a Post No Debit order on one of its numerous bank accounts. The instruction is a euphemism for what is commonly known as freezing an account. The simple effect is that the state government would be unable to operate that account until a court of competent jurisdiction contradicts the EFCC’s action and vacates the order.
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But hell was let loose before the order even landed. The Osun State government cried foul, challenging the EFCC’s competence to freeze its account without a court order. It went further to insinuate that the order was an attempt to paralyse its activities days before an all-important gubernatorial election. To communicate the importance of the issue, Governor Ademola Adeleke addressed a press conference in which he described the Commission’s action as illegal, asked for a reversal and threatened to institute a court action against the EFCC.
But the EFCC said it acted within its powers. The anti-corruption agency claimed in a statement that it moved to prevent an alleged diversion of public funds after detecting suspicious movement of funds from the government’s accounts beginning on 2 August.
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The statement said in part: “The Commission noticed huge transfers of funds into different corporate entities and had to swiftly halt the trend by freezing the accounts from which such heavy funds are being moved.” It said it had embarked on an investigation of the state’s utilisation of about ₦11 billion in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee. The Post No Debit order was therefore, according to the Commission, in fulfilment of its preventive mandate to safeguard public funds, assets and resources.
It would be difficult to completely fault the EFCC’s logic here. Unless we were to play the ostrich, Nigerians know what politicians do with public funds during electioneering campaigns. Beyond the sphere of speculation, revelations from the trial of former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki remain evidence of the misuse of government funds for political activities.
His action is like a double-edged sword. On the surface, the President’s intervention is a noble step taken to save him from public suspicion and restore confidence in the Osun election. He came across as a conscious leader who understands the use of executive power and has deployed it to restore the dignity of his office. But Tinubu has unwittingly validated the public assumption that the executive can easily dictate the affairs of agencies like the EFCC.
Although the agency provided no evidence of its allegations against the Osun State government, its suspicions provide legitimate grounds for investigation. Whether those suspicions were sufficient to justify the freezing of the account is, of course, a separate legal question. The other option would be for an agency set up to investigate and prosecute corruption cases to fold its hands and watch politicians possibly violate the country’s resources. That is an entirely ludicrous proposition.
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Unfortunately, that same unacceptable situation appears to be what President Bola Tinubu’s directive that the EFCC must head back to court and vacate the order encourages. Without regard for whatever evidence the agency might have, Tinubu said he was deeply embarrassed by the proximity of the EFCC’s decision to the upcoming gubernatorial election in the state.
In defending his intervention, the President said: “…This is so because every action taken by an institution of state, especially at the Federal level, is always credited to me, as the President, even when I may not have had any prior knowledge of the action.” He justified his action further by saying: “…based on the foregoing premise, I am duty-bound to issue a directive on this issue in consonance with the overriding public interest in preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process.”
His action is like a double-edged sword. On the surface, the President’s intervention is a noble step taken to save him from public suspicion and restore confidence in the Osun election. He came across as a conscious leader who understands the use of executive power and has deployed it to restore the dignity of his office. But Tinubu has unwittingly validated the public assumption that the executive can easily dictate the affairs of agencies like the EFCC.
The President truly has a responsibility to protect the public interest, but he oversteps when he issues directives that negate the operational autonomy of agencies like the EFCC.
Regardless of the political expediency of his intervention, the EFCC’s statutory framework does not envisage the presidential direction of its day-to-day investigative decisions. The President’s intervention therefore exposed the weakness of the agency and eroded its authority in the public estimation.
…President Tinubu stands in a unique position to kick-start the process of strengthening institutions by allowing them to perform their duties, no matter whose ox is gored. As President, he also has the opportunity to ingrain the culture of service to the people in all national institutions. Currently, too many agencies of government conduct themselves as servants of the leaders in power at every material time.
Just as Nigerians know that politicians misapply public resources for political reasons, the people also understand that politicians manipulate state institutions, even if they mostly have no evidential proof. President Tinubu, who says he has deliberately refused to interfere in the operations of these institutions, would therefore do well to set a precedent that shows holders of executive office that state institutions are beyond the control of politicians.
Ideally, national institutions like the EFCC should not pander to sentiments such as the closeness of elections in their operational processes. Nigerians make assertions like the one that inspired the President’s action precisely because of instructions like the one he gave and the agency’s subsequent execution of the directive. What if the EFCC had refused to carry out the President’s instruction, for instance? Wouldn’t that have immediately increased public trust in its independence? That is the democratic Nigeria for which we should begin to aspire.
And President Tinubu stands in a unique position to kick-start the process of strengthening institutions by allowing them to perform their duties, no matter whose ox is gored. As President, he also has the opportunity to ingrain the culture of service to the people in all national institutions. Currently, too many agencies of government conduct themselves as servants of the leaders in power at every material time.
This was why it was disturbing when Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago, two years ago, asked one of his security aides to slap a man and thereafter arrest him. I have read claims that the victim was a thug and not a cleric, but that begs the point. Security personnel employed by any of Nigeria’s services should not slap a citizen simply because he asked for a microphone from a governor. Institutions of the state and their personnel serve at the pleasure of the ordinary Nigerian citizen, not public office holders who are themselves serving at the pleasure of Nigerians.
The President must be mindful that perception can be as consequential as reality in public life. If he was so concerned about getting the EFCC to back off in Osun, he could have directed the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to adopt constitutionally recognised procedures that preserve the autonomy of the EFCC, rather than present himself as an almighty, stick-wielding headmaster whipping all agencies into line. President Tinubu can, in fact, help Nigeria restore the integrity of our institutions.
Niran Adedokun, author of The Man, the Soldier, the Patriot: Biography of later Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, wrote in from Lagos
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