A MEMO FROM A CONCERNED BUHARIST: When Buhari Becomes President

NB: This piece was written some weeks to the general election and might appear prophetic.

‘When Buhari becomes president’ is an expression many Buharists wish should become a reality and it is barely four weeks from the landmark election. Surprisingly the original date for the presidential election also coincides with Lovers’ day February 14 and a Buhari victory may well be a Valentine gift for many Buharists around the country who will not relent in shouting ‘Sai Buhari’ at the slightest opportunity.

It  is no news that the slogan of APC is ‘change’ and Buhari has promised a radical change in tackling corruption and insecurity, fixing our almost moribund refineries and epileptic power supply. These are beautiful promises that every Nigerian yearns to see turned around. In fact some diehard Buharists have tagged Buhari(GMB) as the messiah Nigeria needs, though some others may disagree. As a bystander and an analyst in the unfolding political events , I am very doubtful if Buhari understands the working of a democratic set-up and machinery of government/justice. According to our dear Buhari, he has promised to send all corrupt public officers to gaol(kirikiri) and at the same time the APC national chairman had said at one time that the APC-led federal government will not probe past leaders. These two appear contradictory and I am seriously worried about the implication of each statement. Starting with the latter, it is worthy of note that acts of corruption are processes spanning months and years across different regimes; it is not a one-stop act. For example, if an importer of fuel in 2012/2013 is awaiting refund of subsidy for imported product, will Buhari deny him/her his ‘legitimate claim’ even though the transaction took place in the past and may be though even inflated? Or was the APC chair defending a clandestine agreement between the trio Tinubu, Atiku and Kwankwaso on one hand and Buhari on the other hand in exchange for total support considering that the trio have a very questionable past. Many corrupt officials have constructed conduit pipes for draining our commonwealth for a very long time in the name of contracts, consultancy services, public-private partnership etc. How Buhari will deal with these I am yet to see.

My dear General, you must understand that Nigeria of 1983 is different from Nigeria of 2015(32 years apart); our population has more than doubled; our society has become more complex;our economy has become many times larger; our government and civil service are bigger with many more ministries , departments and agencies(MDAs); human right more robust; judiciary more confident;opinions more diversed; military versus democratic ethos. You have to realize the problems and systems you have to contend with to make anything work. Yes while it may appear appropriate to incarcerate by fiat under khaki and gun, it is antithetical to democratic culture where the rule of law is the norm. Mr President-to-be even if you saw a thief redhanded you cannot jail unilaterally as you are expected to subject everything to rigorous judicial scrutiny. Even when convicted in the first instance, the suspect has the right of appeal up to the Supreme Court and you know how slowly the wheel of justice is and many of the cases may outlive your tenure; you may complete your tenure without jailing any high profile looter. What a tragedy!! If you have not forgotten, a chieftain of PDP in Lagos State Olabode George was convicted and jailed for 2years. While in jail and after completing his jail term, he pressed on with his appeal at the highly revered Supreme Court which ruled 8years down the line to the surprise of many that the process that led to his conviction was flawed thereby making his initial conviction a nullity. Consequently in the eyes of the law he has never been convicted but we all hold him as an ex-convict. What do you think will happen if he decides to press for compensation for unlawful detention and incarceration? This will be very embarrassing to the government. He was jailed like you are expounding but never convicted at least the learned judges said so. Is this the type of corruption war you wish to fight? I am really heartbroken that the change we seek through you may never come after all. That is not how to fight corruption to a standstill. If you will be humble enough, you can take a cue from the statement by President Jonathan viz ‘…….to fight corruption by building institutions’ Perhaps you may be irked by my reference to your opponent(Jonathan)but my reference to him does not in any way imply endorsement of his candidature and style of leadership or stance on corruption. It is rather a case of ‘do as I say but not as I do’. Summarily, he hit the nail on the head but whether he has done it himself remains to be seen. Again, I want to refer you to late Prof Dora Akunyili in her fight against fake/substandard products particularly packaged water. She opted for training and enlightenment of producers rather than mass arrest. According to her all our detention centres/jails would have been full beyond capacity not to mention countless number of protracted court cases that will follow. The result of her choices is here with us. Sir without any intention to waste your precious time, please proceed to read the succeeding paragraphs on how to fight corruption.

First and foremost, you must lobby the National Assembly to effect a few constitutional amendments namely:removal of immunity for all public office holders on matters relating to corruption and public declaration of assets before and after assumption of office. The assets declared must be published on the website of Code of Conduct Bureau.

The National Assembly itself has become an empire of corruption if not how does one explain the huge budgetary claims made by this arm of government for a handful of people. Their salaries and allowances should be pegged at par with those of high-ranking civil servants like permanent secretaries. Their bogus claim to salary and allowances must come to an end to free more money for the treasury. This must be replicated at all levels-States and Local Govt. The entire budgetary process must also be overhauled and never again should the lawmakers ever ask to be given money for constituency projects; they must restrict themselves to lawmaking and leave the implementation to the executive arm.

Another way to fight corruption is to adopt innovative ways of payment and revenue collection in government agencies like PHCN, water board, Customs, Immigration, FIRS etc. All payments must be domesticated with CBN and at such all accounts owned by government ministries, department and agencies at Money Deposit Banks must all be closed except for local governments where CBN may not have an office. Web-based payment systems should be encouraged and cashless systems promoted vigorously as the federation account will be credited directly without any intermediary. By this arrangement all possible diversion of revenues collected will be brought to an end. No Nigerian should have a direct cash dealing with any government office and all MDAs should be blacklisted from operating with any commercial banks.

From the legal point, the system of prosecution is not efficient. The entire judiciary must be reformed to make the administration of justice easier and accessible even if it is for the singular purpose of fighting corruption. The law courts must be peopled by judges with anti-corruption stance. The rules of court processes must be simplified to lay emphasis on the substance of the case rather than frivolous technicalities. The bench, bar and legal curriculum must be re-oriented so as to promote law, order and justice for common good. Unless the judicial process is reformed, fight against corruption is dead on arrival. Moreover the penalty for corruption must be tightened. If I may suggest death penalty for loot up to one billion naira at a go or cumulative, life imprisonment for 100million-1billion naira, jail terms for lesser offences. In each case the sum looted must be refunded in full in cash or kind along with interest in line with inflation and prevailing interest rates and no offender is eligible for parole. There should also be a National Corruption Offenders Register to be published online(much similar to Sex Offenders Register in many countries) and offenders are banned for life from holding public offices. All judgment must be enforced within 30 days.

The EFCC and ICPC have become toothless attack dogs with propensity for media prosecution rather than real trial in court. The two must be merged and to be headed by an impeccable agent of DSS or a renowned anticorruption crusader preferably a lawyer. The practice of using a police officer is a fatal error because the police which has been unable to purge itself of endemic corruption cannot effectively and genuinely handle such a critical post. The laws setting them up must extricate them from the hold of Minister of Justice and EFFC/ICPC must be independent in its true sense.

My dear GMB these are the things you should be saying on your campaign tour rather than just bragging to jail which may never be. Nigerians are interested in ‘how’ and not ‘what’

GMB all the way.

GOD SAVE NIGERIA