The Tainted Trio At The Helm Of Nigeria’s Affairs

Two weeks ago, Nigeria got a new Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun. She is from the same state, Lagos, as President Bola Tinubu, and many fear she might become another puppet in the executive arm. Judicial autonomy has been a mirage in Nigeria’s 25 years of uninterrupted democracy. But this is not the crux of this piece.

This article looks into the moral fabric of Nigeria’s arms of government and questions the integrity of the men and women at the helm of affairs at the highest levels of decision-making. The President was the subject of a drug trafficking case in the United States of America some 30-plus years ago.

He also turned the Lagos treasury into a personal purse, appointing his lackeys as governors every election year since 2007. The Senate President, who had served as federal Minister and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, wears a ribbon of multiple fraud allegations as he coordinates legislation at a kleptocratic hallowed chamber of the Senate.

At the head of the judiciary, the last hope of the ordinary person, sits the new chief justice, who once delivered a controversial judgment that handed a governorship mandate to the candidate who came forth in the poll. She was reportedly denied a U.S. visa due to “sanctioned activities.” 

From Drug Trafficking to Becoming President 

It is common knowledge, following an investigative report by renowned international investigative journalist David Hundeyin, that the President of the world’s most populous black nation was involved in drug trafficking in the United States. To escape prosecution, Tinubu forfeited $460,000 to the U.S. government after an FBI investigation linked over $2 million found in his bank accounts to proceeds of heroin trafficking. He would later seize control of Nigeria’s commercial capital and become the sole godfather of the state.

The Senator President And The Various Fraud Allegations 

Akpabio first came under investigation in 2015 following accusations that he diverted over N100bn from the oil-rich state between 2007 and 2015, prompting an investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He allegedly gave a bank N1.4bn for unknown reasons; he also reportedly acquired some assets through surrogates including a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 5, Ikogosi Spring Close, off Katsina-Ala Crescent, Maitama-Abuja; a multi-billion naira mansion at Plot 28 Colorado Close, Maitama, Abuja; 22 Probyn Road, Ikoyi, Lagos;  Plot 23 Olusegun Aina Street, Parkview, Lagos and a multi-billion naira 25-storey building at Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. 

Although the EFCC implicated him in its investigation, the case was dropped after he defected to the ruling party and was later appointed as a minister by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

In the three years that he was the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, fraud allegations against him piled up. Recall the infamous “Honorable Minister, off your mic” drama in the House of Representatives in 2020? Well, that was during the probe of various fraudulent spending of the Niger Delta Development Commission under the supervision of Akpabio. The commission reportedly could not account for the expenditure of N81.5 billion in seven months.

During the probe, a senator representing Delta North in the 9th Assembly, Peter Nwaoboshi, accused Alpabio of appropriating the N300 million NDDC fencing contract to himself. Additionally, a former Managing Director of the commission, Joy Nunieh, accused him of corruption, abuse of office, and even sexual harassment. 

The Chairman of the investigation committee eventually asked him to “off your mic” when Akpabio accused members of the National Assembly of being beneficiaries of fraudulent project allocations in the NDDC. The same probe featured the dramatic fainting of a former Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, while he was being quizzed by the committee in the green chamber.

Like the EFCC probe into alleged financial irregularities by Akpabio when he was governor of Akwa Ibom, the investigation into his affairs in the NDDC was also discontinued as he rose to head the legislative arm of government. 

A President with past links to drug trafficking, a Senate President whose public service records are enmeshed in fraud allegations, and a Chief Judge whose controversial judgments as a Supreme Court Justice have caught the attention of the international community. Nigeria’s democracy is fading, and the country gradually slips into dictatorship under the watch of the tainted trio, 

Press freedom is under severe repression; protesters are paraded as felons while kidnappers flaunt ransom on social media. Public servants display affluence while ordinary citizens groan in economic hardship.

Tinubu’s presidency supretends over an economic wreck; Akpabio’s 10th Senate nods to all of the President’s requests, including purchasing a yacht and a presidential jet when the government preaches austerity to citizens. The Kekere-Ekun-led judiciary continues to entertain criminal charges against journalists and critics. 

International organisations, including Amnesty International, have expressed concern over the brazen disregard for human rights, especially freedom of expression, under President Tinubu. The legislature and judiciary are also complicit through their obedience. Recall that Olisa Agbakoba, former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, described the judiciary as a mafia. He made the comment to the face of Tinubu and Akpabio, and none of them attempted a rebuttal.

There is, unsurprisingly, a complete erosion of public trust in the government as the personal ambition and gains of those in government triumph over the rule of law and democratic principles. Before our very eyes, structures meant to uphold justice, transparency, and accountability are being dismantled courtesy of the tainted characters elected to pilot the state.

Read More:

• Akwa Ibom State Sponsors 39 Students To The UK On Educational Excursion
• Direct Security Apparatus to Terrorists and Bandits, Not Civil Societies, Atiku Tells Tinubu

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Oluwatobi Odeyinka

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