Open Letter To Mallam Ribadu

Akinyemi Akinlabi

[FLORIDA]

I should start by commending the recent achievements of your commission in our country’s fight against corruption and white collar jobs. Your achievement in this regard is an enviable task to all well meaning Nigerian youths. In fact you have proven to the world that some of us still know the right thing and we can do the right thing, given the freehand to serve. Undoubtedly, you have brought more credibility and integrity to the present administration’s fight against corruption. This is the first time Nigerians outside the country and in fact the international community is having confidence in Nigeria's fight against corruption and white collar crimes.

In the last couple of months, your commission has stepped on some big toes. Some of us outside the country will like to see the agency stepping on bigger toes (any possibly necks) that are seen and known to be the breeding ground for corruption. I am attracted to the jingle of the commission that says there is no one above the law, but there still seems to be some untouchables in Nigeria. It is a good thing to get the thieving governors, ministers and public officers arrested, prosecuted, humiliated and shamed out of office. But I am of the opinion that having the culprits arrested and dealt with may not be the real panacea to eradicating corruption in Nigeria. However, the agency should start to institutionalize the fight against corruption and economic crimes so that it will not end with the tenure of this administration.

What I mean by this is to put a workable system in place that will make it impossible for known corrupt people to get into power. We should also design a system that will prevent public officers from having unlimited access to our treasury. Arguably, it is good to arrest and prosecute them, but it will not be sufficient to just arrest and probe the likes of Tafa Balogun, Dariye and Alamaiyesigba. There should be a system in place to check and monitor the way public officials have access to the treasury. The way the money was reportedly stolen by Tafa Balogun, It was as if he was the sole signatory to the NPF account. In the case of the State Governors and Local Government Chairmen, It seems as if the allocations of their States or Councils are paid directly to their personal bank accounts thereby giving them discretion to take what they want and return the surplus to the people (the real owners).

I am aware that designing a system to minimize economic crime and corruption may be out of your agency's schedule of responsibilities and terms of reference, but having the system in place will surely make your job easier. It will not be out of order for your commission to propose a bill to the legislature (based on your crime investigation experience) to design a workable system. Your recently acquired reliability and uprightness in white collar crime fighting gives you unrestricted assess to the ear of the legislators and Baba. The Baba I know very well will like the fight against corruption to surpass the tenure of his administration and possibly have the fight enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria.

Dear Mallam Ribadu, I know you are full of ideas and crime fighting techniques, but I will have two suggestions for you in institutionalizing the fight in corruption. They are presented below:

Screening of Political Aspirants by EFCC
Constitutional Amendment to Check Excesses of Chief Executives

We are all aware that one of the greatest threats to good governance as well as the inflow of foreign investors to Nigeria is the high level of corruption and white collar crimes. A situation where known fraudsters emerge as Ministers, Senators, Commissioners and even Governors can not augur well for the country. Although aspiring political office holders are currently being screened by INEC, Police and SSS (I have been screened twice), the screening will be more creditable if EFCC is included. Currently, EFCC has more admiration and credibility than any arm of Nigerian law enforcement. Apart from this, the corruption involved in the screening process will stop or at least get minimized with your involvement. It may interest your agency to know that these law enforcement agencies collect bribes from aspiring politicians before screening them.

A good test of your commission’s boldness and bravery in this assignment will be conducted by Nigerians and the world after the 2007 elections. You will write your name and the name of your commission in gold and rescue the future of the country if all known corrupt and criminally minded people are stopped from running for any election, from councilors to the President in 2007 and beyond. If this is not done, you would have rubbished your hard earned reputation and image should the country go back to the dark days of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

My second suggestion will be a slight change or amendment in the way leading to the appointment of cabinet members by chief executives. Surely, this will involve a constitutional amendment and the use of your good image, personality and office at the National Assembly and the Presidency. The Governors have free access to loot because they have free hand in picking all their commissioners. Most governors place their puppets in the vital positions thereby making it easy for them to play any game they want with the treasury. I will like to suggest an amendment whereby at least three State Commissioners (One from each senatorial districts of the State) and six federal Ministers (One from each Zone) will be elected jointly with the president. These people will form the cabinet and they can not be removed or reassigned to another office by the Governor or the President. The implication of this is that these elected cabinet members will have independent opinion and could act and run their ministry based on their professional ethics and training. They will also be a check on the excessive constitutional power of the chief executive because all of them must agree on issues relating to disbursement of public fund.

Just like most States in America, Florida, my state of residence, has three commissioners elected under this arrangement, namely (Attorney General, Commissioner for Agric & Consumer Affairs and The State Chief Financial Officer). The State Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is like our minister/commissioner for Finance. These officers ran for election based on professional qualification. Law for Attorney General, Economist or Chartered Accountant for CFO and any profession for Commissioner for Agric and Consumer Affairs. Often, these professionals disagree with the governor and because they were not appointed and can not be removed by him, it makes it difficult for any form of collaboration or gang up to loot or mismanages the fund.

Should you think this proposal will work for our country and help your commission, I will be willing to send a detail proposal to you. I hope you will find time to red and reply this letter. Wishing you the best in the service to our fatherland

Sincerely,

Akinyemi Akinlabi

Miami, Florida