The Bafarawa Money Laundering Investigation: A Bogus, Deceptive and Stage-Managed Kangaroo Exercise

Dan Azumi Kofarmata

Kano

I would like to start this article by expressing my heart-felt condolences to the grieved families, relations and friends of all those Nigerians that died in the ill-f ated Sosoliso flight 1145 that crashed at the Port Harcourt International Airport after taking off from Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on Saturday December 10, 2005. May their gentle souls rest in perfect peace. Amen. I also wish to extend similar condolences to the Students and management of the Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja and the entire nation. My thoughts and prayers are with all Nigerians; being collective victims of high and low levels of corruption and general decay of our national well-being in the hands of a very few wicked, heartless and self serving public and corporate office holders parading in the corridors of power and authority in our polity. May the souls of all Nigerians who died and those who are going to die as a result of the corrupt practices of those entrusted with our individuals and collective welfare and well-being be blessed abundantly by Almighty God. Amen.

I hasten to add that, no matter what belated fire fighting approach the government of president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is initiating now, the verdict is that, all the deaths of Nigerians by road, air, water and other modes of public and private transportation are largely due to criminal looting of public resources meant to ensure safety, comfort and safeguarding the lives and properties of the Nigerian traveling citizens. Billions of public funds meant for road repairs, maintenance and construction and air safety have either been stolen or misappropriated by individuals very close to the presidency and the rul ing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). To date, nothing is being done to ask them to account for their misdeeds; rather, they are wielding more and more political, economic and financial power and authority within the establishment. I will come back to this issue in another article. The purpose of this article is to address the emerging issues in the anti-corruption public discourse and analysis. This article looks into the latest development on the anti-corruption war (not Crusade or Jihad) emerging from Sokoto State. As we are by now, very much aware of what happened to the former Bayelsa State Governor Mr. D. S. P. Alamieyeseigha some days ago, other thieving and loot ing Governors with skeletons in their Nigerian and foreign cupboards are frantically looking for ways of avoiding the costly and tactless errors of omission and commission stupidly committed by their former colleague in trying to extricates himself from the due process of law and accountability. Readers may recall that, not long ago, some patriotic Nigerians at home and abroad, discovered and made public disclosures of some of the illicit deals of former Bayelsa State Governor Mr. Alamieyeseigha and some serving State Governors, particularly the rampant purchase of expensive state of the art mansions overseas, ownerships fat foreign and local bank accounts and money laundering activities that run contrary to our 1999 Constitution and the laws of the foreign countries where these nefarious activities take place respectively. His Excellency Governor Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa, the Executive Governor of Sokoto State (The Seat of the Caliphate) was among those serving Governors fingered and alleged to be equally involved in some of the illicit activities mentioned above. At first, he wanted to ignore and dodged the issue. However, when he realized that, the strategy of ignoring such a very grievous allegation may not be in his best interest, he cleverly and wisely confessed to at least, owning the London mansion in question. He did not only stop at that, he equally rushed to his boys at the Sokoto State House of Assembly to admit same and seek their “proper” understanding of the issue at stake. At the same time, he engaged the services of professional public relations (PR) consultants and what I call “Day-break” faceless Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some gullible poverty stricken journalists and University lecturers as his spin doctors to counter the media blitz against him. That was not enough. Governor Bafarawa wanted to play it safe with president Obasanjo; whom he had not long ago, unleashed media campaigns of malice and ridicule via paid open letters published in major Nigerian Newspapers, Magazines, Sokoto State Radio and Television stations (Rima Radio and Rima Television respectively) and even, foreign public media outlets such as the Hausa Services of Voice of America (VOA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) respectively. To tackle president Obasanjo appropriately, Governor Bafarawa wisely and tactfully invited him to Sokoto State for official commissioning of so me bogus public projects executed by his administration. In one of my previous articles, I raised some fundamental issues regarding that presidential tour of Sokoto State by president Obasanjo. I am very pleased to report that, what I said in that article regarding the principal reasons for the invitation of president Obasanjo to Sokoto State were vindicated. For example, soon after the visit, some segments of the money hungry Nigerian private media outlets went to town with headline captions and feature articles extolling Governor Bafarawa as the best thing that ever happened to the very poor, impoverished and highly underdeveloped people of Seat of the Caliphate, Sokoto State. Governor Attahiru Bafarawa was portrayed as the best Governor ever produced in the annals of the history of democratic and undemocratic governance in Nigeria. For reason of space and time, I do not want to reproduce what this segment of the Bafarawa hired propagandist-money hungry Nigerian private media dished out for the consumption of the gullible and ill-informed Nigerian public. President Obasanjo was also at his best in pouring encomiums and praises from the high heavens on Governor Bafarawa. At this juncture, I would purse and ask some pertinent questions – who is actually deceiving and or fooling whom? Is presiden t Obasanjo that uninitiated in the art and practice of strategic deception? Is president Obasanjo not intelligent enough to read between the lines of truth and falsehood? Is president Obasanjo naïve to believe whatever a public office holder at the level of Executive Governor tells him; having gotten Alamieyeseigha already caged and also known too well that, majority of this category of public office holders have cases pending with such a dreaded agency known as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the less dreaded agencies such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Crimes Commission (ICPC); the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal (CCB/T) and Office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN)? There are a number of questions to pose but these few suffice for now. The answers to these engaging questions are easy and I do not require president Obasanjo to supply them.

We all know too well that, president Obasanjo fought in the battlefields of the Nigerian civil war as a Nigerian Army officer. He actually collected the instruments of surrender from the defeated Biafran rebels that ended the 30-months old ugly Nigerian civil war. He is therefore an experienced military tactician and strategist. As a former Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters under the legendry late General Murtala Muhammad of blessed memory; former military Head of State and Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria; retired general of the Nigerian Army, and in addition, national and international statesman after retirement from service before taking over the democratic mantle of leadership of Nigeria since 1999, president Obasanjo cannot be easily deceived, fooled and hoodwinked by mediocre political charlatans and shenanigans parading themselves as Governors. By the way, I am not implying that president Obasanjo is the best thing God has given to Nigeria as a democratic political leader; far from it. President Obasanjo has his own gamut of shortcomings and these are daily being X-rayed by the patriotic segment of the Nigerian media.

The purported Bafarawa initiated and stage-managed kangaroo like investigation under the auspices of his pack of political neophyte members of an All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) dominated Sokoto State House Assembly can be said to be the latest and most interesting political joker of the Year 2005. We look forward to see more State Governors setting similar Kangaroo type investigative panels in their respective States Houses of Assemblies. It is interesting to note that, since the publication my articles that featured Governor Attahiru Bafarawa amongst the thieving and looting Governors of Nigeria, I continue to receive threatening phone calls largely from members of his Cabinet, Sokoto State House of Assembly (the pack that is now pretending to “probe” him) and other unidentified hired goons all over the place. I have since discontinued using a Cell phone for this reason. Ironically, these armies of tormentors and intimidators have refused to send any of their endless threats using my e-mail address! May be they sensed that they can be traced! I am very sure that, there is no any State House of Assembly, as constituted today in Nigeria, that can genuinely investigate, probe or impeach its State Governor. I will be very happy to be proved wrong on this issue. I also sincerely believe that, the chances of that happening are very remote if not impossible under the present situation in Nigeria. The case of Bayelsa State House of Assem bly and probably, the Plateau State House of Assembly (if it indeed takes place) are exceptional cases under exceptional circumstances. Even that, ordinarily, left to the individual and collective wisdoms of the members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, former Governor Alamieyeseigha would still have been in office irrespective of all the atrocities he was alleged to have committed both here in Nigeria and abroad. If former Governor Alamieyeseigha was given the chance to do what Governor Bafarawa is doing today, the Bayelsa State House of Assembly would have left him off the hooks. Unfortunately for Alamieyeseigha, it was the handiwork of external interventions that made his State House of Assembly to act and do the right thing. The rest is now history. Therefore, what is happening in Sokoto State House of Assembly is just political gimmickry; a proactive and pre-emptive strategy to foreclose any intended or future attempt by the EFCC, ICPC and or CCB/T to investigate the misdeeds of Governor Bafarawa. After all, his spin-doctors operating within some segments of the mass media claimed that both the EFCC and president Obasanjo have cleared Bafarawa of any alleged wrong doings and that he is a man of God! The Sokoto State House of Assembly ”Christmas show” is only for the consumption of the ill informed, poverty stricken and generally, politically crippled Sokoto State polity. I hasten to say that, they too are not all fools. I understand that they are on daily prayers at home and in the several mosques he recently built in the State. The people of Sokoto State are pray ing to Almighty Allah to rescue them from the thieving and looting hands of Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and his proxy, Alhaji Umaru Kwabo A. A. I have been reliable informed by my Sokoto State sources, that, if the Sokoto State House of Assembly are interested in knowing where some of the over 90 billion Naira Federation Account Allocation to Sokoto State Government were laundered since 1999, they should just look at Umaru Kwabo’s bank accounts at numerous banks in Nigeria; particularly the Standard Trust Bank (STB) Ltd. This is the bank where some of the looted funds are stashed. For example, as a result of the huge shareholding of Governor Bafarawa in STB Ltd, his proxy Umaru Kwabo A. A. is now a director of the bank. Also, that, prior to the heavily rigged 1999 general elections that brought Bafarawa to the Government House Sokoto, Umaru Kwabo A. A. barely owns 100, 000 Naira in any bank any where on earth. He is now fronts for Governor Bafarawa as a director in a number of Nigerian Stock Exchanged quoted Blue chief companies such as Mobile Telecommunications Nigeria (MTN) Ltd; Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Ltd (courtesy of the conversation of Sokoto State Government’s own equity shares in the privatized cement firm to private shares now own by Governor Bafarawa and Umaru Kwabo A. A.). Other places to look for Sokoto State Government looted and laundere d money include Bolingo Hotels and Towers, Abuja and associated investments portfolios amongst others. Last but not the least, I would like to conclude by stating the obvious fact that, the so-called purported “probe” of Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, Executive Governor of Sokoto State by the hitherto unheard and dormant Sokoto State House of Assembly is just a political gimmick; an exercise in futility; and a waste of time as it is going to return a NOT GUILTTY VERDICT all the allegations against Governor Attahiru Bafarawa. Governor Bafarawa is playing it safe and is cleverly borrowing a leaf from no other person than president Obasanjo himself, who not long ago, also direc ted that the EFCC should probe him over the allegations of corruption labeled against him by the Abia State Governor, Orji Kalu. My parting question is: who is fooling whom in Nigeria today? Allah/God is the Greatest and will deliver us from the dirty hands of the corrupt, thieving and looting Nigerian public and corporate office holders no matter how long it takes. Thank you. Dan Azumi Kofarmata, Kano danazumikofarmata@yahoo.com Wednesday, December 14, 2005