Yar'Adua's Rule of Law and Suit Against Obasanjo on PTDF

Ifeanyi Izeze

It was interesting to hear that the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo pleaded with a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit seeking to compel the Code of Conduct Bureau to probe his involvement in the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scandal. This was actually as laughable as it was also shocking.

Two Abuja- based lawyers, Mr. Ugochukwu Osuagwu and Mr. Opara Ifeanyi had in March this year, sought a declaration by the Court that the Code of Conduct Bureau should prosecute Obasanjo for allegedly mismanaging PTDF funds. The two lawyers in the ensuing affidavit insisted that the Senate Ad hoc Review Committee Report on PTDF clearly indicted Chief Obasanjo for acts which constituted a breach of the code of conduct for public officers.

According to the two lawyers, the Conduct Bureau was under a constitutional and statutory duty to prosecute the immediate past president as contained in the directive of the Senate Ad Hoc Review Committee Report of March 20, 2007.

They urged the Court to determine whether Obasanjo was criminally indicted by a Senate Ad Hoc Committee Report for abuse of office and misuse of public funds whilst occupying the office of the President.

The concerned lawyers also urged the Court to decide whether the Code of Conduct Bureau was, by the PTDF report, mandated and directed to prosecute Obasanjo for various abuses of public funds and for violation of the provisions of the Code of conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 1989.

In addition, the plaintiffs sought for a declaration that the “Bureau is under a constitutional and statutory duty to make available asset declarations of public officers, including that of Obasanjo, upon request or application by Nigerians, including the plaintiffs.”

Thus the Court was also urged to prevail on the Conduct Bureau to release Obasanjo’s exit asset declaration form.

The two lawyers maintained that the Senate Committee had in its report referred Obasanjo to the Code of Conduct Bureau for what it called “further action”, and demanded for an order compelling the Conduct Bureau to take legal action, “by way of prosecution, of Chief Obasanjo for abuse of power and misuse of public funds as mandated by the Senate Review Committee”.

In its report, The Senate Review Committee on PTDF categorically stated that “In respect of some projects commenced by the PTDF in 2006—Incorporation of Galaxy Backbone, purchase of computers and the rehabilitation of the Defense Industry Corporation of Nigeria’s (DICON) — for which Mr. President gave approval and later got them ratified retroactively, the committee views the action of the President as illegal and therefore refers Mr. President to the Code of Conduct Bureau for further action.”

Is the former president saying that he did not give retroactive approvals for payments of N250 million to a law firm for the incorporation of Galaxy Backbone at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and $10 million for the purchase of computers for civil servants outside the scope of PTDF?

Is the former president also saying that he did not approve N1billion for DICON solely for a white elephant project to produce a riffle named after him- OBJ 006?

If the action of the two serious –minded lawyers was speculative and a mere academic exercise as labeled by Chief Obasanjo, most Nigerians would want to see it run full course.

The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar in his submission at the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on PTDF had publicly accused Obasanjo in what he described as “PTDF in 2006- A Beehive of Irregularities.”

Atiku gave a revealing evidence with tangible facts and figures of how PTDF resources were allegedly diverted by Chief Obasanjo to schemes and activities that were not only unbudgeted for but also clearly outside the mandate of the PTDF in line with its governing status.

It was an insult to the sensibility of the entire citizenry of this country to describe as a mere speculative academic exercise, a weighty allegation that the former president gave N250 million of the PTDF’s money to his personal lawyer for a mere act of registering a company, Galaxy Backbone with the CAC.

Concerned Nigerians should really be worried especially against the background that out of the One Billion Naira share capital of Galaxy Backbone, the actual amount paid to the CAC was N23 million.

In addition, the establishment and funding of Galaxy Backbone has no iota of space within the mandate of PTDF and who in the world would hear that someone claimed to have registered a company in Nigeria with N 250 million and dismiss it as mere speculative academic exercise?

One billion Naira of PTDF fund was doled out to DICON to fund a project- naming a gun after the immediate past president - OBJ 006 and he is describing a suit asking him to explain the import of such project to hundreds of hunger-battered Nigerians as an academic exercise. Haba Eyawole! What has riffles got to do with petroleum technology development?

The same PTDF’s $25 million, as alleged in Atiku’s submission to the Senate Committee, was used by Chief Obasanjo for the establishment of an utopian African Institute of Science and Technology, Gulf of Guinea Affiliate, in Abuja. This world class institute up till today only exists in the mind (s) of the former president and his cohorts. And today asking the court to prosecute such matter is described as mere academic exercise. Up Nigeria!

As was revealed by Atiku in his submission to the Senate Committee, “As at December 2005, the PTDF had N20 billion and $150 million in fixed deposit, N533 million and $6.3 million in its current account. Five months after, only N12.9 billion remained of the N 20 billion and nothing left of the foreign exchange component.

Nobody should ask for explanation as that may also be a mere academic exercise not even when the Senate had agreed and sealed the need for ‘further action’. Nigeria go survive -o, Aaamioo!

IFEANYI IZEZE IS AN ABUJA-BASED CONSULTANT ON POLITICAL STRATEGY AND GRASSROOT CONSULTATION (iizeze@yahoo.com)