FRIDAY DISCOURSE BY DR. ALIYU U. TILDE
The Trial of Ex-Governors
Last week, a statement by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice
Dahiru Mustapha, rekindled hope in Nigerians that the most powerful
criminals in the country will soon be brought to Justice. This followed
the revelation that the CJN has issued a directive that all pending
cases of corruption against former Governors in Federal High Courts in
the country must be determined within six months.
I do not share in the optimism that greeted the ultimatum and in the
tall ambition that finally Nigerians will witness the ex-governors
slammed with a guilt verdicts and punishments commensurate with their
offenses. And their offences are grievous in the estimation of
Nigerians. They believe that the governors have ruined the economy of
their states, propagated corruption in their public service, crippled
their local governments through joint accounts, rigged every election in
their domain, instituted political violence and stole unbelievably
colossal amounts from their treasuries.
Many see them as the most powerful cartel in the history of democracy in
this country. It will be sad if they go free, or they are only served
with laughable jail terms of just two months or two years when found
guilty. They will definitely retain 99% of their loot after the courts
might have asked them to return a percent or less to the treasury. This
will happen in a country where ordinary people who steal goats spend ten
years in prison awaiting trial.
Sadly, neither the law nor our wishes would determine the fate of the
governors because the reality is that they have long prepared the ground
for the fight to heir own advantage. They knew their day with in the
courts would come soon after their tenures expire. And the ground they
have prepared will remain undisturbed until the end of the game. That
preparation came in a number of carefully planned steps.
The grading of that ground started with the formation of federal high
courts in every state of the federation. This offers them the chance to
be tried in their areas of domain. The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) had managed to try some governors away from their
domains because of the obvious difficulty of doing so in their home
states.
An illustration is necessary. James Ibori was initially charged before a
high court in Kaduna. He was among the closest people to the late
President Umaru Yar'adua. In what appeared to be a conspiracy during the
Yar'adua era by Farida Waziri - the new EFCC chairperson who inherited
the case and Andooaka, the Court of Appeal in Kaduna presided bt Justice
Augie eagerly granted that the Kaduna High Court, which has kept Ibori
in jail for three months then, did not have the jurisdiction to try
Ibori, that he could only be tried in his home state of Delta.
As at then there was no federal high court in Asaba, the Delta State
capital where Ibori served as a governor. Therefore, with the
enthusiastic cooperation of the present Delta State Governor a makeshift
court was immediately arranged to specifically attend to Ibori's case. A
judge was instantly appointed who gladly freed Ibori after some few
months. That judgement went down in our records as shameful. The world
did not believe us. Ibori is now in jail in Britain.
But the precedent has already been set by Justice Augie and unless it is
reversed, little justice would be done in the trial of the governors.
Henry Okar, who was charged with terrorism before the Federal High Court
in Jos promptly sited the case of Ibori and got freed as a result. Here
too, the world did not believe us. Okar is now in a South African jail.
And though nemesis has caught up with Ibori, Andooaka and Waziri, their
conspiracy has left us with the burden of a legal instrument that would
continue to be used to block the road to justice.
It is worthwhile to mention the contribution of these governors to the
opening of these courts in their states. To varying degrees, it included
office and house accommodation, supply of furniture, generators, cars,
etc. In addition, one expects a good rapport to exist between the
governors and the judges of the high court that would help reduce the
economic stress of the newly posted judges. The governors never delayed
any request of 'assistance' from the judges. Such requests come
frequently in view of how the judiciary is underfunded in the country.
What happens when these governors appear before the same judges
immediately after their tenure?
Experts say that this has two effects: it either compromises the judges
who treat the cases of ex-governors or it makes the courts tools of
persecuting the ex-governors by the incumbents.
As an illustration of the first, let us take the most recent case in the
legend of looting. Did anyone expect Danjuma Goje to be sent to jail
even for a day before his bail was granted by the Federal High Court in
Gombe? I was not that reckless with my expectation. His bail was delayed
for a day for some technical reasons. Therefore, he needed to remain in
custody overnight. But where? Would he remain with the EFCC or would he
be sent to prison?
Neither. The judge saved him both the humiliation of spending the night
in prison as well as the trouble of remaining in the custody of the
EFCC. Instead, he availed him the slight inconvenience of the
air-conditioned room of the SSS before he returned to the comfort of his
mansion the following day.
For the avoidance of doubt, on the face of the allegations, Goje, who is
now a senator, has no hope of being granted sainthood after his death.
He is charged for fraud to the tune of N52billion by the EFCC.
The sum includes the fraud of N37 billion Goje obtained from 27 banks,
N15 billion security vote expenditure in a state without any security
threat, over-invoicing at the State Primary Education Board that
included the supply of dictionaries to the tune of N1.7 billion to
primary schools whose pupils can hardly write a sentence, etc. From the
2010 budget figures in my possession, the recurrent expenditure of
government house alone was 23% (N12.9billion) of the entire budget of
the state (N55,612billion), while the combined recurrent expenditures of
education, health and agriculture for the entire state was just
N4.159billion.
Goje is not alone. We only sited him as an example. When I was
consulting for the MDGs in 2008, on our way to Baturiya in Jigawa State
I was shown a 10-meter 'bridge' State that was constructed during the
era of Saminu Turaki at the cost of N500 million. The N32 billion fraud
case of Saminu is yet to be determined in the High Court since 2007. He
is also a Senator, walking freely across the world.
And while many Nigerians are languishing in jail for years over the
theft of paltry sums, there was Goje walking away free with no hope that
the trial will ever be completed. The contempt that many Nigerians have
for such people is understandable.
Beyond the location of the courts, the huge sums in the possession of
the accused governors would cushion the process of securing them
mitigated sentences as we have seen in such high profile cases before.
Few judges would remain resolute before the offer of some few hundred
millions of naira, a tiny fraction of the sum which the governors are
accused of looting. A lacuna in the law will be hunted for overnight
and, alas, the law, which has for long been called an ass, will be made
to carry the heavy burden of the blame.
So prosecuting ex-governors in states would certainly be a difficult
task. Let us grant that they are convicted at the court of first
instance. The governors will yet have another soft area to land on: they
will definitely appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal whose mere mention
brings back the sad memory of the unwarranted exit of Justice Salami,
the last President of the Court, significantly compromised the
credibility of the court in the minds of Nigerians. Should any Judge
hand a harsh sentence to any governor at the High Court, the convicted
is assured good prospects of revocation.
The second thing that will do the CJN's directive a k-leg is the various
pleas the governors enter to ensure that their cases are delayed
indefinitely. Interestingly, the EFCC during Obasanjo had secured a
provision in its law that enabled cases to be finished without such
interruptions. This was the strategy that enabled the conviction of Tafa
Balogun and others. Again, this was overturned under Yar'adua, allowing
the accused persons to delay their cases indefinitely.
Many of the accused governors reportedly panicked when the directive was
given. Now their mind will be at rest. Just like dispensing of all
election petitions before May 29 was once a dream, this too will soon
disappear into the archives of unfulfilled promises in this country.
If the CJN is really serious, he should do two things: stop the pleas -
if he can - and reverse the precedent of trying the governors in their
own states. He has condemned the pleas, but that is not good enough. All
he is now interested in is the completion of the trials within six
months. Period. Many people believe that this could become a recipe to
setting the governors free because the complexity of the trials and
their lacunae would not permit their treatment expeditiously.
In conclusion, one can understand the pessimism of those who have
concluded that though the Governors may have some uncomfortable days
ahead, they do not see themselves befriending justice except mildly and
shortly. Thereafter, they will have the chance to live freely and enjoy
their colossal loot for the rest of their lives.
Nigeria, we are sorry for you.