Louis Brown Ogbeifun

By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | February 8, 2008

In the last few weeks, the man Ribadu was the topic of our daily discourse. The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) was born in 1960. He holds a first and Master’s degree in Law and called to bar in 1984. He joined the Police Force as a Cadet Assistant Superintendent of Police and has since risen to the position of an Assistant Inspector General (AIG), courtesy of accelerated promotions for being a very effective and efficient worker. In 2003, he was appointed the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The absolute nature of the operations of EFCC under Ribadu, especially between 2004 and 2005 earned him the toga of the “Tsar of EFCC”. The Act that established EFCC mandates it to combat financial and economic crimes.

The Commission is empowered to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalize economic and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of other laws and regulations relating to economic and finance crimes, including:

• Money laundering
• Advance fee Fraud
• Financial Malpractices
• Failed Banks (Debt Recovery)

I have never met Ribadu in this physical plane but I did in my dream on 20 January 2008, at the entrance of a small office within a huge office complex. We greeted and shook hands. The Ribadu I shook hands with in that dream was so ordinary, gentle and polite with the mien of a man that cannot hurt a fly, which is in sharp contrast to the real life’s Ribadu who instilled fears into the high and mighty. It is often said, “The fear of Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom”.

Hitherto before becoming the Chairman of EFCC, little was known of this policeman who has been acclaimed as a crime buster. He came with an unparalleled zeal to rid the country of the incurable disease (corruption), which has made Nigeria one of the poorest countries in the world despite our vast resources. Like a sniffer dog trained to detect hard drugs, he became hyperactive and was ready to demolish both real and imagined corrupt entities with alacrity. He carried the battle to the den of the untouchables. The 419ers ran from pillar to post. Some of the fraudsters who hitherto moved around town with escorts and security details ended up in maximum security prisons. Some foreigners who were swindled out of their money by 419ers got their money back. In truism, the EFCC helped to bring some respect to Nigeria.

For the first time since 1960, the world acknowledged the efforts of the Nigerian Government’s towards the eradication of corruption from its dictum of governance and our national life. No wonder the world raved at the removal of Ribadu as EFCC Chairman. Government cited capacity building as the reason for sending him back to school for a one year course at National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, near Jos, Nigeria; a school meant for very senior officers in the public and private sectors.

At the wake of the dispatch of the big boss of the anti-corruption agency to Kuru for further studies, the spin doctors feasted on the news like a vulture that has been starved of meat for so long. Some, in their views were nationalistic but others were simply self serving. However, the massive criticisms and protests, which trailed his removal, might have put so much pressure on the government to ensure that the war against corruption was sustained. At the end, the Head of operations of EFCC; Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde was made Ribadu’s successor. Information has it that Lamorde has worked at various times with the Metropolitan police, Dutch Police, FBI, and the German Police among others. Therefore, he is not a fry. He cannot afford to deviate from the ideals of EFCC because the world is watching to see what he makes of EFCC during his tenure. As the man who was in charge of operations under Ribadu, his department could be said to be the power house of the actions taken during the tenureship of the erstwhile Chairman. He is in a familiar terrain and common sense dictates that he can only leave the place better than he met it especially when he will be working with a President that sermonizes the rule of law. At the heels of Lamorde’s appointment was the inauguration of the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG) of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Initiative (NEITI); headed by a renowned transparency and accountability advocate, Professor Assisi Asobie. These actions are reassuring enough and tend to have persuaded the spin doctors to keep their pens for another story.

However, there is the need to take a cursory look at the entire saga. One school of thought opined that Ribadu cannot, and should not be removed because the Act that established EFCC prescribed a four year tenure, which he started last year. Another feared that the Commission might lose focus or crumble without Ribadu. Others said that the action was to whittle and undermine the fight against corruption. Germaine as these fears were, it would seem to me that the proponents personified EFCC rather than seeing the Commission as an organic whole. They did not take cognizance of the fact that EFCC is an organization made up of so many arms and operatives whose effectiveness led to the successes recorded within this short period. They forgot that foremost, Ribadu being a product of a command structure has a bigger boss in the person of the Inspector General of Police (IGP). They forgot that before Ribadu was made the Chairman of EFCC; he was in the same Police Force that has been so rubbished and vilified by the Nigerian people and that it is possible to have other Ribadus in its fold. Some opined that it was done at a wrong time and will portray Nigeria in bad light before the international community.

While I totally agree that the decision turned some of our friends against us because of a misconceived notion about the intentions of the Nigerian Government, I take particular exception to threats against the sovereignty of Nigeria because of Ribadu. For instance, Eric Avebury, a British lawmaker was quoted in Punch newspaper of 10 January 2008 page 9 as saying that “the move might strain relations between Nigeria and Britain”. He even went further to suggest sanctions against Nigeria. An agent of the United Nations also demanded for an undertaking that Ribadu will be reinstated after NIPSS. Ribadu was not a permanent employee of EFCC and he held that office at pleasure. Just because we are at the mercy of EU donor nations would not mean that the art of governance in Nigeria should be reduced to the master-servant status where office holders will be determined from outside the country.

The appointment of Ribadu was not pioneered or championed by any nation. It was the decision and wisdom of the government in power in Nigeria in 2003. In the same vein, I do not think it is right to insist that except the President of a sovereign state appoints a particular government official into a particular office then the relationship between nations should be threatened. Rather, people should canvass the strengthening of structures like EFCC from the point of Law. The EFCC Act as it is today makes it a veritable tool in the hands of the President. We should be canvassing for the emergence of an independent EFCC that cannot be controlled by the Executive. When the immediate past National Assembly wanted to strengthen the Commission by removing it from the ambit of the Presidency, Ribadu was one of those who kicked against it. No matter the good intentions of those in this school of thought that Ribadu is indispensable as the Chairman of EFCC; they only succeeded in pitching Ribadu against the government, created two Inspector Generals of Police and two Presidents of the Federal Republic: one in Ribadu and the others in Okiro and Yar’Adua.

On the other side of the coin were those who jubilated and celebrated his removal. Ribadu was accused of selective justice, highhandedness, arrogance, breaches of human rights and an unfriendly ally of due process. On selective justice, I have often said that those selectively tackled should prove that they are not guilty of the offenses with which they were charged before they can earn my sympathy. If they committed the offenses they should face the music.

Furthermore, I hold the firm belief that if Obasanjo used EFCC to cow or hound his political opponents; when the table turns, the same instrument will be used against Obasanjo and his allies. At the end of the day, Nigeria will be the chief beneficiary. Whether there was selectivity in the approach or not or people hounded because they did not belong to Obasanjo’s stable or not, the things that stand to reason, which remain fair that EFCC must do are: follow due process, rule of law and preservation of the fundamental human rights of the accused in the prosecution of offenders at all times. I have a very strong conviction that Ribadu’s actions and pronouncements fell short of due process in several instances. However, as soon as Obasanjo left office, the agency and indeed the Chairman changed tactics. The handcuffing of the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, former governor of Kogi State, Prince Audu, the former governor of Bayelsa, DSP Alamesigha and encouraging the use of hotel rooms and other places as substitutes for States’ Houses of Assembly in the impeachment of governors did not give credence to the personality of Ribadu and EFCC. On a personal level he did not show restraints in some of his pronouncements. His utterances gave the color of bravado and arrogance. In some instances he played God by pronouncing with air of finality that some persons can never be occupants of Aso Villa. I have reasons to believe that he was in the habit of leaving his pouch of civility and the rule of law behind in his bedroom before leaving for his beat as EFCC Chairman.

EFCC under Ribadu invented its own laws and prosecuted its preys at its own whim and convenience. The likes of Mike Adenuga Jnr; the mother of Uzor Kalu had to beat a hasty retreat out of the country or went underground in order to live to recount their ordeals another day. These same people could still have been arraigned before a competent court if found wanting the way the ex-governors are now being prosecuted. We were in a democracy but operated a totalitarian system under Obasanjo. All these were not in line with due process that the government of that time sermonized.

To a large extent, he fought a very laudable battle though he deployed wrong tactics in some of the cases, which put him on the firing line. At a point, Ribadu said he was ready to die for the good of us all. That was a very patriotic wish but I prayed to God to disregard that wish because many of our heroes that fought for this country are walking the streets begging for their pension and their families living in deep squalor. In addition, the way he carried on under Obasanjo was not good enough for the natural rule of self preservation. Very prominent Nigerians like Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealla, Oby Ezekwesili, Professors Asobie, Soludo, Akinyuli and so many others had served or are still serving without dying on the job. Since they are alive, they will continue to render invaluable services to this nation. Hence I wanted him preserved so that someday by God’s grace, he will be one of those to carry out the necessary reforms that will give our police force a new direction and re-engineer it into a world class police outfit that I have always wished.

Irrespective of his short comings, Ribadu carved a niche for himself. He showed uncommon bravery, an unflinching commitment to the cause of ridding this nation of corruption and was truly genuine. Ribadu has proved that the white pap can be made from the hollow of a black pot. He has shown that it is possible to be in the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah and yet refuse to partake in her sins. He was not afraid to hit the balls of the high and mighty. He made political office holders realize that what one needs to fight corruption is the political will, nationalism and high level of patriotism. He, like Professors Dora Akinyuli and Chukwuma Soludo made the world believe in us and that even in the midst of high corruptive tendencies of office holders in Nigeria; there are still Nigerians that can be trusted with mandates. He won several laurels, nationally and internationally. He earned three promotions in about four years for his hard work. He left EFCC as an organization with a firm and strong foundation, which cannot be easily overrun. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death and was not consumed. He came, saw, and conquered. He can rightly say that he fought a good fight and time has come to move on and so shall it be.

The good news is that by dint of collective designs, networking, focused leadership and commitment, there is no more safe haven for the plunderers of our economy. Unlike in the past, when stolen money was stashed away in foreign vaults, nations are no longer ready to accept blood and dirty money into their financial systems and will not shield fraudsters and economic saboteurs from prosecution for stealing public funds. Political office holders now know that if they had immunity during their tenure, they will in less than a decade pay for their sins against the Nigerian people. Presently, two former governors, Chiefs James Ibori and Lucky Igbinedion of Delta and Edo States are in custody, while ex-governors Joshua Dariye (Plateau); Saminu Turaki (Jigawa); Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), Jolly Nyame (Taraba), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu) were at one time or the other inmates of prisons or EFCC’s custody. They have been charged to court for various offenses. Another dividend of the anti-corruption war is that serving political office holders would pay more attention to prison reforms because some of them may be tenants therein, in future.

Now that Ribadu is a student, he should deploy his arsenals to ensure that he is one of the front runners for the coveted prizes and at the end, earn the title of mni after his name. He should work hard to be one of the best students that NIPSS has ever produced. Since his former Director of Operations is at the helm of affairs at EFCC, one can safely presume that he left the organization in the hands of those who share in his drive, passion, vision and mission in the fight against corruption. Therefore, he should think less of EFCC while in Kuru and go to sleep with his two eyes closed.

I have the belief that NIPSS will make Ribadu a better public servant. It will afford him the opportunity to introspect, take a second look at his approach to the execution of public policies when he held sway at EFCC and make amends where necessary. My prayer is to see him come back to the Police Force in order to help reinvent it for a better service to Nigerians. Good luck and welcome to Kuru the tsar of EFCC.

 

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