Is Obla the Latest Joke on Nigerians?
Last August, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the suspension of the Mr. Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla, Chairman of the Special Investigative Panel on Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), pending the conclusion of allegations against him, being handled by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. But in a twist to the saga, a few days ago, the ICPC declared Obono-Obla wanted for “repeated failure to appear before it to answer questions bordering on allegations of fraud and corruption”.
In this piece, our columnist, Emma Agu weighs in on the issue and argues that though the ICPC appears to have prejudged the matter, Obono-Obla should submit himself to justice if only to erase the view that he was quietly allowed, to escape from justice in order not to open a Pandora’s Box that could implicate other people. Read on:
Nigerian names range from the simple to the most complex. Between the extremes, can be found simple laconic words as well as tongue twisters and jaw breakers. If you are wondering if a name has anything to do with the part of the country the person comes from, perhaps your guess is right. But it does not necessarily follow. At times, names are configured to reflect the circumstances of a person’s birth, the place of birth or the expectations of the parents. It all depends on a multiplicity of factors.
Some names can be really grotesque, indeed weird. What is interesting is that some people can be as weird in behaviour as their names sound. Take, for instance, the case of the suspended Chairman of the Special Investigative Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), Mr. Okoi Ofem Obono-Obla. By the time you are through with pronouncing his name, you are not likely to remember any of the monstrous charges he would have preferred against you.
The man’s tenure at the investigative agency was marked by one controversy after another; when he was not being accused of certificate forgery, he was either fingered in one unethical practice or the other. Perhaps, the most indicting was the allegation that he wilfully exceeded his mandate; that in his effort to accomplish objectives that were explicitly outside his terms of reference, he threw caution to the wind. Many of those actions bothered on bare-faced impunity as in the case of harassing politicians on the eve of party primaries. To many, he was being used to act out political scripts authored by other people. The argument also is that, in the process, he helped himself to certain undeserved benefits.
Obla was always in the news, as an irritant, an accused or an enforcer. He competed for the limelight with top politicians and behaved, some will argue, like a military despot whose authority did not derive from the constitution but personal whim and caprice. What made his case particularly irritating was the impunity with which he went about his duties. Worse still, it would appear that he had the back of some powerful people hence, for a long time, he exuded the aura of an ‘untouchable’; that was, until Buhari struck and sent him into the cooler, in August.
And that is where the story assumes an intriguing dimension. A few days ago, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Commission (ICPC), issued a statement, declaring that the once all-powerful predator had become a prey who should be apprehended wherever and whenever he is seen. The ICPC’s grouse is that the man, whose swash-buckling demeanour makes nonsense of his current display of pitiable cowardice, is that he has failed to honour all invitations to clear his name of allegations by sundry petitioners. In the agency’s words, Okono-Obla was declared wanted due to “repeated failure to appear before it to answer questions bothering on allegations of fraud and corruption”.
Yet, Obla may have a good reason for being on the run. Curiously, the ICPC declared that, after series of investigations on the allegations, preliminary findings show that “some provisions of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and extant laws of Nigeria had been allegedly violated by Mr. Obono-Obla”. That is worrisome, as it gives the impression that the suspect has been found guilty before trial. Or, has the ICPC become a court of law? That will negate the fundamental principle of our jurisprudence; that an accused is presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
I do not for one moment seek to hold brief for Mr. Obla. If anything, his carriage is repulsive; he appears arrogant, standoffish; I hate to use the word petulant. He is down at the moment and deserves fair hearing. But will the hearing ever take place? Has he joined the legion of Nigerians who are fugitives from justice in foreign lands? There are people who will suggest that the ICPC is less than honest or put differently, that Government has perhaps given Mr. Obono-Obla some soft landing. There are plausible reasons to think that way. One strong point is that his case had been on the front burner of public discourse for a very long time. Besides, his fall from grace could not have taken the security establishment unawares: The DSS, the EFCC, the ICPC and the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS. If that is accepted, it beats the imagination how he could have beaten the elaborate security net that these agencies have always woven; in wait for suspects. The case of Ayodele Fayose, former governor of Ekiti Sate, who is now facing trial, comes readily to mind. It was sheer drama, at some point, taking on the form of paranoia as the EFCC issued a statement, to the effect that they were waiting for him to step down so as to arraign him.
So why did the security agencies allow Obla to escape? Or was it the case that they had taken his grandstanding as evidence of such moral high ground; that he would not attempt to escape from justice? If anyone would be inclined to habour the feeling of a cover up, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) angle, contained in the ICPC release, helps the person’s case. For, how on earth could the NIS have claimed that Mr. Obono-Obla, or anybody for that matter, left Nigeria to an “undisclosed location” through any of our airports, let alone the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos? Did he not complete the usual immigration form? If he completed one, did he not state his destination? If he did not: why? Did he fly a private jet? If he did, did the private jet not log a destination before taking off? It does appear that somebody is playing a joke on Nigerians.
To put it mildly, this is one joke too many. Those who have played any role in this unfolding drama are doing a great disservice to President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft campaign. Time and again, certain agencies of Government, through their actions and inactions, help to give impetus to the argument that the anti-corruption campaign is being selectively prosecuted; that there are some sacred cows that cannot be touched. In fact, the speculation being mooted is that Obla could have been allowed to escape, to stop him from opening a Pandora’s Box that would swallow many in government. That is debatable but the onus is on those who have allowed this drama to unfold to resolve the contestations that are bound to fester.
The Federal Government has a duty to ensure that this joke is not allowed to last. Obla has been a highly visible public servant, charged with the privileged responsibility of forensically unearthing the seamy deeds of public office holders, as part of the war against corruption. Like Caesar’s wife in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, he is expected to be above suspicion. Sadly, he is now mired in the thick of a corruption quadrangle. Like many other suspects, he should be given a chance to clear his name. I believe that is precisely what the ICPC has done. The path of honour is to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Ayo Fayose who, on stepping down from office, promptly reported to the EFCC to answer the charges against him or the Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, Mr. Modibbo Kawu who has faithfully submitted himself for trial, with his case being diligently prosecuted by the ICPC. That would be the litmus test of the Buhari anti-graft campaign.
In all this, what bothers me most is that, should Obono-Obla be fleeing from justice, it will mean that he has no confidence in the system that he had so energetically promoted and defended. That will be a sad commentary on public trust and national service and a yellow flag to those in authority, to be more circumspect in placing people in positions of trust and responsibility. The old saying that, all that glitters is not Gold, has not been rendered obsolete, in our new world of make belief.
At any rate, the fact that Obla is dodging interrogation or prosecution, as the ICPC has publicly claimed, should not mean that the Federal Government is helpless. Nor can it be used, to convincingly build a case of duplicity against the Government. But that does not exculpate the immigration officials who claimed that Obla travelled to an unknown location. They know something that could help in getting him to justice. They should be compelled to do so; without delay.
Emma Agu, a fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), can be read regularly on TrueVisiononline.
