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Dotun Oyeniyi
 Author, Economist and Practicing Attorney
London, England

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Without being prejudicial or judgmental about how Iyabo and her committee got the contentious N10 million and the propriety of it all, my real concern is about the unchecked financial recklessness of those in government.  Spending N10 million, on a retreat in Ghana by a committee of possibly less than ten people is really worrisome.  Nigeria’s socio-economic statistics do not support the extraordinary profligacy currently in norm with our public office holders.  A senior university lecturer in Nigeria earns less than N1 million in a year and millions of university graduates vegetate about for lack of jobs.

 

IYABO OBASANJO-BELLO: AN HONOURABLE LAWMAKER AS A FUGITIVE LAWBREAKER.
 by Dotun Oyeniyi
 

Running away from justice should normally not be an issue for endless debates.  All criminals like to evade justice.  However when the fugitive happens to be an ‘Honourable Lawmaker’ of a nation, the probing sensibility of the masses will be greatly aroused.

Until she decided ‘to do a runner’, I have stood on the side of Iyabo in her strife against the EFCC.  I have done so strictly on principle, not because I know she is innocent but because I presume her innocent, and everyone of us should do the same, until a court of competent jurisdiction pronounce her guilty.  That is the minimum, irreducible basic starting point in all judicial trials.

Like all criminal trials, this one throws up a curious and frightening spectacle, similar to a game of seesaw at which on one end sits the massive frame of Mr Goliath and on the other end sits the tiny, seemingly powerless creature called David.  The Goliath in this analogy is the government personified by the EFCC with massive resources at its disposal, and the puny David is Iyabo.  In a seesaw contest in which a Goliath takes on a David, the innate sense of justice inherent in all human beings will intuitively make us give our solidarity to the latter.  This is exactly what the criminal justice does by ‘saying’, in this case, Iyabo, we presume you innocent, and we save you the trouble of having to prove your innocence.  You don’t have to, it is the EFCC that must prove your guilt and it must not just do so, it must do it beyond every reasonable doubt.

With that starting pedestal, the judicial system has allayed our fears for the diminutive David.  His own end of the seesaw is now loaded with heavy judicial support thereby creating a level playing field.  So we may then ask why our own quintessential David - Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello is running away.

By running away from the EFCC and by extension justice, Iyabo is losing the support of people (include this writer) who feel she may be innocent; eroding any vestiges of honourableness that is left in her as a federal lawmaker; doing a great damage to both the Obasanjo dynasty and the ebbing integrity of the PDP, and the worst of all, she is putting the Senate to shame and exposing Nigeria to a great ridicule.

I cannot imagine the Serious Fraud Office, the British equivalent of Nigeria’s EFCC declaring that it had a bone to pick with a British Member of Parliament (MP), and that MP would as a result go underground.  Only an MP, out to dig his own political grave will engage in such a laughable abomination.

Those who put themselves forward for public offices in Nigeria appear to consider only the financial gains and social privileges conferred by political offices.  They seem to forget completely that all privileges come with duties.  Both are like Siamese twins, they are conjoined and inseparable.  By enjoying the privilege of their offices, they have entered into an unwritten covenant with the nation that they would exhibit such descent behavioural patterns that will be well above the standard expected of ordinary citizens.  One of those covenants is not to engage in any acts that will thwart the course of justice, which exactly is what Iyabo’s present evasiveness portends.

The reason given by Iyabo for presently evading the EFCC is downright ridiculous.  How could anyone who lay any claim to being a lawmaker and knowing the proper order of doing things say she wants to go and submit herself at the courts instead of going to the EFCC?  That to me is downright arrogant.  Inspite of the height he attained before his ordeal, Tafa Balogun did not say he was going to meet the EFCC at the court. Neither did Alamieyesia nor James Ibori say so.  The proper order and worldwide judicial practice is for an accused to submit to state agents upon invitation, be it the police or the EFCC.  The state agent reserves the right to arrest, detain and later produce the person in the court or arrest, grant immediate bail and ask the accused to meet them at the court.  It is now up to the court to order continued detention of or freedom for the accused as the trial continues.  Iyabo, yours can not be an exception because all should be equal before the law.

Without being prejudicial or judgmental about how Iyabo and her committee got the contentious N10 million and the propriety of it all, my real concern is about the unchecked financial recklessness of those in government.  Spending N10 million, on a retreat in Ghana by a committee of possibly less than ten people is really worrisome.  Nigeria’s socio-economic statistics do not support the extraordinary profligacy currently in norm with our public office holders.  A senior university lecturer in Nigeria earns less than N1 million in a year and millions of university graduates vegetate about for lack of jobs. 100 million Nigerians live below poverty line and the annual average income of Nigerians is $240, which is the lowest in West Africa.  One pregnant person dies every ten minutes in Nigeria for lack of money to get proper medical care.  Against this gloomy statistics, I do not know how Iyabo and her committee find the courage to spend N10 million on a retreat.

 

 

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