Ibrahim Magu, the acting Chairman of the EFCC is the anti corruption czar of Nigeria and the helmsman of the new government’s war against corruption. This week he unmasked himself as a man ready to die in the fight against corruption because corruption ruins any society with impunity and must be stopped by all means. Let me state clearly here that I not only believe him, I admire his courage and pray that he does not die in harness. Which means that he does not die in the course of his duty and to ensure that, I feel, is the duty and responsibility of all right thinking Nigerians. It follows therefrom, ipso facto that he utterances of the Nigerian anti corruption czar this week form the kernel of our discussion today.
As reported widely in the media Ibrahim Magu accused Senior Advocates of Nigeria – SANs-, and journalists of trying to sabotage the war against corruption by blackmailing the EFCC by accusing it of selective prosecution and violating the rule of law in prosecuting those being arraigned on charges of corruption. He reportedly said that SANs are being paid from the proceeds of corruption which are invariably used to pervert the course of justice when judges are bribed on the corruption cases before them. The anti corruption czar went on to accuse journalists of taking bribes to write against the EFCC and by accusing the body of selective prosecution and flouting the rule of law. Magu went on again to stress that his organization does its home work well before dragging suspects to court and has not violated any rules in the fight against corruption.
He cited boldly the case involving a SAN accused of obstructing the course of justice in which 113 SANs showed up in court where only one of them appeared before the judge and in which the EFCC defeated the armada of SANs in court on that case. There is therefore no doubt that the EFCC boss is mad at both SANs and journalists as stumbling blocks or road blocks in the fight against corruption which must be confronted and dismantled all costs.
Again I agree totally with the EFCC boss that such journalists and SANs should be dealt with if they are doing such nefarious and odious things like shielding treasury looters and corrupt people. But then, the EFCC boss must be told that bluntly that he is committing a fallacy of generalization in making such sweeping statements. This is because in reality not all SANs are corrupt and not all journalists are corrupt too. In addition the EFCC needs to adopt a strategy of collaboration rather than one of confrontation which appears to be his working strategy for now and which is exacting a price akin to that of a suicide mission. I will elaborate.
The law, anywhere, operates in the temples of justice which are the courts spread over our towns and cities spread all over Nigeria. The way the EFCC boss has spoken about SANs and lawyers in the fight against corruption informed my calling the courts a jungle of justice instead of temples and that is an unfortunate development in the fight against corruption. It is unfortunate in that the EFCC cannot operate outside the courts in the fight against corruption simply because that is the nature of our judicial system and the rule of law. The judiciary is the third arm of government and is equal in power to the executive which the EFCC represents, and the legislature. The judicial system includes the judges, the Lawyers, including SANs – 113 of which the EFCC boss says are ganging up against the anti corruption war. This is a division in the house of justice and it is an extravagant waste of energy. There must be synergy between the EFCC, the legal profession and judges for the war against corruption to succeed. They do not have to agree as litigation is about disagreements and disputes but they must all be devoted to the pursuit of justice and constitutionalism. Anything else is dissipation of energy and does not help the fight against corruption when justice is delayed and made too expensive in terms of time and money.
While I will not hold brief for both SANs and journalists on the charges made against them I cannot resist a rare opportunity to make some observations on the two very important professions especially in the fight against corruption. Let me start with the SANs where I think the EFCC boss mistook a solidarity or class issue for conspiracy. I think the way so many SANs showed up in court was not necessarily to fight EFCC or to intimidate the court.
But the SANs are Nigerian enough to know that such a show of solidarity could be interpreted as judicial blackmail. No SAN certainly is above the law and that is what the EFCC has boldly shown and that is quite commendable.
On the allegations that SANs benefit from the proceeds of corruption I leave it to SANs to defend themselves on that. One thing is certain though. Lawyers and SANs live on the briefs they get and in the Nigerian context there is a lot of money flowing from those fleeing from the strong arm of the war against corruption. All SANs need to do in the name of transparency and show of integrity in the fight against corruption is to publish their clients payments on the anti corruption cases and the taxes they have paid. I am sure that Nigerians would appreciate such patriotic and salutary gesture immensely as we pursue the fight against corruption. It would certainly show on which side of the law our legal luminaries are in the fight against corruption.
With regard to the charge against journalists, I think Chairman Magu was exaggerating as both need to work together against corruption. That does not mean there should be media trials which means suspects are condemned before court trials. That is not fair.
While I agree that the odium or stigma of stealing should be used to deter people from stealing that should be used as a means to an end and not the end itself. Magu admitted this as much when he lamented that Allison Madueke’s aide had been in their custody for three days and he wondered how he had managed the publicity. What publicity? Obviously the bad news that the man was in EFCC custody.
Which means that the EFCC expects, as a matter of course that any news of arrest must be front page news. If the suspect is found guilty in court that is quite okay. If not, that is media trial and that is unfair because our law presumes a man innocent until proven guilty. The war on corruption needs to be pursued with this in mind and journalists don’t have to take bribes to point this out anytime, anywhere. Indeed journalists don’t have to agree or endorse everything government or EFCC does in the fight against corruption as long as they are committed to the fight. Which really is their responsibility as the Fourth Estate of the realm, the meaning of which I urge the EFCC boss to find out before his next outburst. Again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
NATION
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