War against Corruption or Election Rigging?

​​As they approach the elections Nigerians are worried about the growing confusion they perceive in the country's political life. This confusion is a result of the recent release of a list of over a hundred election candidates, indicted for corruption and fraud by the leading anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC has declared the politicians on the list are unfit to hold public office. The list has become the subject of much controversy.

Though the black list of candidates cuts across the political parties, many people believe that this is merely the latest in President Olusegun Obasanjo's onslaughts against the opposition parties.

Suspicious timing

Senator Sa'idu Umar Kumo, national secretary of the main opposition party, the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), shares this belief:

"Why the list is coming out now?" Umar Kumo asks. "You can see that what the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) is aiming at is simply to ensure that nobody opposes its own candidates, because from all indications, the federal government is using this the EFCC to intimidate the opposition candidates."

In spite of these allegations, Hamza Abubakar Baba, a young politician in Kano state, feels that the anti-graft agency should in general be commended.

"In my view, EFCC has done a commendable job in some instances. But there are also instances where it made mistakes. One cannot say that EFCC has not been partisan in this matter. If one says that, then it is not correct."

Elongation of Obasanjo's tenure?

But many Nigerians remain suspicious of the EFCC blacklist, wondering whether this is a plot by President Obasanjo to crack down on his opponents, or even postpone the elections entirely, so that he can fulfil his dream of elongating his tenure. Uba Sani, president Obasanjo's special adviser on public affairs:

"There is no iota of truth in all these allegations. EFCC did not just wake up suddenly to start the investigation. They carried out their investigation based on petitions from the states of the federation."

A few days after the EFCC published its blacklist, the federal government set up an administrative panel of inquiry. The panel was given the power to check up on these politicians, before final decisions are taken. Though the panel cleared some of them, the name of Vice President Atiku Abubakar is still at the top of the blacklist, followed by some other top-notch politicians including state governors, mainly from the opposition parties.

At a recent press briefing, the federal government disclosed that the decision to disqualify such persons from seeking the mandate of the people was taken at an extra-ordinary session of the federal executive council. Not long after that, the federal government asked political parties to find substitutes for candidates named in the list.

An unconstitutional act?

Orji Uzor Kalu, the Abia state governor and currently presidential candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), is one of the politicians caught in the EFCC net. He dismissed the federal government's action and the allegations as illegal:

"President Obasanjo has started doing things that are unconstitutional, because the Administrative Panel Act says that the federal government has its own area of jurisdiction and the state governments have their own area of jurisdiction, too. So what he is doing is unconstitutional and null and void. You cannot indict a governor who does not work with the federal government. It is not allowed and is not possible."

Other critics state that only the judiciary should be allowed to decide whether a person is eligible for public office or not. Many people – in the press, in the markets and on the street – are concerned at the speed with which the federal government acted on the report. Most Nigerians fear that the political situation in the country will over-heat as a result of disrespect for the nation's constitution.

"There is a general democratic deficit"

According to the president of the Nigerian Centre of Constitutionalism and Demilitarisation, Sylvester Odion, disrespect for the constitution by many Nigerians, mostly public office holders, is at the base of Nigeria's political crises.

"I think there is a general democratic deficit, in the sense that the rule of law has not been uphold at all. Laws are being violated and the federal agencies are refusing to act."

In an attempt to save Nigerians from the present political brouhaha, the senate has already set up a seven-man ad-hoc committee to probe the EFCC's list. Thus the debate has just started and threatens to divert Nigerian voters' attention from the issues that should be discussed during the election campaign - the country's numerous social and economic problems.

Ibrahim Sani

© Deutsche Welle 2007

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