7-11-20-2024.

One of the leading politicians in the country and former governor of one of the wealthiest states in Nigeria was recently arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for mind-bogglingly enriching himself with the people’s Commonwealth to the tune hundreds of billions of naira.

He was alleged to have used many ways to perpetrate the crime. The ways, allegedly, included the use of a very rich and influential philanthropist as a front, to shaft the citizens of the state of the unbelievable amount, when he held fort as the number one person in his state.

He was alleged to have funded the presidential campaign of his party’s opposition candidate. He also holds a very big position in the party. If his party had won the presidential election, he would have been in a leading office in the country and he would be the one to direct the EFCC who to go after for graft.

A picture of the accused in the EFCC uniform of suspects and a text beneath it is trending all over the social media. The text alleges that, the suspect gave the opposition presidential campaign team N100 billion, and bought the ticket for the big position in the party for N8 billion. He was also alleged to give a screening committee N3 billion to clear a top politician in his party and himself. 

He was also alleged to be responsible for the presidential candidate’s trip round the 36 states, and of using the rich and influential philanthropist as his front man. The EFCC detainee is still alleged of not considering the people of his state when he was the governor. The son of the presidential candidate was additionally alleged to be the one picking the funds in dollars from the state to Abuja. What a mess, concluded the text.

The messy affair gave away some of the secrets of a lot of the stupendously rich business people who parade themselves around the country as philanthropists, ‘helping’ the poor in the society at home and abroad.

Many so called big business people are alleged to be fronting for many former number one citizens, making the misdemeanour of the opposition former governor not a new thing in Nigeria, at all.

Meanwhile, the arrest of a former People Democratic Party (PDP) governor by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has elicited a partisan reaction from some citizens who are wondering that only former opposition governors are arrested by the anti graft agency. Let me (though not speaking for the EFCC) disagree with them, and point out the case of a former Kogi state governor.

The former Kogi state number one citizen served imperially his two terms as a bonafide member of the ruling All Progressives Party (APC), which he still is. At one time before the end of his second term, the former APC governor’s poster was all over the Federal Capital, Abuja, proclaiming his readiness to lead the party as chairman, even though the position was not vacant, or declared vacant for waiting aspirants to vie for it.

The argument would have attracted more sympathisers if they had alleged that only former big this or former big that, who are not ministers or members of the Nigerian Senate (it is where the former governors go, to escape the anti graft agencies), are arrested. 

The immediate past Kogi state governor would have been one of them, but he had made many enemies in some parts of the state, including where they can literally make a ‘corpse walk’, for him to succeed, hence his attempt to venture to Abuja and seek for the national chairmanship of the ruling party.

He was also not fast enough to sneak out of Nigeria to another country, where he could ‘buy’ a citizenship and remain there until he feels safe enough to return to his country of birth, continue with his life as he had never done anything wrong. The system is like that where you are never found guilty if you have the kind of the money to purchase your freedom, and even be celebrated by the society and, not unlikely, be given a chieftaincy title to boot.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.