On July 29, 2019, the then National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan raised the alarm about the ministerial nominees exactly a month after President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in for the second term in office.
PDP was bothered by the dossiers of some nominees. It wanted to know if they had not had any criminal case. It then called on the senate to extend the nominees screening to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Department of State Service, DSS.
Its plea did not fly but today a few of the ministers in the Buhari’s administration are currently facing various charges of criminal allegations with the EFCC.
A good example is Hadi Sirika, the former Minister of Aviation who is currently standing trial over N5.8bn fraud as arraigned by the EFCC.
Another is the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin
Emefiele whose Naira “repainting” did not only sink the economy but his various policies negated economic development due to his corrupt tendencies.
There are scores of ex-ministers and ex-governors who gate crashed into public service but are now passing through the EFCC gate, to be certified for heavens gate.
It may look mild, the fake NYSC certificate saga by the former Minister of Finance under Buhari, Kemi Adeosun was investigated and later led to the resignation of the minister.
There was a Babachir Lawal, the erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation who spent N500m to cut grass.
EFCC prosecuted him until he was sacked from the government of Buhari. The list continues but then the idea of outright senate approval of ministerial nominees is becoming archaic judging by the numbers of ministers who are falling short of the integrity test while in office.
In her few months of getting to office, Tinubu’s former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Beta Edu went to the Canaanland, Faith Tabernacle, in Ota to give testimony of how she prayed to become a minister and how God in His faithfulness had crowned her effort to be named a minister in Tinubu’s cabinet.
Her idea of church, ordinarily was supposed to make her incorrupt but the news of her corrupt life came a few months after the church testimonials.
Edu was found in the web of financial misappropriation by the EFCC. While she scaled the hurdles at the heavenly church, EFCC decertifies her with allegations of corruption and this in many ways has redefined the thin line between the corruption at religious and political centres.
The anti graft agency had since recovered over $24m from her. Her closeness to the church, I think should have moved her closer to the heaven’s door but she’s quite unlucky that EFCC is the gate to heavens for those who are corrupt.
The Bible says that the kingdom of heavens suffer violence and the violent takes it by force. The same holy bible as puts in the book of Luke 18-25 also makes us understand that it is easier for a Carmel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
EFCC under the present leadership, Mr. Ola Olukoyede has been reset as the heaven’s gate for those who are carrying corrupt baggages but then I would have loved that the six newly appointed ministers by President Tinubu pass through the EFCC gate before they will appear before the senate.
Our senate should rely on EFCC and other anti graft agencies to know more about those they will be screening for the ministerial or any appointed public office.
Let the EFCC did just as DSS had done over the nomination of the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai to the newly nominated ministers. While the EFCC serves as the gate against corruption, the senate should be able to be the second gate keeper before the presidential inauguration.
He may sound controversial, the words of the founder of One Love sect, Satguru Maharaj Ji once recommended the screening of ministerial nominees by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, (ICPC).
Maharaj Ji said such screening by the anti-graft agencies would help to ascertain the integrity of any nominated public official. Maharaj Ji is of the celestial but he is more concerned about the terrestrial, without which no one could see heaven.
To him, he who has passed the test of the EFCC had scaled the earthly hurdle that will qualify him or her for heavenly test. The question is how many of the public servants can stand at the EFCC gate clean?
He called on the president to be more proactive in the recovery of the nation’s economy and its stolen wealth and that the process of fighting corruption should begin from the calibre of those that would work with him.
Recall that former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai is having a case with the EFCC but before then he was nominated by President Tinubu for ministerial appointment but the senate denied the approval.
The senate gave reasons over myriads of petitions against the former governor. Even when he quickly ran back to Nigeria from London to meet Tinubu, the president could only give him 24 hours to allow him study the petitions before him.
El-Rufai threw in the towel but it will always be on record that the gate was shut against him because the anti graft agency had his dossier, which perhaps might not be good enough for the present administration.
Of course, there may be some elements of politics, EFCC has been given more leverage under Tinubu to do its job and it was obvious before the senate screening of the first set of nominees, EFCC, DSS were mandated to investigate them.
The EFCC operatives, either we like it or not can be likened to the army of angels at the gate of heaven against sinners cum corruption.
Perhaps that was why the army refused to host the former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello who was trying to gatecrash the EFCC premises.
Of course there is a searchlight on every alleged corrupt personality and organisation, the EFCC in recent times has shown that it will not entertain any holier-than-thou figure to walk into its doors without proper scrutiny.
For me, the scrutiny should not be after the offence had been committed but that each aspiring politician should be allowed to pass through fire of investigation as soon as the intention is made public.
Detractors may argue about what concerns heaven with the kingdom on earth, it is because God created heavens and earth.
Kunle Aremu is a seasoned journalist and regular columnist
