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Nigeria: EFCC Writes Parties On 130 Corrupt Candidates
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Kola Ologbondiyan, Davidson Iriekpen, and Tunde Sanni in Ibadan
Lagos
Indications emerged last night that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has written to political parties, identifying no fewer than 130 candidates considered unfit to hold public offices over alleged corrupt practices.
A breakdown of the candidates from each party, according to THISDAY checks, reveal that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has the names of 52 of its candidates; All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) 35; the Action Congress (AC) 28; the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) 10; Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) 4; while the Alliance for Democracy (AD) has one of its candidates recommended as unfit for public office.
The commission's action, according to informed sources last night, is "advisory" and meant to "assist the parties come to terms with fielding credible candidates that are electable."
According to an EFCC source, "the commission has made the information on the candidates available from its financial and economic crimes database. These are advisory notes and parties have no obligation to use them but hopefully, the commission feels they will be wise enough to do so.
"What we have done is just to help the parties in the process of arriving at their candidates before their disqualification which would not come from us," the EFCC source said further.
Noting that the commission was empowered to provide information on economic and financial crimes, the source argued that the action of the agency in providing information on the candidates falls within the purview of its responsibilities.
"The process was generated and developed from our database. EFCC is not a screening agency but it has informed the parties on the credibility of the candidates it has presented for election. If they choose, the parties can still replace them before it is too late," the source added.
Meanwhile, the EFCC yesterday launched an investigation into the 11-month administration of the Oyo State deputy governor, Otunba Adebayo Akala as the agency nabbed and whisked away to Lagos, the state Accountant General, Mrs. Okeniyi.
Others in the EFCC net as of press time are the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Engineer J.A. Laniyan and Director Project Monitoring, Engineer Adisa.
THISDAY checks revealed that officials from the anti-corruption arrived the state capital at the weekend and have engaged the three officials, whose books were scrutinized, following which they were invited to Lagos for further inquiries.
According to the sources, the EFCC officials first came to the state last Friday and demanded for some documents relating to the award of various contracts and direct labour jobs executed by Akala while he held the forte as governor of the state.
Akala, through his media chief, Dotun Oyelade at the weekend, claimed that within eleven months of his administration, he was able to rehabilitate about 700 Kilometres of roads across the state.
Ladoja at a personality interview on the state owned radio and television stations on Saturday tagged "Saturday Special", however faulted the claims of Akala on road rehabilitation, pointing out that most of the roads embarked by the defunct stop-gap administration were never concluded owing to discrepancies in contractual agreement.
The governor also pointed to the ancient Mapo Hall which the Akala administration is claiming credit for clarifying that the project was embarked upon without due consultations with accredited stakeholders and submitted that the money expended was a colossal waste.
Aside from the issue of contracts and direct labour jobs, the defunct regime is also being assailed by two citizens of the state who have petitioned another anti-graft body, the Independent and Corrupt Practises Commission (ICPC) to look into a N1.3billion textbooks scam.
The scandal, according to Mr Kunle Jimoh, and a social crusader, Julius Funso Dada, pertained to the inflation of the cost of 1.8 million primary school textbooks in Mathematics, English and Science.
Although the state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Waheed Akanbi, denied any knowledge of such development, saying he has not been informed officially, sources at the Accountant-General office confirmed the development.
The principal complaint of the petitioners is that while Alao-Akala was the occupant of the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, he allegedly inflated the prices of textbooks purchased for primary school students by as much as 100 per cent of the market value.
The two petitioners arrived at the alleged conclusion after they compared the prices, which the state government bought books to the actual market prices at a bookshop in Beere, Ibadan .
Die nigerianische Kommission gegen Wirtschafts- und Finanzkriminalität (EFCC) hat in dieser Woche eine Liste mit 137 Politikern veröffentlicht, denen die Kommission Korruption vorwirft. Mit der Veröffentlichung will die EFCC verhindern, dass korrupte Politiker an den Parlaments-, Präsidenschafts-, und Gouverneurswahlen im April dieses Jahres teilnehmen. Mit den Wahlen im bevölkerungsreichsten Land Afrikas wird zum ersten Mal eine demokratisch legitimierte Neubildung einer zivilen Regierung stattfinden.

Nigerias Präsident Olusegun Obasanjo (Brasília, September 2005, Foto: José Cruz/ABr.)

Der amtierende Vizepräsident Atiku Abubakar zählt neben dem ehemaligen Verteidigungsminister Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso und den Gouverneuren der Bundesstaaten Borno, Jigawa und Enugu zu den bekanntesten Politikern auf der Liste. Atiku Abubakar, der sich nach einem Streit mit Präsident Olusegun Obasanjo von der Regierungspartei PDP losgelöst hat beziehungsweise aus der Partei ausgeschlossen wurde, will als ein Kandidat der Opposition für das Amt des Präsidenten kandidieren. Olusegun Obasanjo darf nach zwei Amtszeiten nicht mehr antreten. Er hatte die EFCC 2003 gegründet, der seitdem von der Opposition vorgeworfen wird, einseitig Oppositionspolitiker zu beschuldigen. Ein Sprecher des schon mehrmals der Korruption beschuldigten Vizepräsidenten wies die Vorwürfe zurück und kündigte an, eventuell rechtlich gegen die EFCC vorzugehen. Als Vizepräsident genießt Atiku Abubakar politische Immunität. Gegen Versuche des Präsidenten, seinen Stellvertreter des Amtes zu entheben, wehrt sich dieser vor Gericht.

Laut EFCC richten sich die Korruptionsanschuldigungen gegen Politiker aller Parteien, an die die Liste zusammen mit einem Anschreiben verschickt wurde. Jedoch finden sich auf der Liste mehr Vertreter der Opposition (82) als aus dem Regierungslager (53). Nach Angaben eines Oppositionssprechers handelt es sich bei den beschuldigten Politikern aus dem Regierungslager überwiegend um Kandidaten für niedere Ämter, während die Opposition dazu aufgefordert werde, ihre bekanntesten Kandidaten zurückzuziehen. Muhammadu Buhari, ehemaliger Staatspräsident und laut BBC News der aussichtsreichste Oppositionskandidat bei der Präsidentschaftswahl, steht nicht auf der Liste. Auf einem Parteitag von Buharis All Nigeria People's Party, der zur Zeit in der nigerianischen Hauptstadt Abuja stattfindet, soll die EFCC-Liste oben auf der Tagesordnung stehen. Die Veröffentlichung der Liste hat für die Betroffenen keine rechtlichen Konsequenzen, sondern erfüllt eine beratende Funktion. Osita Nwajah, ein Sprecher der EFCC, sagte gegenüber BBC News, es sei Sache der Parteien zu entscheiden, wie mit den korruptionsverdächtigen Politikern umzugehen sei. Im Anschreiben an die Parteien empfiehlt die EFCC aber, die Kandidaten zurückzuziehen.