A former Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla, has detailed how assets seized by his panel from alleged corrupt persons were ultimately returned to the looters.
Mr. Obono-Obla doubled as Presidential Assistant to former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He asserts that the government he served and the president he trusted failed to combat corruption as promised, eroding public confidence in the once touted citadel of probity and integrity.
On Saturday, Mr. Obono-Obla spoke to Seun Okinbaloye of Mic-On Podcast, making a series of disturbing first-hand revelations about corruption in Nigeria.
Buhari established the SPIP to recover purportedly stolen national assets, mostly under the government of his predecessor, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. However, Obono-Obla said members of the same administration, including the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, hindered his efforts to prosecute numerous looters nationwide. He said the former AG was branded him “authoritarian” for his dogged efforts.
What Obono-Obla Had To Say
Some of the things I recovered were returned to the looters. For instance, there was this case of someone from whom I recovered over 80 brand new X-class Mercedes Benz cars (armored plated) in Jabi, Abuja. I wrote to the DG of Customs to ask if the person paid customs duties on the vehicles, and he said ‘No,’ they didn’t pay. I wrote to the Federal Inland Revenue Services to know if the person paid tax on the vehicles; he also said ‘No’ and that they don’t have the records. We went to court to get an order of interim forfeiture, which was granted pending the case hearing. So, I sent a memo to Malami to brief him on what we were doing, only for him to tell me that he never mandated me to do things I investigated.
Speaking further, he said,
Another one is the case of a senator who was then in his sitting status and later became the President of the Senate. I found his story in the Panama Papers, which stated that he had property in offshore islands; I didn’t have the power to investigate him because it was overseas, so I went to the DG NIA and sought his help to work together. They conducted an investigation and sent the report to me. The report confirmed that this senator has over £200 million worth of property in the offshore islands; I sent a copy to the president and one to the Attorney General. Till today, nothing happened.
Asked if the government of Buhari was corrupt, Obono-Obla replied,
Yes, I would say so. We didn’t do well. When Magu (former EFCC chairman) and I left, we heard nothing again about fighting corruption. We both had a similar fate; we were stepping on toes and too stubborn. Malami’s close associate once told me, ‘you —Obla and Magu— are very stubborn,.
In 2019, Obono-Obla suddenly received a letter of his immediate removal from office. He himself was accused of corruption and investigated by another government anti-graft agency: the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The investigation revealed Obono-Obla had fabricated his WAEC results to gain admission to the University of Jos, where he pursued a legal education in the 1980s. Based on the falsified high school transcripts, he was additionally charged with wrongly enrolling into the Nigerian Law School.
It is not clear why Mr. Obla has chosen to make these revelations now. However, it may put public perception pressure on former President Buhari, who is believed to be part of political maneuverings from the northern section of Nigeria. The region has reportedly grown increasingly weary of the current administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Please comment and share this article, & Follow us on our social media handles.
WhatsApp Channel
Telegram Channel
