Due process: Between security votes and oil contracts

By Yushau A. Shuaib–

Successive administrations in Nigeria, including the current one, claim to promote transparency and accountability by following due process in financial dealings and public procurements. Nevertheless, governments at all levels avoid strict compliance with standard norms and regulations when actions are taken for both economic and political exigencies.

The confusion and power struggle between the then President Olusegun Obasanjo and erstwhile Vice President Atiku Abubakar, though political, were fuelled by allegations of non-compliance with due process over activities of agencies under the purview of Atiku, including PTDF. Every tier of government engages in financial dealing outside the legal requirement using different nomenclatures and suspicious regulations to justify the indiscretions. For instance, the security vote is one of the conduit pipes used by various top public officers to avoid being accountable to anyone.

Even the public procurement law provides exceptions to disclosures on sensitive security issues and requirements. In a recently published book, An Encounter with the Spymaster, I disclosed categorically that “the movement of large cash in local and foreign currencies by the two major political parties, APC and PDP, to win primaries and general elections in 2015 were discovered by security and anti-corruption agencies but tactically suppressed to avoid embarrassing outcries that could tarnish the electoral processes and rubbish the image of the country.”

Therefore, at the national level, one of the major institutions that have been indirectly involved in funding sensitive and classifi ed operations, whether for security or other exigencies, is the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The media trial and court cases against the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, on allegations levelled against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are clear examples.

The fear of a past incident recently reared its ugly head with a memo by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, to President Muhammadu Buhari, leaked to the media. The contents of the memo are not only embarrassing but damning because it would easily rubbish the integrity of the current administration and its hyped anti-corruption campaign. While the two men on the brawl, Kachikwu and Baru, are fi rst class materials in all senses, from their academic accomplishments to their experiences in the oil sector, there seem to be missing narratives on the altercation.

When I wrote an article on a disagreement between Kachikwu and the current minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi in July 2016, over projects in the Niger Delta, the minister of state for petroleum should have since realised that in an intense political clime, one must tread consciously and cautiously. Attempts to crucify Maikanti Baru over some alleged decisions in NNPC may not likely fly because it would seem to be an attack against the Presidency.

Media reports so far have indicated that Baru is reputed to have unfettered access to the substantive minister of petroleum, who is the president and commander-in-chief than most cabinet members. It could, therefore, be extremely difficult for the GMD NNPC to have taken any unilateral decision without the consent and authorisation of the highest offi cer in the land. Whether the actions taken are right or wrong only the court can determine.

Meanwhile, in an exigency, due process can be ignored to justify the Machiavellian principle of “the ends justify the means” on security votes and oil contracts for national interests. Shuaib is publisher of PRNigeria; www. YAShuaib.com; [email protected].

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