Democracy and timeline of rough tackles

Democracy, in its purest form, espouses fairness, protects human dignity and encourages fair hearing. It ensures that humans enjoy dignified living and are free to make informed choices, and are consequently held accountable for such decisions.

However, over time, there has been a dilemma over the primacy of justice in the workings of democracy. And this conundrum is playing out in Nigeria of recent, especially with the renewed vigour with which the anti-corruption battle is fought, whereby the goings-on in the political space — with arrests and frustration of accused politically exposed persons’ attempt to get bail — smacks somewhat of militarisation of the country’s nascent democracy.

Other than the fact that the fight against corruption has acquired a robust—some would say, one-sided — bite, the rampaging crusade of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has left many wondering who next would fall short, get to have a ‘very, very long’ day in court and wriggling to leave detention.

While many say the development is as a result of President Muhammadu Buhari’s dictatorial temperament, which he nursed as a military leader, regardless of the change of character narrative that was sold during electoral campaigns, others argue that recovery of looted funds is paramount in the light of dwindling revenue shortfalls, adding that the hounding of politicians and other persons is but a means to an end.

As if not to be wrongly perceived as undemocratic, in the early days of his government, President Buhari constituted committees on graft and probe of arms procurement in the previous government. The probe of military spending opened a can of worms that has seen the high and mighty in that government linked to the diversion of funds meant to combat Boko Haram insurgency to political campaigns.

The prosecution of persons connected with the spending led to the arrest and detention of National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, to the former Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and recently, a sitting governor, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti, whose private bank account has been frozen for allegedly received funding for his election from Dasuki.

The revelations are heating up the polity, with many worrying over the implications of the onslaught of key figures in the opposition, and particularly, the military-like expedition to states controlled by the PDP by the DSS. Most of the arrested persons have had a tough time trying to get out of detention, with security operatives denying them bail after they had met conditions for release.

These trend has seen many trying to avoid being arrested by security operatives, the latest being Fayose, who, even with his immunity as a serving governor, is trying to fend off efforts to get him to answer allegations that he got funds from Dasuki to fund is election.

Sambo Dasuki
The chief antagonist in the drama that has become of the hunt for Nigeria’s looted funds is Sambo Dasuki, the prince from the North.

Manning a key security office in the immediate past administration, Dasuki has been fingered as being behind most of the alleged extra-budgetary spending and diversion of public funds in that era.

Trouble started for the former NSA when, after hints of an impending probe of the past government, in November last year, President Buhari received the interim report on arms procurement, and ordered the arrest of all indicted persons in the arms scam.

The committee at the time was yet to complete its work, but its interim report exposed the dark alleys of how public funds were reportedly not only spent without budgetary allocations, but also carted away from the public till through “several illicit and fraudulent financial transactions.”

“As part of the findings, the committee has analysed interventions from some organisations that provided funds to the Office of the National Security Adviser, Defence Headquarters, Army Headquarters, Naval Headquarters and Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, both in local and foreign currencies,’’ a statement from the presidency said.

It stated that so far the total extra budgetary interventions collated by the committee was N643.8bn, while the foreign currency component was $2.2bn.

In response, Dasuki, who stressed that he was never invited to defend himself while the investigations lasted, said he was not a thief and was not afraid to face trial. Little did he know that he would not only face trial, but would have to spend quality time doing so as a lynchpin for a roll call of political heavyweights, who he may have had business with.

He denied the allegations and described the manner in which they were made as ‘theatrical,’ insisting that he followed due process in line with the dictates of military procurement codes.

But almost six months after, the State Security Service has dragged Dasuki from one court to the other after his arrest.

Sambo was initially arrested and charged to court for unlawful possession of firearms and money laundering, and his international passport seized on the order of the court. But the DSS laid siege to his house, leading to his eventual arrest.

“What has however brought the seeming standoff between Sambo and the Service, despite the court-ordered release of his international passport on 4th November, 2015, is his refusal to appear before a Committee undertaking the investigation of an entirely different case,” the secret police said, while the siege on his home lasted.

At the end of last year, three courts had granted Dasuki bail conditions, which he met, but the SSS and the EFCC refused to release him, an action that had many questioning this government’s sincerity in upholding the principle of rule of law.

Nnamdi Kanu
Director of Radio Biafra, a unit of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has also had a rough encounter with the current administration, tasting copiously from the cup of militarised hounding.
After his arrest in October on charges of treason and ethnic incitement, the separatist leader, has been unable to get off the grip of the Federal Government, even after protests and threats by members of IPOB and Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
Even after a court granted Kanu bail in December, Buhari, in his maiden media chat, said his government had no immediate plans to release Kanu from detention.

A High Court ruling in December said it was unconstitutional to detain a Nigerian citizen for over two months without charge, and subsequently ordered the DSS to immediately release Kanu.

Buhari said other than the crime Kanu committed, the sectional leader’s status as a British citizen bred fear in his government that he would abscond from justice.

“Do you know he (Kanu) has two passports, one Nigerian, one British, and he came to this country without using any passport? Do you know he brought in sophisticated equipment and was broadcasting for Radio Biafra? There is a treasonable felony against him, and I hope the courts will listen to the case.”
However, Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said President Buhari’s comments have contributed to Mr. Kanu being denied bail by the same court that granted him bail in December 2015.

“After Kanu was granted bail on December 17, the president was heard saying at the presidential media chart that he will not leave the prison cell, for any reason. That bail was made known to Federal Government on December 18, 2015, but they failed to grant the bail. Only few days ago, he also went into the issue of whether or not Mr. Kanu should be granted bail when he visited Katsina.”
He said government does not want the court processes to run its due course, noting that the matter, which has been taken before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, is aimed at addressing the abuse of Kanu’s rights.

Olisa Metuh
Former Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh was arrested with finesse, but thereafter, he has had a running battle trying to free himself from the grip of the EFCC.

In January, when he was arrested, Metuh was said to have gone to the anti-graft agency’s office on a friendly visit. It was reported that he was called to answer questions regarding funds traced to his account.

His spokesman, Richard Ihediwa, in a statement said, the EFCC officials stated that Metuh has some issues to clear with the commission.
“They also said he was not being arrested but friendly invited. The operatives, four in number, came in a White unmarked Toyota Hiace bus,” he said.

This was the beginning of what became a long journey in the corridors of the EFCC, but not without drama, as Metuh, who was later charged for allegedly receiving N400m from Dasuki, was said to have swallowed papers on which he made confessional statements regarding his trial.

Metuh’s trial has been punctuated with such episodes of similar drama, and he has come up with several stories of ill-health and needed to travel abroad for better healthcare.

But the Appeal Court has refused to grant him bail.

DSS Invasions In Akwa Ibom, Ekiti
In a commando style, operatives of the DSS have been on overdrive in the last one year, conducting military-like invasion in states, in what many have described as an affront on the structural cohesion of Nigeria, especially as states in the opposition have been at the receiving end of the raids.

The first of the invasion was in Akwa Ibom, where a team from the secret police raided the state government house in the capital, Uyo

The raid was reportedly carried out while the governor and members of his executives were in Abuja at the Governorship Election Tribunal hearing. It was gathered that the operatives went in search of some undisclosed documents.

Unnerved by the development, the Akwa-Ibom State House of Assembly threatened to institute legal action against the DSS if it fails to apologise for the action.

The Speaker of the Akwa-Ibom House of Assembly, Aniekan Okon, said the action of the DSS amounts to a coup.

He said the action of the DSS was in total violation of the immunity of Governor Emmanuel Udom as provided by section 308 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

The National Chairman of the PDP at the time, Prince Uche Secondus, who described the attack as a coup d’etat, said the invasion marks a return of the dark days of dictatorship in Nigeria.

In a similar manner, DSS, on March 4, arrested some Ekiti lawmakers, after invading the state Assembly complex, to ascertain their involvement in the alleged improprieties witnessed during the last governorship election in the state.

It was gathered that the DSS was acting on information from a former Secretary of the PDP in the state, Dr. Temitope Aluko, who had alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan gave Fayose $35m to prosecute the election. The operatives, it was reported, invited not less than 25 suspects.

One of the lawmakers, Hon. Afolabi Akanni, was held in custody for 20 days. He was reported to have died after he was held incommunicado for days, but he came out alive.

Femi Fani-Kayode

Femi Fani-Kayode
A vocal member of the PDP and spokesman of Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, was arrested on May 9, by the EFCC over N840 million he allegedly received for the prosecution of the Presidential election last year.

It was reported that although the former minister insisted that he got the money to do specific assignments given him by the former President, the EFCC asked him to produce the cash or nothing else.

The agency reportedly produced evidence that the former Minister of Finance, Senator Esther Nenadi Usman, who also received N2.5bn out of the N4bn that was shared to them, had refunded N140 million, in addition to surrendering two palatial homes in Abuja, to secure her freedom, and consequently asked Fani-Kayode to comply.

But after meeting bail conditions, the man is still being held in custody. The former Aviation Minister and Usman are still asking to be granted bail as at last week.

Ayodele Fayose
A dominant character in the narrative of the opposition party since President Buhari mounted the saddle of leadership is Ekiti Governor, Ayodele Fayose.

Aside being vocal in the campaign against the federal government’s style of leadership, Fayose appears to be the lone voice in a wilderness, singing against the rule of force of the Federal Government. In any given opportunity, the governor has sought to disparage Buhari’s style of leadership, arguing that the PDP provided a better alternative.

However, in the last few days, Fayose has been at loggerheads with the Federal Government and a second generation bank, over allegations that funds for his 2014 election may have been provided for by embattled former NSA, Dasuki.

Legal experts are divided on whether government may be liable for infringing on the governor’s immunity.

Fayose has, however, come out to deny that Dasuki funded his election, arguing rather that the second generation bank sponsored him.

“I stand by my claim that the bank majorly funded my election in June 2014. I don’t expect an organisation like the accused bank to stay in a corner in matter of national concern like this and be talking.

“Rather, I expect it to issue an official statement not as feeble as this one being peddled in the media so that I can begin the second stage of my revelations. ”My statement was made in the open and if I can accuse an institution like that in the open, I expect the institution to give official reply,” he said through his spokesman. The matter is now in court.

Kayode Are
Another person that has come under the weight of the DSS is one of its former director general, Kayode Are, whose family was ejected from property he allegedly owns.

“They are right here in my house. They have pulled down the doors, chased my family away and are throwing out our properties. They are not even giving us time to remove our things,” Are was quoted as saying while he was under siege.

The DSS action was reported to have flouted a court injunction barring it from ejecting Mr. Are from his Ikoyi home.

Former heads of the secret police, after their term of office, are allocated retirement homes in any city of their choice in Nigeria.

It was gathered that five past director generals currently enjoy that privilege, but shortly after the current Director General of the Service, Lawan Daura, came into office, he wrote Mr. Are, directing that he vacates the property, as the allocation to him was questionable.

Mr. Are said, “I have lived here for five years. Five of us are enjoying this benefit but I’m the only one being treated this way,” noting that he made representation to him and explained that the allocation was in order just like those of his predecessors and successor.