For far too long, governments at both the state and national levels have been playing the ostrich, while unpleasant national problems that ought to have been nipped in the bud are allowed to fester and become intractable.
Matters are not helped by the uncertain nature of the country’s judiciary, which either takes eons to decide simple cases or deliver judgments that legal minds and even laymen perennially question the integrity of the jurists.
Be that as it may, one of such ailments that have become malignant owing to governments’ failure to treat earlier cases timeously, is the looting and stripping of government assets by outgoing political appointees, or elected political leaders.
Simply put, over the years, the political elite have turned to a national pastime, asset stripping/looting of offices and official residences. Observedly, these fraudulent officials, including state governors, their deputies, and their aides among others, in most cases, embark on these looting sprees during their tenure, and shortly before they hand over to their successors.
The sheer failure of the system to ruthlessly deal with such malfeasance has emboldened budding kleptomaniacs to tow the same path in keeping with the position of former Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who said: “Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system.”
The unfortunate practice, which became glaring in the Fourth Republic, has continued to grow steadily, and actions of key political figures across the country when the curtain fell on the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, on May 29, 2023, confirmed that nothing has changed from the pathetic past.
Sordid Tales From Across States
Before he was sworn in on May 29, Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, and his political party, the Labour Party (LP) raised the alarm over what they described as the “massive looting of government properties by appointees and civil servants,” from the Government House, guest houses, and government institutions.
Otti and the party in a joint reaction said: “At the Government House in Umuahia, choice cars, brand new buses and Sport Utility Vehicles acquired with public funds, have been removed,” adding that the School of Health Technology Aba; Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), Umuahia; School of Nursing, Amachara, Umuahia, were also not spared.
“In the case of the School of Nursing, Amachara, Umuahia, reports alleged that some important medical equipment in the COVID-19 Centre had since been taken away by agents of the government… Government is a continuum. Therefore, no action should be taken by anyone to sabotage the existence of government as an institution at any point in time.”
Otti advised the then Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, to “arrest this self-sabotage and ensure that every property belonging to the state government that has been taken away is returned.”
Before Otti cried out, the state branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had lamented “the destruction and looting of Aba General Hospital in the twilight of this outgoing administration.”
In the North Central, Benue State to be specific, the new helmsman, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, who succeeded Governor Samuel Ortom, lamented the brazen plunder of assets belonging to the state, by key players in the last government.
The cleric, in a statement issued on his behalf by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, alleged that he did not meet a single vehicle in Government House, Makurdi, adding: “The PDP looted Government House to the point that the new government under Governor Hyacinth met no single car, or truck in Government House. The governor’s visit to parastatals has uncovered the highest level of rot ever witnessed in the history of Benue State.”
He further alleged that the state coffers were emptied, leaving a debt profile of N187.56b, even as months of unpaid salaries, pensioners’ entitlements and a rash of last-minute recruitment have all added to the state’s woes.
Despite the former Special Adviser to the immediate past governor, Terver Akase, informing that his principal and other chieftains of the past administration did nothing unlawful by leaving office with the official vehicles allocated to them, as the “Benue State Executive Council decided that government officials, including the governor and his deputy, be given waivers to enable them to go with the official vehicles,” Alia, all the same, inaugurated an assets recovery committee both at state and local government levels to retrieve all looted government properties.
In the North West, controversy is still raging over the actual number of vehicles allegedly carted away from Government House, Zamfara State, by ex-governor, Bello Matawalle, who President Bola Ahmad Tinubu, last week nominated for the position of minister.
According to Governor Dauda Lawal Dare, a total of 17 vehicles, television sets, and kitchenware, were among items allegedly stolen from the Government House. Consequently, operatives of the Zamfara Police Command stormed the former governor’s residence in a bid to retrieve the vehicles.
After operatives of the Nigerian Police, Department of State Services, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on June 9, invaded the former governor’s two private residences in Gusau and Maradun, evacuating vehicles and other items on the orders of a lower court, Matawalle approached a Federal High Court sitting in Gusau, the state capital, which in turn ordered all the agencies involved in evacuating about 40 vehicles and other items from his residences, to bring them under the custody of the court pending the determination of the applicant’s Substantive Originating Motion in the matter.
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, who defeated the immediate past helmsman, Gboyega Oyetola, through his spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, also alleged that property belonging to the state government were looted during Oyetola’s last days in office, in November 2022.
Adeleke specifically alleged that valuable items were stolen from the Governor’s Lodge, as well as, that of the deputy governor located at OkeFia, Osogbo.
“From the main house to the service flats, and up to the boys’ quarters, clear indications of valuables removed can be observed. Items such as television sets, chairs, foams, electrical fittings, bed sheets, spoons, and cutleries, among other valuables, were illegally removed from the lodge. Every utility vehicle procured for use in the lodge was also carted away from the building,” he lamented.
The State Command of NSCDC confirmed the looting, which was blamed on “unknown men.”
National Assembly’s Abhorrent Example In Austere Times
As the brazen thievery by men of power raged through different parts of the country, some departing and returning national lawmakers shocked the entire nation when they, in concert with their aides, removed valuables from the National Assembly.
Nigeria is plagued by a litany of concerns that tonnes of money are regularly needed to address if she must stay afloat. This is why National Assembly replacing functional appliances and gadgets after every administration’s lifespan is giving right-thinking Nigerians reasons to worry.
During the “bonanza” at the NASS, aides of national lawmakers that failed to book a place in the 10th National Assembly allegedly descended on the offices and stripped them bare of valuables belonging to the second tier of government.
Interestingly, re-elected members of both chambers of the National Assembly were also involved in ferrying away items from their respective residences and offices to pave the way for the purchase of new items for members of the 10th National Assembly. Items that were carted away included air conditioner sets, furniture pieces (cabinet shelves), solar power systems, desktop computer sets, printers, television sets, rugs carpets among others.
While security agents at the complex accosted some legislative aides who attempted to move out some items without necessary permits, a greater majority of the aides and lawmakers had a field day stripping the facility of valuables.
The stripping of the National Assembly Complex became habitual since the Fourth Republic commenced in 1999. In 2003, the claim was that the first set of legislators who moved out of their Apo Legislators’ Quarters at the expiration of their four-year tenure plundered the facility by carting away every valuable item on sight, from water heater to wash-hand basins, bathing tubs, and electrical fittings.
The routine occurrence of this heist, therefore, means that every four years, the same items will be budgeted and fresh procurement mandated. This happening in a country that is highly indebted to local and foreign creditors, simply confirms the perpetuation of an era of unbridled waste in public resources.
According to them, the monetisation policy, which was conceptualised during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration between 1999-2007, and which provided that fringe benefits and non-pecuniary allowances of public servants and other categories of political office holders were to be converted into cash, through their monthly salaries is now doing the country more harm than good.
But shedding light on the apparent bonanza that took place at the parliament, the Director of Information, National Assembly, Rawlings Agada, reportedly said that the valuables that were evacuated from the parliament now belong to the national legislators having been sold to them at rock-bottom prices, after an arrangement was reached between the lawmakers and the management of the National Assembly.
“The items are now for the lawmakers. They were sold to the lawmakers at a depreciating value. The items have already depreciated; the new set of lawmakers will not want to be the ones to use those items. So, in wisdom, the items, including the vehicles, are valued and sold to the lawmakers,” he said.
Reckless, Needless Spending By Govt, Lawmakers Deepening Economic Woes
NICE as the lawmakers have tried to make the insensitive, and wasteful exercise sound, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa, insists that selling four-year-old gadgets and sundry items to lawmakers at give-away prices remains illogical.
“This is very selfish and greedy; a move that will only further deepen the economic woes of the country, especially if no adequate measures are taken to curtail the negative consequences of the reckless and needless spending of the government, and the lawmakers. A good leader always leads by example, and by demonstrating to others how the work is done.
“Unfortunately, our leaders are only busy setting bad example for others to follow. Of course, with the lawmakers setting this bad example, other parastatals may follow suit, because, at the end of the day, it is not so much about serving the interests of Nigerians, but serving their selfish interests,” he stated.
“It is very sad to see that these lawmakers who already collect jumbo salaries are being sold items a little to no cost. First of all, this action is inappropriate considering the current economic upheaval we are facing in the country. This behaviour is completely insensitive and irresponsible because there is no point in removing these items from the National Assembly in the first place, having been the direct beneficiaries of these items either old or new, there should have been a serious consideration as to how, and to whom these items are sold to, if at all necessary,” said Musa.
Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio, recently informed that N70b has been set aside to refit lawmakers’ offices and purchase other things that they need to function as a parliament. But how sustainable is the practice in the face of other dire national needs? Musa also fondly referred to as Rafsanjani by friends and admirers said: “Despite the huge amounts of money that the lawmakers collect monthly, while civil servants and other citizens are wallowing in hunger and poverty driven by unemployment and corruption, and considering the current economic realities, it is pathetic for the lawmakers to allocate these big amounts of money for themselves in the name of improving their working conditions.
“Our lawmakers must be reminded that they were voted for by poor Nigerians. So, they must effectively represent them at the National Assembly, by working towards improving the conditions of Nigerians, and not just their working conditions at the expense of the ordinary citizens who barely feed themselves these days. It is indeed an insensitive move to divert N70b for lawmakers’ comfort, even when they do little to no work compared to the thousands of civil servants at the national, state, and local government levels amidst the serious rise in the cost of living.”
Emphasising ways to curb the menace of looting government’s assets, he said that the government must be serious in its approach to ending such scandalous behaviour, and also “make sure that all those who are leaving office don’t have any privilege to go away with government properties, or items. The government must ensure that defaulters are called to account for their actions and where necessary be sanctioned and punished accordingly.
“We must also further strengthen our anti-corruption agencies and other relevant authorities to ensure that government assets are adequately protected against people, who want to take them away from government coffers or offices for selfish interests/purposes. But, of course, the most effective measure is to put out strict policies and laws restricting any political appointees and elected officials from looting government assets when leaving office, and if done, such a perpetrator must be held accountable and must be punished according to the provisions of the law,” he stated.
Musa, who is also the Head of Transparency International (Nigeria), stressed that any country whose leadership not only survives on corrupt acts and looting but thrives on such criminality and injustice will find it very difficult to get out of the mess that its leaders plunge her into.
“It is evident that in Nigeria we have leaders whose priority is not about how to make the lives of the citizens better, by providing them with basic fundamental socio-economic services such as education, healthcare services, infrastructure, agriculture to boost food production/food security, employment opportunities, and security of lives and property. We have leaders whose priority is centred around looting and emptying government coffers for personal gains.
That said, the habit of doing away with government assets, or more correctly public assets (because everything that the government owns belongs to the public including the government itself) is not only an act of wickedness influenced by greed, selfishness, and corruption but also an act of sabotage to the overall economic development of the country. But it should be stated in clear terms that it is irresponsible and unpatriotic for outgoing government officials to cart away valuable assets belonging to the government when leaving office.”
Apart From Public Auction, Disposing Govt Property Questionably Amounts To Normalising Official Stealing
Contrary to claims by the Director of Information, National Assembly, Agada, that the items, which lawmakers carted away now belongs to them
having been sold to them a depreciating value, a former chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Abuja Chapter, Mr. Bulus Atsen, said: “To the best of my knowledge, there is no federal law, which authorises any government officials to retain, or remove any office-related item upon exiting their offices. The disposal of public property is not something that should be left to the dictates of government officials who allocate the same to their families and cronies as they deem fit. It is also something that should not be done by private arrangements.
“The menace of carting away public assets through private arrangements with official stamps has to be brought to a complete halt. This can be achieved through legislation, which should provide how public assets should be disposed of – in a transparent processes, which allows other members of the public to bid for same. The law should also criminalise the sale and/or acquisition of public assets through any means other than by the process provided by law. Most importantly, functional properties should live several years before being disposed of.”
He equally emphasised that the stripping of government offices of assets by departing political appointees, or elected officials upon the expiration of their tenure is official stealing. It is official to the extent that it is officially stamped.
Speaking specifically to the alleged acquisition of these items at a depreciating value, he noted that, “Public accountability is the victim in this situation, without even ascertaining how the value of office items bought in 2019 has depreciated in four years to warrant being disposed of. Public facilities like hospitals and schools are not being serviced in this manner, why should the National Assembly, the Presidential Villa, and government houses be consuming humongous sums after they have been stripped naked?
“Being public officers does not confer on lawmakers more rights to acquire any public property being disposed of. This practice has even emboldened staffers to vandalise the most basic of items in public offices when their principals vacate such offices. Recently, Kano and Zamfara states were enmeshed in this shameful controversies,” Atsen recalled.
