SERAP, the acronym for Socio Economic Rights and Accountability Project, is a coalition of 10 Nigerian civil society groups which had an interesting exchange with Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Adoke SAN, recently. On April 4, 2010, SERAP had written a petition to the AGF requesting the prosecution of former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, based on a copy of the Okigbo report attached to the petition. SERAP had asked that the AGF should proceed to prosecute the former military president for allegedly presiding over the “mismanagement of the sum of 72.4 billion dollars that Nigeria earned from the sale of crude oil during the 1991 Gulf war.

IN a manner, unusual of Nigerian government officials, the Special Assistant to the AGF, Mr. Tunde Busari, in a reply dated April 16, 2010, stated that the AGF asked SERAP to furnish his office with a signed copy of the Okigbo report as the report which accompanied SERAP’s petition was not signed.
The AGF also assured SERAP that he would act on the petition once his request was met.

IN another letter dated April 27, 2010, SERAP welcomed the AGF’s “quick response” to its petition and that it believed that a copy of the Okigbo report which accompanied its petition was “genuine and reflects the original one which is in the custody of the government.” SERAP said in its letter that: “Your interest in this case demonstrates the willingness of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to exercise the requisite political will to translate into action his often repeated commitment to sanction corruption and tackle the impunity of perpetrators.” SERAP then reasoned that if the AGF was uncomfortable with the copy of the Okigbo report which accompanied its petition, he could get a duly signed copy either from officials of the cabinet office who were on the Okigbo panel or by way of subpoena.

SERAP also said that: “Given that the Okigbo report is a public document and the huge public interest to see justice done on the matter, we urge you (Adoke) to use your good offices and leadership as the Chief Law officer of the federation to obtain the original copy of the report from the cabinet office through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Also, some members of the Okigbo panel like Obong Ufot Ekaette, who is the immediate past minister of the Niger Delta, will have the original copy of the report.”

THE quick response of the AGF to the petition of SERAP has unwittingly reopened the controversy which has dogged the Okigbo report which is widely believed, according to media reports, to be missing. There was even a report in which the former military president, General Babangida claimed that the Okigbo report did not indict him in any way. There was no way to verify his claim since the Okigbo report had become some sort of a mysterious document hidden away from public scrutiny by the lack of political will by successive administrations in Nigeria to sanction corruption and tackle the impunity of perpetrators.

WE cannot but share the sentiments and reflections of SERAP that finding a signed copy of the Okigbo report is not in SERAP’s place at all. It belongs to the office of the chief law officer to obtain and access the document if there is enough political will for such an endeavour. We also share the view of SERAP that the alleged mismanagement of the “staggering amount has continued to undermine the value of the naira, precipitating underdevelopment and poverty and impacting negatively on the living standards of millions of Nigerians especially the most vulnerable sectors of society.”

ALTHOUGH the former military president who is at the centre of the multibillion dollars Gulf war windfall controversy is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, Nigeria’s lack of the will to prosecute this matter has affected the image of the country as an unserious country that is lax with corruption.
Prosecuting the case will, therefore, send a strong message to the citizens and the international community that the Federal Government is capable of preserving the legitimacy of governmental activity just as SERAP claimed in its submissions.

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MR
written by KOKO, May 07, 2010

MR ADOKE HIMSELF IS A CRIMINAL, OTHERWISE WHY WILL HE ASK FOR THE SIGNED COPY OF OKIGBO REPORT WHEN IT IS IN HIS CUSTODY?

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