*By Basil Okoh*

When an important public office holder is held for high crime, government media systems go on overdrive. Instead of dwelling on crime committed, government media organs automatically go on the defensive, redirecting public attention and anger, looking for who else to blame other than the culprit. They look for who reported the crime, who petitioned the police or who leaked incriminating documents or evidence to EFCC or police.

People are then distracted from the enormity of the crime. They make the public focus instead on how the crime was leaked, not how it was committed. The persons from whom information about the crime was gotten are presented as villains and the criminal himself becomes the pitiful victim.

That is how Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa is now being presented. He is the victim of detractors who reported him to EFCC over a possible theft of N1.3 Trillion in DESOPADEC. Government media men have changed the narrative and Okowa is now the victim. But these detractors being presented in bad light did not arrest Okowa and had nothing to do with the missing money at DESOPADEC. No one in the media can possibly rubbish the integrity of Ifeanyi Okowa if Ifeanyi Okowa himself does not rubbish the integrity of Ifeanyi Okowa by his own actions.

Not a single one of the government defenders is talking about the missing funds discovered by EFCC. That is by the way. Only the safety and integrity of Okowa matters. And it appears no one is betting on the investigative skills of the financial crime agency and their capability to discover such a big crime without the aid of petitioners and informants.

Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, erstwhile Chief Press Secretary of the Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, did so well in his manipulation of public information and the reversal of roles by presenting Okowa as victim. He describes the petitioners and informants in so many disparaging bugaboo. They are: “dubious elements”, “diabolical”, “mischievous”, “traducers” and so on … ad nauseum.

But then the facts of the matter are simple:
1. EFCC arrested Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.
2. EFCC gave reasons for his arrest.
3. EFCC kept him in detention for a week.
So what did “detractors” do to Okowa to earn abuse by Ifeajika?

EFCC stated plainly that Okowa was arrested to explain the issues observed in DESOPADEC finance and mentioned the loss of 1.3 Trillion. The “traducers” didn’t invent that figure. But Ifeajika wasted everybody’s time writing a rehash of Government finances for eight years. Was anybody questioning government finances for the period? Was Okowa arrested because of Government finances or the finances of the agency DESOPADEC? Why was he busy answering to questions that no one asked him? Does anyone even believe his figures?

In any other nation people praise the patriotism of crime informants. The Police establishment work with them or use them to help solve high crime in society. Their works are recognized as civic duties. Here in Nigeria, they are vilified and made to appear as evil people out to settle a grudge, hence the popular use of the catchphrase “disgruntled elements”. How can anyone not be disgruntled when N1.3 trillion of public wealth is alleged to have been stolen by one man?

Mr. Ifeajika spent his entire time abusing everybody without throwing light on the alleged crime. Those involved in informing EFCC of a crime in DESOPADEC and all of us involved in reporting and publicly expressing our opinions about it were roundly abused.

If Ifeajika doesn’t know, let him be told that the arrest of a public figure is valid news and the loss of humongous public money is also valid news. They are part of public accounting. These were all breaking news emanating from EFCC. Ifeajika is not abusing the EFCC for breaking the news but the media for reporting it to the public. Neither the media nor the public are involved in the arrest or detention of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa for the alleged theft of N1.3 Trillion. Journalists perform a public and constitutional duty by reporting news and expressing opinion about public affairs. By abusing people who are not involved in the arrest or detention of Okowa, leaving the issues of the theft of N1.3 Trillion unaddressed, Ifeajika deflects and engages in mischief. Delta citizens should be deeply concerned about Ifeajika’s deflection of information and the mischief that it implies. All of us aught to commit ourselves to finding the truth in EFCC’s accusations. It must be an effort in winning back our social equilibrium and the moral compass of the state.

By activating public concern about it, we are engaging in a duty demanded by the Nigerian constitution in it’s freedom of information enactment. Mr. Ifeajika cannot stop us, no matter how hard he tries. Government can hide it’s secrets all it wants, but it is the professional duty of the journalist to find that secret and reveal it to the public.

It is therefore the journalists guaranteed professional obligation to pry into public affairs, report news and publish commentary on it. Ifeajika was taking swings at the onlookers and the media and left the alleged crime unattended. In his desperation to defend an alleged crime that has not yet been charged, he was trying too hard to make himself an accessory after the crime. He was rolling out figures and statistics, the very tools deployed by governments to lie to the public. Pray, who can vouch for the figures spewed out by Mr. Ifeajika?

The Government media team is already putting a spin on the news, telling us it is wild speculation to expect the erstwhile governor to steal as much as N1.3 Trillion. But we have had many governors charged for stealing billions of dollars of state funds. So how is this case in Delta different?

Ifeajika was careful not to broach the idea of an independent audit to verify his claims or to determine the underlying facts of the financial situation at DESOPADEC. Delta state is an open society. The staff of the agency know a few facts which they retell to family and friends. We’ve been regaled with stories of the complete breakdown of form and order in DESOPADEC for decades. We have heard stories of one man taking out N100 million every month in the agency. If it comes to it, there are people who can give EFCC all the information they need to prosecute and win criminal cases in the agency. There are people who can point out where funds are hidden.

Let it therefore be known that Petitions alone do not cause arrests and detentions for one full week if there are no tactile violations of the laws involved. Police cannot keep such a high profile citizen in detention in violation of the laws if there are no hard questions to answer arising from the petitions. We should be mindful that the EFCC are not staffed by illiterates but by professionals and that they study petitions and engage in gathering evidence before moving in to arrest and detain suspects for one week.

We have an obligation to make all public officers accountable for the huge sums that pass through government during eight year tenures. It is not their money. It is money belonging to the public, the patrimony of the more than 6 million citizens of Delta State. We will not be bamboozled or shy away from the responsibility of informing the public about their money no matter the names government call writers and reporters. We know the games they play to cover crime. They will deploy abuses and name calling to blackmail journalists into silence, from not demanding rectitude and accounting from the man under whose authority Ifeajika himself admitted that over 3.2 billion of our funds were spent.

The people of Delta State have the right to demand an independent audit of DESOPADEC finances for these past years. The state has been crawling in pain, not meeting the basic duties of state to its citizens but we continually hear of humongous sums coming into state coffers every month. The state gets poorer all the time while those who run its affairs are getting richer, fiddling with funds that they can never use in many life times.

And yet these men and women burn incense and spend eternity in religions observances, dividing their times between the Christian church, fetish rituals and the demonic practices of the occult. Enough should be enough. Let Delta State be true to its citizens.
@basilokoh.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has suspended Justice G. C Aguma of the High Court of Rivers State and Justice A.O Nwabunike of the Anambra State High Court from performing judicial functions.

“They were both suspended for the period of one year without pay and placed on watch list for two years thereafter,” according to a Channels Television breaking news this Friday morning, November 15, 2024.

The decision, says the report, was taken at the 107th Meeting of the NJC chaired by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on 13 and 14 November 2024.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

A former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kingsley Obiorah, told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja Thursday that the bank’s board never recommended Naira redesign to former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Obiorah testified virtually as the fifth prosecution witness at the resumed hearing in the ongoing trial of the former Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele.

Mr Emefiele faces four charges, including illegal redesign of Naira notes, disobedience to the direction of law and illegal act causing injury to the public.

With the backing of then-President Buhari’s backing, the Mr Emefile-led CBN introduced new N200. N500, and N1,000 notes and vigorously mopped up their old versions from circulation under the controversial currency redesign policy. This led to severe cash shortage, causing significant hardship for the public..

He pleaded not guilty when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned him before the trial judge, Maryanne Anenih, earlier this year.

Led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Obiorah, said that he once served as Special Adviser to Mr Emefiele on economic matters.

The prosecution witness, who later became deputy governor, said the CBN board first heard of the Naira redesign policy on mid-December 2022.

“To the best of my recollection, the first day this policy (Naira redesign) was discussed at the board meeting was mid-December 2022. I think it was around 15 December 2022.

“The governor (Emefiele) invited the Deputy Governor, Operations, and Director, Currency Operations, to present that same memo that the Committee of Governors (COG) saw in October. He also informed the board of the President’s approval.

“I do not recollect any instance where the board made recommendation for Naira redesign to the President. The board did not recommend the Naira redesign.”

Mr Obiorah, testified as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5).

He earlier told the court that Mr Emefiele informed the four CBN deputy governors of the Naira redesign policy at an event in Lagos on 25 October 2022, adding that they advised him against announcing the policy at the event.

“On that day, we were in Lagos to commemorate the first year anniversary of the digital currency, E-Naira. During the break between the first two sessions of the event, the governor (Emefiele) called the four deputy governors and informed us of plans to redesign the currency.

“He was contemplating to announce it that day at the event. My personal reaction was that the event may not be the appropriate place. That was the first time I became aware of the plan.

“Secondly, my comment was that we would need time to study the policy and make inputs,” the witness told the court.

According to the witness, Mr Emefiele told the four deputy governors that the reason behind the secrecy of the redesign policy was to ensure its effective implementation.

He said that on 26 October 2022, the defendant the deputy governor in charge of operations, Ade Shonubi, circulated and presented a memo for Naira redesign.

“The Deputy Governor, Operations, presented the memo to the COG and it was deliberated on. During the discussion, the governor mentioned that he got the approval of the President for the policy.

“After the COG meeting, the governor and two deputy governors joined a news conference to announce the policy to the public. All this happened on 26 October 2022,” he told the court.

Cross-examination
Under cross-examination by the defence lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, a SAN, the witness confirmed that he had previously worked as technical adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said at its 15 December 2022 meeting, the CBN board ratified the decision of the COG on Naira redesign policy, saying , “this ratification is in respect of the redesigned Naira already in circulation.”

The prosecution witness also said he was aware of instances of presidential approval for disbursement of funds to Chad, Niger Republic and the military, which the CBN complied with.

“Such (presidential) request would come to the governor. He would usually let the committee (COG) know and it would be implemented before the board got to know.”

He added that when he was invited by the EFCC, he was never shown documents from former President Buhari or any officials from the presidency complaining about the redesigned Naira notes already in circulation.

He confirmed that one of the reasons for currency redesign was to combat currency trafficking and hoarding.

After the witness finished his testimony, the judge adjourned further heariing until 4 December.

The unpopular Naira redesign policy marks one of the darkest periods of former President Buhari’s administration, causing a severe shortage of currency notes and inflicting significant hardship on many Nigerians during the first two months of 2023.

Mr Emefiele and Mr Buhari remained adamant in implementing the policy even as it triggered chaos and widespread disruption amid preparations for the 2023 general elections. They touted the policy to stop vote buying during the election.

But despite the policy being in force, cases of vote buying were recorded during the 25 February 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections.

.Mr Buhari staunchly defended the policy to the extent of ignoring an interim order of the Supreme Court suspending its implementation. On 8 February 2023, the Supreme Court ordered that both the old notes and their newly designed versions should remain legal tender pending further hearings in the suit. But in violation of the court’s order, Mr Buhari, in a broadcast on 16 February, restored the validity of the old N200 notes and insisted that the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes had ceased to be valid.

The case was finally laid to rest when the Supreme Court gave its final judgement on 3 March 2023 nullified Mr Buhari’s directive withdrawing the old naira notes and extended their validity till 31 March. The Supreme Court also adjudged Mr Buhari a disobeyer of court order, citing his violation of its earlier interim order suspending the implementation of the naira redesign policy.

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