By Leadership

A Lagos High Court has ordered Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke to, temporarily, forfeit an amount put at N35 billion to the federal government. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that the money was stolen from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and stashed in banks in Nigeria. On the basis of this, the commission took the matter to court and got this judgment.

Recently, on this page, we said that Nigerian public officials steal what they don’t need. This mind-blowing revelation in the court is another proof of it. Those behind it were out to save for their generations yet unborn. Otherwise, why take out that huge sum?  How many ministries, departments and agencies of government have that volume of cash as their annual budget? But that is just a bit of what some individuals, who had decided to shut down their consciences, made away with in one haul.

We are sure that when the EFCC probes even deeper, something more outlandish will probably be unearthed. Before now, there was the $2billion armsgate. Who knows what is likely to be found in other departments of government about how public servants in positions of trust and responsibility made a fool of the nation as a whole.

One significant revelation from that judgment is that it is not enough to crucify only the public officer who may be the target person in situations of graft. That judgment made it evident that such high profile looting often always involves a syndicate arrangement. It is a further affirmation that stealing of public money of that magnitude is possible only with the active connivance of like-minded thieves in strategic institutions, in this case, the banks. The description of how the money moved is a classic example of the devious capabilities of the minds of those the rest of us regard as notable Nigerians.

It is obvious, in our view, that the government is anxious to get the nation out of its present economic quagmire and would, therefore, cherish access to any money it believes can be used in that rebuilding process. In that mental state, it may be in a hurry to lose interest in the case as soon as the money is returned to the public kitty. This might entail that these thieves could be allowed to walk away free with their reputation intact. That, in our opinion, will be an improper approach to it. The authorities must punish the act of stealing for the lesson it tends to teach. The recovered item, in this instance, the money, will serve as exhibit during trial to be used to implicate, prosecute and jail them. There must be a price to be paid for the betrayal of public trust, for getting involved in an odious manipulation of officialdom for one’s pecuniary gains.

The pains the act inflicted on the psyche of the people who were also denied the benefits derivable from the prudent deployment of that resource must be assuaged by making the perpetrators have their day in court. Anything short of that will stymie, if not jeopardise, the course of justice and even give the impression that malfeasance can be rewarding. It will be a misrepresentation of the inherent and noble intentions of the anti-corruption campaign.

To imagine that, in some instances, this huge sum was carried around in cash. It points a finger in the direction of the security agencies who may have given the needed security cover for such illicit transaction to have been carried out without hitches. They, too, must be held to account. This deal, as they term it, also calls to question the integrity of the bank(s) and, in particular, their executives for whom that was a good business move which enhanced their deposit profile and profitability. The board and management of the banks have a vicarious responsibility in this unholy transaction.

We suggest that government ought to summon the courage to put the whole of them behind bars and, relying on extant laws, go ahead and withdraw their operating licences. That, we are certain, will send out the right signal that the Diezani deal, and others like it, will not be condoned.