Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN must open an official inquiry into the circumstances leading to the death of Customs’ deputy comptroller, Andrew Essien, last Tuesday while appearing before the House of Reps’ Public Account Committee.
Yes, Essien appeared to have succumbed to health complications but the question is whether the lawmakers were aware he should not be doing something as gruelling as what they usually subject public officers to during their usually-duelling, combative but extortive hearings and still compelled his appearance as they are wont to.
For their exploitative oversight responsibility, it has become the bigger the fish, the bigger the gold coins expected from its mouth, when fishing for public officers to fleece. And it doesn’t get bigger than the man in charge of revenue in the Account Unit of money-spinning agency, like Customs.
If Essien’s appearance was compelled when he made it clear his health would not carry the session and substitution for him was rejected as also usual when the money-men of grade “A” agencies are targeted, all contoured nuances of involuntary manslaughter under the law, would have been filled out. Someone should pay.
I’m not speculative or speculating about federal lawmakers pricing lucre above humanity. An older friend who was CEO of a federal agency, was almost literally dragged from his ailing bed, by some roguish Reps in the name of summons, investigation and hearing, during the speakership of now-Chief of Staff to President Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila. And all they wanted from him, was money. Sadly, his kind can’t come forward now, to tell of the massive extortion empire, carefully curated within the National Assembly, involving the lawmakers, their admin staff who usually man committee’s’ secretariats (gods on their own), and majorly responsible for receiving the demanded bribe money from the CEOs, as well as private citizens, dubiously dubbed consultants, who help the lawmakers perfect their perfidy with their so-called expertise, depending on the agency to be fleeced.
As president, Goodluck Jonathan had to summon then-NASS leadership to plead for reduction in the regularity with which senior public officers were being harassed with hearings, ultimately designed to rip Nigeria off, because the dollars and ton of naira being demanded, aren’t from the private pockets of the harassed CEOs.
Are the CEOs saint? Some, and likely in the majority, are like a violently-bursting sewer, and the little insight I was given into expenditure in public service, would shake the faith of an incurable optimist, in a New Nigeria.
Ordinarily, the constantly-harassed and equally perfidious chief executives should deserve no sympathy when NASS rogues shake them down. It should simply be a situation Yoruba will call “ole gbe, ole gba” (thieves dispossessing thieves of loot). But for heaven’s sake, there should be a decency don’t-cross line, even for common thieves. Don’t they say there should be honour among thieves?
Like me, NASS members won’t worth a shekel with you, if you had my kind of insight into their doings.
In a sickening episode, which facts have proved to be the norm with legislative oversight at the federal level, the consultant to a Reps’ committee, wrote and sent two reports, one indicting a CEO for unlawful appointments and the other, clearing him on the same issue, both with the approval of the committee leadership. 50,000 dollars would determine which of the two, would go in, as the “authentic” report of the Committee which would be given to journalists as breaking news if the CEO won’t budge.
And these characters are making laws against extortion, blackmail, cyber-bullying (a Rep from South was threatening fire over bribe on WhatsApp) and bribery. Journalists covering NASS and walkabout CSOs are alleged to be partners in scam.
A hard bargain got him the no-guilty verdict for doing nothing illegal.
The regular extortion still doesn’t discourage the lawmakers from “front-loading” agencies’ budgetary allocations with billions of naira for their fake constituency projects.
Probing Essien’s death is Fagbemi’s moment of truth regarding the expected victory from the Supreme Court in the quest of the Tinubu administration to free local governments from the chokehold of state governors.
Thankfully, Fagbemi, as a practising attorney, had related closely with them. Their ways, including intrigues, dirty politics and appetite for cash, can’t be strange to him. He even helped one who wasn’t on ballot, take office. He knows that the expected judicial win is just the beginning of the battle to free the LGs from monthly sacrifice to the gods in government houses.
Be certain that the moment LGs’ allocation becomes a direct payment, governors are going to try using the equally roguish assemblies, to harass the chairmen to submission, through legions of probe. Richer councils’ chairmen would be prone to financial indiscretion and outright outrageous spending behaviours, considering that many of them are simply unfit for the office and are there, as fronts for local political leaders, with oath-loyalty to governors. This means there would be plenty to probe if they don’t pay up, and either directly or not, governors would still end up controlling the LG funds, regardless of the apex court ruling.
The only leverage Fagbemi has at the state level is the federal anti-corruption agencies, which Supreme Court had ruled, could go after paper trail anywhere and thankfully supervised by the AGF.
If his “Free LGs” campaign is going to worth the resources being thrown into it, by now, he should have an action-plan to tackle lawmakers at the state level. To send a strong message, he should start with Essien’s, I believe, needless death.
The man must have long known his body was collapsing and needed no stress. Job 2:4 quotes satan saying “a man will give all for his health”. It would beggar belief if Essien didn’t attempt to skip the hearing.
And probing his death can be very simple. Security agents should start with the secretariat of the affected committee. The civil servants in NASS can be very careless with communication. They scan and send sensitive documents as WhatsApp messages in baffling manners.
If the man tried to excuse himself and his appearance was compelled, Bamidele Salam and other committee members are guilty of involuntary manslaughter and the Justice minister, must seek justice.
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