Police Establishment Is Bedrock of Corruption – Okulaja

Chief Yemi Okulaja, an indigene of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, read at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Osun State. He was called to the Bar 40 years ago. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Okulaja plies his trade in Lagos and Oyo States. He spoke with PETER FOWOYO, on the judiciary, the forthcoming elections, the two anti-graft agencies, the need to return to regional system of government and sundry issues.

Few days to elections, a Federal High Court, Abuja has ordered INEC to register a political party called Young Democratic Party. How do you view this judgment?
Well, in a democratic setting where the constitution guarantees freedom of association and all the safeguards for freedom of association, the court may be right to say that the party should be registered. It is one thing for a party to be registered; it is quite another thing for it to be able to perform effectively. But it is not for the court to decide the effectiveness or otherwise of the party to be registered. I believe the court acted on a principle of freedom of association and the court has nothing to do with what can be the outcome of such order thereafter. That is how I view it.

But don’t you think with this development there might be a shift in the days of election again?
That brings another angle into it because INEC would have printed all the materials where this new party will not feature. It is for INEC to sort that one out but, I quite see that there might be some mischief in the offing but as we are looking at the law, the law must be fulfilled even though in some occasion it might lead to awkward situation, the law is the law, I don’t see anything wrong with the judgment of the court.
If there was any restriction as to the time within which a new party could be registered that might be a new thing but, if there is no such restriction as to the time within which a party can be registered, it means a party can be registered at any time. Do not let us look at it to say the court was wrong, the court was deciding based on the provisions in the constitution which is the supreme law of the land. I have not seen the judgment but I am using my experience as a lawyer of many years at the Bar to say that is what must have happened.

But INEC said a party that failed to win any seat will be deregistered; the new party did not win any seat so why should INEC register this party?
No, maybe at previous elections not with a new party, a new party has to be in operation before you can even contest in an election but, if they now make a rule that if you do not win a seat then there will be no justification in keeping you there if you have failed to justify your existence, if you fail to meet the minimum standard, there must be a standard.

Do you see INEC appealing this judgment?
Well, it all depends because if it is going to disrupt their operations, they might want to appeal it but, I don’t have all the facts, what I am saying is just my own view about the case which might not necessary be in accord with the facts on the ground.

How would you assess the two anti-graft agencies meant to fight corruption?
Well, the two anti-graft agencies are alright but what our experience has been is that the EFCC and the ICPC are as good as the kind of support they are having from the government that established them. In the Nigeria setting, all these agencies are not all that independent of the body that set them up. EFCC did very well. I was very impressed by the performance of that body when Nuhu Ribadu was in charge, he really made an impact but then it got to a point where the executive that set them up was using them to hunt their opponents and at that particular point you see their effectiveness was curtailed.
This is Nigeria setting and the doctrine of who pays the piper dictates the tune will come into play but I have no doubt that if we have a government that want to fight corruption, EFCC and ICPC are the effective ways for fighting corruption. There are people when they find it inconvenient and they don’t want to be used they will resign like Justice Mustapha Akanbi formerly of the ICPC, I am sure that is what happened in his case because I’ve known Justice Akanbi for over 35 years now, I know that he is a very strong character and that he is incorruptible.
So, for him to just leave as ICPC chairman seems that he finds it very uncomfortable working with them and maybe he was not willing to dance to their tune but, there is no doubt that these antigraft agencies are good and can be very good at curbing corruption provided that the executive that set up those bodies supports and fund them very well by making sure they do not try to disrupt them in the performance of their duty.

There are suggestions that the establishment of these two bodies made it impossible for the police to effectively deal with corruption. Do you agree?
You see, when you are talking about corruption, my own take and I have been in practice now for 40 years, I have been working with the police, the police establishment actually sponsor corruption and is the bedrock of corruption.
Police cannot effectively tackle it; they need intervention of some organizations like EFCC and ICPC to fight corruption. They told us we don’t have to run the police down but, the truth must be told. Effectively, somebody was saying it as a joke but, it could be true. He said if you assemble all the corrupt people in Nigeria, two third of them are in the police force and one third is in the bank. You might say that is a joke but it is true.
From my own experience, for instance, take the issue of bail, there was a time whenever a police officer was broke, he would just send his boys to go and arrest innocent people on the street arbitrarily and those people will be made to buy their freedom, they collect money from them as bail. When you get to the police station they will tell you bail is free but you and I know that bail is not free, these are means by which the police enrich themselves illegally and then when a police officer is broke he will send his boys to go and set up check points and we all know what happens at check points, they will ask for your particulars then they will be asking for your birth certificate and maybe marriage certificate if you’re not going to give them money and this is corruption and their principal knows this, every time he announces that there should be no check points because those check points are avenue for corruption.
You will see Constables bribing their ways to be part of the check point team. Police training is not even adequate enough to be able to fight corruption because we are now in technological age where a lot of the social media e being used to perpetrate fraud and when we have ignorant people who are not technically capable to be able to work with all these modern gadgets, they might not be able to cope. I believe there is still a case for the intervention of a special unit like EFCC and ICPC to lead the fight against corruption.

There is outcry that the president, Goodluck Jonathan is not doing enough to fight corruption. Do you share this view?
Well, it is very obvious that he is not doing enough to fight corruption. For instance, a case in point is the NNPC where the Minister, Mrs Deziani was alleged to be using millions of dollars to fly out and a lot of stories coming out of there that you know, in saner clime, Mrs. Deziani should not last more than 24 hours on that seat but, she is still there waxing stronger and the president has not come out in clear terms to condemn this, look at the body language of the president, I don’t see anything this president has done to fight corruption.
For instance, they said a lot of money is missing, like $20billion is missing and there is nothing from the president. $20billion is a lot of money, it is 10 times more than the annual budget of some countries and a lot of changes can be put in place but they said that amount is missing he does not feel concerned. I believe this president has not done anything to curb corruption. In fact, my take is that the president is promoting corruption that is the truth.

But does the fight against corruption lie with the executive or the judicial arm of government?
Yes, corruption is everywhere.
Where you have corruption in the judiciary, it is the judiciary that will deal with it and the judiciary has been dealing with it but, a lot depends on the executive. When the executive set the tone, everybody takes their cue from it. For instance, when Buhari and Idiagbon took over the reign of governance in this country everybody felt it, for the first time people were queuing up at bus stops and other places and a lot of things fell into place for that change in government.
The same thing during the reign of General Murtala Mohammed, the few months he stayed there everybody felt the impact. The leadership in any country is very crucial as to what is acceptable and what is detested in that society. Once you see that the leadership cannot lay good example and do the right thing, the message will be passed down the ladder and you see corruption everywhere. But when the leadership is upright everybody will sit up, it is a question of leadership and leadership comes from the executive because the executive is more proactive than the judiciary. If the executive fight corruption, the judiciary will take note and you will see everybody will sit up. I think the fight lies with the executive rather than the judiciary.
Do you agree that the legislative arm of government should be on part time basis in order to save the country from running expensive governance? Well, we have had something like that in the past when I was much younger. The starting point is that the cost of running governance is much. For example, if the whole of our budget is N100,000 and the legislatures have cornered about N60,000 then you will wonder what we can be able to do with the remaining N40,000. I believe this idea of part time is more attractive in that it will reduce the cost of governance and only public spirited people will go there because the reason why people are killing themselves and maiming each other saying election is a matter of life and death is because of the money. The most lucrative job in Nigeria now is politics, people go there to go and make money.
The other day, a friend of mine was elected and the next thing I knew was that he was already in the United States buying properties and paying cash and my classmates who are there were telling me that and asking me how can that happen? They in America take mortgage to be able to buy these properties and you see a legislature who was elected few weeks rushed to America to go and buy property and paying cash. If we try to reduce the cost of governance by making legislative work be on part time, genuine people will represent the people. We have done it before.
The government that we had after the colonial era many of them lived in their houses and used their personal cars to go to the House, sit and deliberate on issues but now, people see politics as an avenue to make money and that is why we will not be able to make any headway, all our patrimony is being shared in the House among elected people and how can we really make progress? I actually support part time not only as a way of reducing cost of governance but also say that only those who are public spirited will go, work and contribute to the growth of this country.