CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA POLITICS
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Nigerians no longer believe that honesty and
integrity are not worthy principles since one can do very little or even do
nothing at all to gain so much. The school of thought of Preye and
Weleayam
on the high degree of ineptitude and indolence in the attitude of Nigerians
further confirms the fact that corruption is not a thing of the leadership
alone. The followership is also guilty as it is culpable for this misdemeanor.
Thus, one finds corruption showing its face in the affairs of the family
circle, schools (primary, secondary and universities and other higher
structures of learning); worship places, the bureaucracy, security outfits,
market places, main stream politics, village meetings, women organizations,
electoral activities, appointment of persons into public offices; the manner
and character in which funds are disbursed from the centre to states and local
councils, rigging of elections, and many more. All of these stages and
categories of corruption have over the years constituted themselves into a huge
albatross bedeviling the Nigerian state. Corruption whether political,
economic, judicial, familial, institutional or bureaucratic could by and large
impede the progress of any society where such attitudes are widely tolerated
and accommodated in the scheme of things.
In the midst of all these strands of corruption, it
can be said that political corruption predominates. And this area of study
constitutes the potential problem of this research. This is because those at
the helm of affairs of government, the political elite accounts for the sharing
and/or allocation of values in the society. The misallocation of these values
and resources seem to be at heart of Nigeria’s socio-economic problems upon
which a multidimensional social vices the country passes through today rests.
Therefore this study will be subdivided into four sections.
Conceptual
Issues
Corruption in its many facets has been viewed in
several ways. Just as there are multiple phases of corrupt practices in the
society, the concept of corruption varies. Otite (1986) cited in Preye et
al (2011) viewed corruption as the pervasion of integrity of state
affairs through bribery, favor or moral depravity. To him, corruption involves
the injection of additional but improver transactions aimed at changing the
moral course of events and altering judgments and positions of trust. It
consists in the doer’s and receiver’s use of informal, extra legal or illegal
act to facilitate matters. This definition buttresses what has been stressed at
the onset of this discourse in terms of the wide array of the strands of
corruption in Nigeria cutting across the political, economic, bureaucratic,
judicial, or otherwise spheres of the Nigerian life.
In view of the perceived relevance of political
corruption, we can say that Otite’s views on corruption may be inadequate in
the explanation of the concept. Hence, the focus of corruption must be aligned
carefully towards the political elite class-civilian and military alike.
Thus according to Yagboyaju (2005) the concept of
what has come to be known as political corruption is:
Any
act perpetrated by the political class, civilian or military, or a highly
placed public official aimed at changing the moral or lawful course of events,
especially when the perpetrator uses such a
position of authority for the purpose of personal or group interest
(such as acquiring wealth, status or power) at the expense of public interest
(2005:72).
Dike (2003) on his part corroborated the point of
view of Yagboyaju (2005) when he situated political corruption at the highest
level of political authority in Nigeria. Thus to him, corruption occurs when
the politicians and other important state decision-makers, whose duties are to
formulate and implement policies on behalf of the electorate are themselves
corrupt. In this sense corruption could be said to have taken place when public
policy formulation and legislation are tailored to benefit political office
holders to the abject neglect of the mass of the people.
From
the foregoing analysis, one can conveniently identify some of the areas of
similarities in relations to the various perceptions of corruption by scholars.
First, political corruption can be said to be abnormal as it is an aberration
to the norms and ethics that maintain and sustain public institutions and
processes. Secondly, political corruption is a negation of the social contract entered
into by the rulers and the ruled upon the former’s assumption of public office,
which in turn is an act of sabotage of public trust by the leadership. And
lastly, political corruption expresses itself in the jettisoning of public
interest in favor of private regarding, accumulation and exploitation. This
scenario has the potential of easily diminishing, truncating as well as
stifling the growth, consolidation (Erunke, 2012) and sustenance of democracy
and democratization in Nigeria in the 21st century and beyond.
Corruption
and Nigeria’s Political Objectives: Towards Understanding the Nexus
As
earlier stated from the preceding literatures, political corruption finds
expression in the misuse and abuse of public office for private or pecuniary
purposes. From the onset, we said that this brand of corruption involves the
violation of public trust which in itself is a negation of the collective
social contracts entered into between the governed and those at the helm of
affairs of state. It takes place in two phases. On the one hand, it involves
unwholesome cornering or diversion of public funds into private coffers through
the instrumentalities of primitive accumulation with impunity by the public
office holder. On the other hand, it shows itself in the arbitrary use of
ill-gotten wealth and the forceful application of state powers to either
perpetuate itself in office or maintain status quo by every available means
necessary. Preye et al (2011) asserted that this form of corruption takes place
at the level of political decision making arena and even at the sphere of
electioneering activities.
It
was Paul, (1997) who alluded that the nature, scope and potential for
corruption may vary from one polity to another. This is so because it is only
by making reference to legal norms that the basis for politically corrupt act
can be identified.
In
another dimension, democracy, which has formed the basis for corruption today
in Nigeria, may be described as a form of government under which the electorate
exercise governing power directly or through their representatives periodically
elected by them (and in most cases selected by the powers that be). Any
political clime may be termed democracy only if it provides enabling
institutional framework for the expression and, in the final analysis, the
supremacy or otherwise of the popular will of the electorates on the basic
question of social direction and policy (Anofowose and Enemuo, 1999; Paki and
Inokoba, 2006). Conversely, the critical element of democracy include, but not
limited to constitutional rule or what has been variously christened ‘rule of
law’, conduct of free and violent free and fair elections, protection of
minority interest and freedom of citizens (but within the specifications of the
law); creating conducive environment for the realization and/or actualization
of citizens aspiration and, above all, relative provisioning of human
existentials for the benefit of the greatest number (Erunke, 2012).
Accordingly,
Heater (1964) concurred with the views of Anifowose and Enemuo (1999), Paki and
Inokoba (2006) and Erunke (2012) about the fundamental importance and tenets of
a democratic society when he averred that democracy is essentially a method of
organizing society politically, economically and socially with all its
essential ingredients been put into consideration as a formidable pillar that
sustains such societies. Heater (1964) then outlines five variables without
which a society cannot tag itself truly democratic. They include equality,
sovereignty of the people, respect for human right and human life, the rule of
law within the context of fairness and/or prudent use of state resources for
the overall enjoyment of the teeming populace.
CHAPTER
TWO
EFFECTS
OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION ON NIGERIA’S POLITICAL OBJECTIVES
The
existence of political corruption in a democratic society (Nigeria inclusive)
is perceived as an aberration. This is because the actual practice of
democratic principles rest squarely on the legal code of society. Thus, the
existence of high incidence of political corruption tends to have more serious consequences on democracies more
than any form of government. This is so because it poses dangerous omen to the
principles of democracy. There is a strong consensus among scholars that
suggests that political corruption does no good to democracy. Consequently,
political corruption erodes and corrodes the meaning, mechanisms and the very
essence of democracy. Again, political corruption breaks the link and people’s
power to influence collective decisions, contribute input into the system,
affects voting pattern, generates general apathy for meaningful participation
(Mark, 2007) and basically overheats the polity due to public disaffection and
disenchantments. Most societies especially, the North African axes have
degenerated into chaos, anarchy and even avoidable war and terrorism due to
what has been generally perceived as elitist misguided quest to stay on in
power eternally, or even because of clear-cut cases of poor governance
orchestrated by corruption. By way of extending the argument from the
foregoing, since political corruption is a deviant behavior that inhibits the
rules and tenets of democracy, it also poses dangerous threat to the
consolidation and objectives of democracy in Nigeria.
CAUSES OF ELECTORAL PROBLEMS IN
NIGERIA
In their classical submissions on the 'Current Incentives to Electoral Violence in Nigeria' Inokoba and Maliki (2011) aptly summarised, thus:
1. State institutions promote violence
2. There is a culture of impunity in Nigerian society
3. Political leaders at all levels perpetrate electoral violence with impunity
4. The absence of institutional and legal solutions against electoral violence
5. Inadequate documented and public knowledge of electoral system and violence
6. Prebendal politics as a the basis for electoral violence
Generally, electoral problems could be caused by the following factors:
1. Hate Campaigns
2. Rigging of elections
3. Thuggery
4. Abuse of power
5. Electoral corruption and fraud
IMPLICATIONS OF ELECTORAL VIOLENCE FOR 2015 ELECTIONS IN
NIGERIA
As
a matter of fact, electoral violence has grave implications for the 2015
general elections in Nigeria. It's influence on it is grave just as its
consequences are capable of truncating the dreams of millions of the citizens
of this country especially when it is borne in mind that violence has not in
any way contributed to the development of any polity. The Country Director,
IFES, Shalva Kipshidze captures this more vividly when he stated that “Violence
will not, it has never changed an election result… If it is not fair, if it is
clearly not fair, the courts are the place to go. And I think everyone here
knows that courts in Nigeria have overturned election results in the past where
elections were not conducted fairly”. His stand was collaborated by the
Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega who added that the Commission would
do its best to ensure that the election would be free, fair and credible:
We
are aware of importance of a violence free election. We have learnt from the
2011 post-election violence. The commission is preparing much better than it
did four years ago. We will continue to explain to the public the challenges we
are facing and will request the support of stakeholders wherever necessary.
The necessity of free and fair elections can never be overemphasized bearing in mind what its opposite could do to a developing democratic system like Nigeria. There is no doubt that electoral violence in the 2015 elections would lead to the election of the wrong persons which would be dangerous to the entire polity. Election of the wrong people into political offices in Nigeria will lead to poor leadership that cannot drive home the visions of the country especially, at this critical situation the country finds itself. Wrong leadership is evil and evil leadership is a forerunner to destruction and underdevelopment.
This is possible because violent electoral activities scare away a good number of the electorate from participating in the process. Apathy is one of the worst negative experiences of a democratic experiment. It gives the few evil political gladiators the opportunity to vote or declare their unpopular candidates winners where the opposite should have been the case. Violence is destructive to both men and women. The situation becomes more critical as a good number of the voters in Nigeria are women. Violence forces people to stay away from exercising their franchise and as they prefer to stay indoors than falling into the deadly hands of the political devils. This is unhealthy to the credibility of the 2015 elections. The situation in which a serving President was attacked in Katsina and Bauchi states and bomb detonated in an APC rally arena in PortHarcourt just at electioneering campaigns is an already-made signal to many people that they are not safe and thus, should not participate.
Electoral
violence is also capable of launching the country into more chaos or total
anarchy or lawlessness. If one could recall the extent of the pre and post
election violence in the 2011 elections, one wonders the extent this year's
could go if this is not curbed through credible elections. Post election
violence is capable of entrenching the nation into uncontrollable situation
that could lead into more maiming of the citizenry, deaths, destruction of
private and public property and the experience of Kenya in her 2011 elections
could be a child's play. This is so because violence begets more violence. The
evil consequence of violence is violence and the peoples' reaction to regime
violence is violence. This would be aided in great magnitude by the already
existing menace of Boko Haram whose activities are already touching not only on
the sensibility of our people but our collective existence too.
Ultimately, the ongoing electoral violence, if not nipped on the bud now, could be a free and unmitigated gateway to the disintegration of the country as scientifically predicted by the US State Department. The country is already at the brink of total collapse and gradually moving to the status of a failed state. Thus, any serious challenge beyond its controlling capacity becomes the clarion call 'to your tent oh Israel' but God forbids because the problems that go with such disintegrative process is terribly overwhelming. A peep at what is happening in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Central African Republic, etc is a tip of the iceberg.
CHAPTER
THREE
CONCLUSION
AND THE WAY FORWARD
The
study demonstrates that corruption in Nigeria takes more shapes than one. Of
particular importance to this discourse is the political corruption which
appears to re-enact and reinforce itself in every aspect of the Nigerian facet
owing to its strategic role in the making and unmaking of the Nigerian
nation-state. The resultant effect of prevailing political corruption according
to the study negates every conditions and adherence of social cohesion,
stability and democratic sustenance. It entrenches self-seeking attitudes,
private regarding and accumulation. The result of this is that citizens who are
now alienated from the public office holders become apathetic and in most
cases, disillusioned and aggressive in their behaviors, the effect of which
trickles down to the general conditions of moral rots, depravity and at best,
insecurity as exemplified in the new mode of insurgency witnessed in Nigeria at
the onset of democratic experimentation from the better of 1999 to date.
The
poser therefore is: what is the way forward for Nigeria and its people? In an
attempt to answer this question, the paper will address the following vital
resolutions as panacea for the country.
Firstly,
the constitution of the land must be respected and obeyed to the letter. Every
rule guiding the behaviors of public officials are domesticated in the 1999
constitution. The onus is for the political head to act in accordance with the
dictates and injunctions of the law. This will foster accountability and
probity. Secondly, all anti-graft agencies namely, the Economic and Financial
Crimes
Commission (EFCC) should be strengthened. By implications, the body should be
made autonomous and independent of politicians at whatever level – be they
federal, state and local government. The best way to do this is to urgently
amend the anti-graft law of the EFCC and hence, divorce the agency from politics
and place it under the control of the civil society organizations, trade unions
and other political groups.
Again,
every known legal obstacles and challenges on the path of the EFCC must be
removed.
Such
hindrances such as the immunity enjoyed by major political office holders in
Nigeria have been found to stifle justice system in the country. Unfortunately,
this legal instrument enjoyed by political arrow-heads have shielded them from
investigations and prosecutions either while in office or outside in most
cases. The tendency therefore is that several monies running into billions of
naira or dollars have been reportedly siphoned and laundered in foreign banks
with reckless abandon. This indeed, is
not healthy for the country.
Moreover,
the freedom of Information Bill should further be explored and strengthened to
the extent that the secret deals of public officials and politicians, including
their private businesses and accounts are made public for everyone to see. When
this is done, caution in the affairs of public business will be at the heart of
every public official. And circumventing these rules will spell stiff
punishment for such a person as well as serve as deterring factor to potential
partners in crime.
Finally,
the affluence associated with politics in Nigeria today where those in power
appears to be amassing public wealth has literally transformed politics into a
lucrative business. Those going into politics should not be made to be
exceedingly rich so that prospective politicians will think of other trade
other than politics. A situation where politicians dominate the circle of oil money,
and continue to do so sends a serious wave of awakening to peoples that money
ma king is best carried out in politics.
It
is the contention of this study that when all these strategies enumerated above
as part of the broader policy objectives to stem the tide of political
corruption in Nigeria are dully followed, then, there is the likelihood that
realizing Nigeria’s political and socio-economic goals, objectives and
aspirations will be much more easier than settling down to take bread and
butter in a public café.
REFERENCES
Preye,
K.I. and Weleayam, T.I. 2011. Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC)
and Political Corruption: Implication for the Consolidation of Democracy in
Nigeria,
Anthropologist,
13(4). Pp.293-291.
Aleyomi,
B.M. 2013. Corruption and Democratization Process in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic,
International Journal of Politics and Good Governance, 4(4).